Cole, Cole's mom, Hope, and her parents continued walking to the physical therapist's office.

Hope's dad said, "Dr. Antonia your physical therapist is one of best in her field. I already called her and gave the details of our unique situation."

The building next door was four stories high. When they entered, Hope halted to take in the view. They designed it similar to a luxury hotel. The entryway was four stories high with glass ceilings. Many tall trees that reached the top. She inspected the leaves on the first one and saw it was a maple, the second an oak, and the third an elm. There were nine trees total, three by three, with a large water fountain in the center and smaller fountains lined the outside. The air was thick, and the aroma reminded her of the beach, but she could not pinpoint why. There was no sand. The sunlight lit the room, but she noticed a grand golden chandelier in the middle.

Cole ran and leapt onto a couch, put his feet up, and laid down. He exhaled with pleasure and said, "Oh man. I am never getting up. These are the most comfortable couches in the world."

Hope thumbed the couch material and it felt velvety. She said, "These are soft white leather." She tried to inspect the entire facility when a voice called to her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Anderson, we have been waiting for you," a handsome young male receptionist said from the large oak desk in the middle. He had short brown hair and brown eyes, with a faint goatee. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and a light gray tie. He also had polished black shoes.

He had spoken directly to her even though they had never met. "Good afternoon. I'm here to see..."

"Dr. Antonia," he said. "Follow me. I will take you to her. Dr. Antonia is right there." He nodded at a tall, muscular woman standing in a pool, waving at her.

"Can they come with me?" She motioned toward her entourage.

He continued, "They can sit and watch through the glass. Dr. Antonia requests audio privacy to protect her secrets and for her patient's dignity. She is the best for a reason. There will be screaming."

She signaled to her family she was leaving.

"Good luck," her mom yelled.

Hope hopped cautiously and faced Dr. Antonia. She wore a light blue hair cap that covered her black curly hair, she also had brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a dark blue swimsuit that appeared to be from the female Olympic swim team. That would help explain her physique.

"Please get changed in that dressing room." She directed Hope to the room behind her.

"No problem."

She dressed hurriedly and returned to the pool.

"Get in, please."

She realized it was saltwater. That is why she thought she was at the beach. When she climbed in, Dr. Antonia assisted her. She was apprehensive that the water might be cold, but it was warmer than room temperature with jets weakly circulating the chest-high water throughout the pool. It felt refreshing.

"My name is Evelyn. You can call me Eve." She reached over and shook her hand. "I am a big fan of The Mars Prep shows and I have been rooting for you and Cole. It devastated me when I found out about your injury, and I am honored that you chose me to help you."

"Thank you for your kind words. I am always surprised at how many people watch a bunch of kids in school."

"It's so much more than that with your camera showing it from your point of view. It's like we're there with you and get to live out our dreams too. Also like you, I am the best at what I do, and I will prepare you to win the final event in two weeks. It's a shame we do not have more time."

"Yes. It is." Hope said, agreeing. "Alright then, I'm ready. Give me your worst. I can take it." She did not have a choice.

"You stole the words out of my mouth," Dr. Antonia chuckled. "Let's start by letting me observe you walk in the water. Please go to the wall and back." She pointed to a wall ten meters away. That was close. Although, ambling through a pool was a new experience for her. Whenever she had done this in the past, she would take for four or five steps, then switch to swimming because it was much easier and faster.

She did the first ten steps with little trouble from her injured leg. When she touched the wall and had to turn around, she pivoted on her bad leg and pain shot from her leg through her spine and she had to stop. Her muscles cramped the same way it did at the orthopedics office. Eve rushed over to her to assist her. She helped her hold herself up against the wall.

"Wow. I'm surprised they took cast off if you're still in this much pain." Eve massaged her muscles to loosen the cramps.

"I cannot compete in it. You've seen the training, I need to kneel, bend, lay on my back, and countless other positions. The cast slows me down and gets in the way. So, I may have lied during the pain level exam."

