Greya's POV...

I want to know everything.

I need to know everything.

If his fake death had never been arranged, you bet your ass I'd have been at therapy with him, learning and helping him every step of the way. That's what you do when you love someone.

Instead, I was robbed that opportunity and he unfairly went through this alone for 3 years! 3 Years!!

3 years of only having Liam by his side and his own mentally ill mother watched him go through this alone. He believed he wasn't deserving of friends because no one came, no one reached out or visited him. How lonely. What a terrible feeling to live with while recovering from such a horrific injury.

I'm pissed and sad and it's taking everything I have in me not to cry while I watch him get himself up off the floor with only one arm and leg.

Brian says he's come a long way. Imagining Lox not being able to use half his body at all, or walk, or simply go from the floor to a chair, is ripping my heart and soul to shreds. I should've been here for him.

The thing is, I still see him as the strong, self-sacrificing, and determined guy he was before being shot. 3 years of hell and endless therapy just to do what he can do now and alone no less, shows how much strength he really has. He hasn't given up when it would be so easy to do. I admire him.

Brian hands Lox his sneakers but not his AFO. "Do you want to help Loxley walk over to the treadmill?" He asks me.

"Me? Uh, yeah sure if you show me what to do."

I look to Loxley to make sure this is ok with him and he gives me a nod. I see the apprehension on his face but he smiles at me anyway.

"Okay. Stand on his left side and let him put his arm around your shoulders. You can hold his hand to help keep his arm there and place your other hand around his waist."

Lox uses his right hand to lift his left arm and drapes it over me. He must not be able to lift that arm this high without assistance. Good to know.

I do what he says. "Like this?" I ask Lox as my right hand brushes across his back and rests on his side.

Immediately I hear his breath hitch and feel his body stiffen. At first I think it's a reaction to me touching him like he used to do, but he stays frozen and staring out into the distance.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. No response.

"Loxley!" Brian says loudly, taking a couple seconds getting his attention.

Loxley blinks his eyes a few times and looks at Brian then quickly looks at me. His eyes wide as they roam from me to his arm around my shoulders, then I feel his right hand clasp over mine.

"Loxley?" Brian says again. Neither of us know what's happening. Maybe he had a focal seizure, I read about those and that they resemble someone staring off for a moment.

Lox turns his attention to Brian. His hand still on top of mine.

"What happened? Do you know where you are right now?" Brian thinks he had a seizure too.

Loxley nods his head, looks at me again and takes a few puffs of air and then laughs at himself.

Brian and I trying to read each others thoughts while we wait for Lox to speak.

"I...I'm f...fine. I...it wasn't a...a s...seizure."

"Do you want to explain?" I'm glad Brian's asking the questions.

"I...I c...can't. I...I'm g...good, p...promise," he turns his head and smiles at me.

"Okay, you ready then?"

"R...ready."

Brian then turns to me, "He'll slide off of the table onto his right leg and you support him while he gets into a standing position with both his feet," Brian instructs and give Lox his cane to use with his right hand.

"If you're uncomfortable with me helping you with this, you can tell me," I say to Lox. I don't want to make this worse for him.

He smiles at me again. "I...it's n...not th...that. Th...this is p...perfect."

Lox easily slides onto his right leg but when he tries to straighten his left leg, it goes into spasms and stays in a bent position.

"D...damnit!"

"What do I do now?" I don't know if he's in pain and I don't want him to fall so I grip onto him tighter.

"I...I'm ok th...this h...happens sometimes. G...give it a...a m...minute."

If I attempt to speak, I'll start sobbing, So, I focus straight ahead instead and make sure he doesn't fall.

"Usually these pass quickly, but if his muscles don't want to cooperate, that's when we practice crawling," Brian answers my silent question like this is totally normal. He probably notices my impending tears. Thankfully Lox can't clearly see my face.

I decide to relax again when Lox's leg slowly extends until his foot is planted on the ground.

"S...see, all g...good," he smirks at me. I'm glad he's making light of the situation for my benefit.

"Now, you're going to step forward with him when he steps with his left. You're acting like his left crutch since he can only use one with his right arm," Brian tells me.

Lox bends his left knee up to take a step and when his foot lifts off the floor, it dangles and he's barely able to flex his ankle upward before he plants his foot back onto the floor about 6 inches in front of him. When he feels his foot and knee is secure enough to hold his weight, he steps forward with his right foot and crutch.

Watching the mechanics of it all seems like it would take hours for us to make it 20ft over to the treadmill. Only in my mind it resembles slow motion while I'm learning how he maneuvers around with a leg he has little control over. At least now I'm able to help him if we're ever alone and for some reason not wearing his brace. If he tried to do this himself, he could easily injure that foot or his ankle.

Walking with him like this reminds me of walking in the high school halls together, except slower and I wasn't his crutch before. Maybe mentally I was back then, he said he felt safe with our arms around each other while walking through a crowd. I miss those days and I want him to feel safe with me again.

Once at the treadmill, Brian hooks him up to a harness that basically supports all his weight and keeps him from flying off the treadmill if his legs can't keep up. Connected to the harness allows him to solely focus on moving his legs correctly while walking at a whopping 1 mph pace, Brian explains.

1 mph! That means, without his AFO, he can walk 1 mile in 60 minutes! I'm not sure whether to be happy that he's able to do this at all, or sad because he used to run a mile in under 6 minutes. His life has really changed. Maybe it is better he doesn't remember who he was.

"Ten minutes. I'll be back."

Wait! He's leaving him to do this on his own? What if he trips? Is the harness going to catch him in time?

Lox senses I'm worried.

"C...come a...and sit n...next to m...me," he tilts his head towards the nearby chair.

I move the chair a little closer so I'm right beside the treadmill.

"B...brian used t...to s...sit here a...and m...move m...my l...leg for m...me. One m...mile an hour w...was t...too f...fast." He laughs at the memory.

"N...now I...I c...can do th...this on m...my own."

He's sharing something with me that he feels proud of. I'm proud of him too.

"You're amazing!"

"Y...you k...keep t...telling m...me."

"Because it's true Lox. And I'm sorry I wasn't here for you sooner."

The guilt of not being by his side from the beginning is eating away at me.

"I...it's n...not your f...fault G...Grey."

Why do I feel like it is.

"Hey! Y...you're h...here n...now. I w...was afraid if y...you c...came here a...and s...saw m...me like th...this, y...you'd ch...change your m...mind a...about being f...friends, b...but y...you being h...here m...makes m...me h...happy."

"I'm happy too. Watching you working so hard and your determination to keep pushing through all these obstacles is only one of the many reasons why I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me. I hope you don't mind," I chuckle and he does too.

"I...I d...don't mind a...at all."

"Time's up." Brian's back.

"Let's get you out of that and to the table. Greya you want to help him over to that table bed?"

I look to my right. The table's roughly 10 feet away.

"Yeah, of course."

Brian assists Loxley out of the harness and helps him step off the treadmill. I move to his side so we can switch places. Brian places Lox's arm around my shoulders and I wrap my other arm around his waist. Lox doesn't freeze up this time.

I help him to the table while he sits up onto it. His arm tightens around my neck when he lifts his right leg onto the table and drags his left leg up too, his dangling foot hitting the side of it first.

Do I lift his leg for him or stay like this with his arm around my neck?

"I c...can d...do i...it," he reads my thoughts, then focuses on sliding his leg up.

The back of the table adjusts so his legs can rest flat and his upper body can be more upright. I gently remove his arm from my shoulders and rest it on the side of him.

"T...thanks. Y...you d...did g...great!"

He's complimenting me when he should be the one receiving all the praise. That's my "B".

Brian comes over with 2 small computer like gadgets with wires attached. I watch him place small drops of gel onto his thigh, lower leg and foot and then pushes the circular end of the wires into the gel. He does the same with the second set of wires and attaches them to Lox's upper and lower left arm and hand.

"N...nerve stimulator."

"Wow, that was a big word to say so clearly!" An unfamiliar woman says as she approaches us.

"Th...this is C...Claire m...my sp...speech therapist. C...Claire th...this is G...Greya."

Claire and I shake hands. She seems very friendly. She's tall, dark skinned, and has a lot of grays showing through her curly black hair.

"A pleasure to meet you Greya. What a beautiful name. What's your middle name?" Her voice is so calm and her smile inviting. I'm sure she makes a wonderful speech therapist.

"Love. Greya Love Matthews."

Some people laugh when I tell them, others think it's unique. Becker always called me by my middle name once he heard what it was.

"Beautiful," she simply states.

"Love."

Claire and I both turn to Lox who barely whispered my middle name to himself. He isn't looking back at us but I can see his eyes scrunch together before he runs his hand over the side of his face.

"Doesn't she have a beautiful name Loxley?" Claire's trying to read his expression same as I am.

"Y...yes sh...she d..does," we get a half smile out of him.

Hmm, okay.

"My job's done. Great session Lox. Nice to meet you Greya and I hope to see you here again next week?" Brian says.

Lox is looking at me now, wondering what I'll say to that.

"Yes, I definitely want to be here if Lox doesn't mind."

Lox smiles and nods.

Brian goes to his next patient and leaves us with Claire.

"We usually do some speech exercises while Lox is hooked up to the nerve stimulator. But I've listened to you both carry on multiple conversations for the past hour. That's the most talking I've ever heard from you beside the times we do the exercises! I've caught you saying a bunch of difficult words more clearly as well. This girl's a keeper! Don't let her get away!"

"I...I'm trying n...not t...to."

She brings a chair over to the right side of the table and motions for me to go over and sit in it.

"Thanks," I say and take a seat next to Loxley.

"I'll leave you two here for 1/2 hour and when Megan comes to remove all the wires, I'll join her for your OT and we can do a combined session." Claire explains to Loxley.

"Y..yeah s..sure."

As soon as we're alone, Lox reaches his right hand out to me and smiles. The instant flutter in my chest causes me to blush, I can feel it and quickly look at my chair and move it as close as I can to him.

I slide my hand into his and enjoy the sensation as our fingers intertwine. He moves our locked hands so they can rest beside him on the table and leans his head back and closes his eyes.

"Th...thank you f...for being h...here w...with m...me," he gives my hand a little squeeze.

"I...I hope i...it w...wasn't too m...much?"

"Of course not. I'm intrigued by what you accomplish here and want to learn more."

"Y...you're the o...only other p...person b...besides L...Liam t...to th...think that w...way. I...I don't r...remember my f...friends b...but none of th...them h...have b...bothered w...with m...me. Then y...you c...come into m...my l...life and e...everything ch...changes."

"I hope these changes are good ?"

He laughs a little. "Y...yes. I h...have f...friends now b...because of y...you. And I...I h...have y...you f...for however l...long y...you want t...to s...stick around." He smirks after that last part.

"We'll prepare to be stuck with me for a long while."

His eyes are closed again and we're comfortably silent while he rubs his thumbs lightly over mine.

God, I love him.

"W...will y..you go on a..a d...date w...with m...me Love?"

Internally, I freak out. Tears erupt unexpectedly after hearing him call me "Love". My Becker always called me that.

Thank heavens he still has his head back with his eyes closed and he's smiling while waiting for my answer.

I can only hope my eyes aren't red and I can wipe the evidence away with my shirt before he thinks he made me cry again.

I clear my throat and stand up to lean over him. There's so much more I want to do and it's taking all my will power not to grab him into a hug and kiss those perfect lips I've missed so much, and instead, I give him a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I was waiting for you to ask me that."

His eyes open wide, clear blue ocean staring back at me with his bright smile revealing his dimples.

Before I do something I shouldn't, I sit back down and give my heart a chance to calm down.

"So where are you taking me?" I attempt to change the mood, so I'm not tempted to kiss him again.

"Y...you'll h...have t...to wait a...and s...see."

His cheeks a darker shade of pink like mine.