"Ah. I see. Well..." She deliberated her next words and then stated, "We may need to meet more then."

Eve switched to kneading the arch of her foot and the muscles gradually relaxed. Next, she waded away but stayed within reach. Then she said, "OK. Keep going all the way to the other side." She signaled toward the opposite wall.

Dr. Antonia had relaxed her muscles, but now she grew tired.

"If it helps, I scheduled you for a deep tissue massage immediately following this session."

She would enjoy that for sure. She strode forward at a snail's pace. Her legs were filling up with lactic acid, which upset her because she had just started. She pushed through, struggling past Eve. She used her arms more to help her move, splashed water in her mouth, and tasted the salt firsthand. Her muscles tightened up again bringing on more agony. Eve rushed to her and repeated the massages. They continued this back and forth until her hour was up.

She hobbled out of the pool with Eve's assistance then she limped to her massage, which sounded like a treat, but when the strong man dug deep into her already sore muscles. There was no pleasure involved at all.

"Holy crap!" she shouted, "Can you lighten up on the pressure?"

Eve was there in the room. "Absolutely not. This is essential to speed your recovery."

"Bring it on then."

She was way past exhausted to fight anymore, so she relaxed and let him work. That helped Hope and the masseuse while lessening her pain at the same time.

When they finished with her. They came out and she crashed next to Cole on that super soft couch.

Eve spoke to her parents, "She needs to come back every day. Also, I recommend double appointments, first thing in the morning and after school, until the finale then only once a day."

"That sounds fine. We'll find a way to get her here somehow."

"I will give her tonight off to recover from her busy day."

Then Eve strode over to Hope and said, cheerfully, "You did a wonderful job today. If you keep working this hard. I believe we can help you win."

They drove home, and she fell asleep on the couch.

Maria's hologram awakened her viewer. "My name is Maria Gonzalez and Hope Anderson is my number one fan." She said it at the same time from memory. Maria continued, "You have an incoming call."

"Don't worry. It's only me, calling to wake you, and hear Maria," said Cole.

She was unsure how long she had slept. Cole was still there, but he moved to the dining table and was eating spaghetti with meatballs. The aroma from the marinara sauce made her realize that she was starving.

She checked the time and saw she had slept for two-and-a-half hours. Her was leg was aching, and her brain was sluggish from too much sleep.

Maria spoke again, and Hope halted her by saying, "Cole is the best."

Cole chuckled.

She had tried other phrases, "Cole is not the best." and "Cole is a loser" but they were unsuccessful.

Her desire to remove these for good returned.

"All you have to do is call Maria, and I will turn it off."

She sat up and announced, "Call Maria Gonzalez."

A few moments passed and then Maria's hologram appeared. She was in a chair at to a table and Jacob was across from her. Each one of them had white plates with a salad, silverware, and glasses of water. In the middle there were two tall white candles, highlighting her face.

She said to Jacob, "Sorry babe, I've been waiting for her call and it's cast removal day."

"Huh?" He stared at her confused.

"I'll tell you later." She focused on Hope, beamed, and waved at her. She wore beige pants and a pink blouse. "Hey Hope! I'm glad you called. Is your cast off, yet?"

Hope lifted her leg in the air to show her the missing cast.

"Oh good. How does it feel?"

"Bad. I also went to my first therapy, and it was brutal."

"Which one did you go too?"

"Dr. Antonia."

"Yeah. My mom used her and said she was the best. Is that Cole in the background?" Maria asked.

Hope examined her kitchen and saw Cole there by himself.

"Yep."

"Hi Cole. You've been crushing it on your own. I'm impressed."

"Hey Maria and Jacob," Cole said, "Thanks. You can also thank me for having her call you. She worried you'd still be mad about before."

"Mad? Well, I was at first, but I knew what you were going through, so I understood. Hope I want to talk to you in private, girl stuff, can you please go into your room alone?"

Hope said, "Fine." Then she hobbled down the hallway, into her room, and shut the door.

Maria said, "I love you and I've been watching every episode. I'm certain you two are perfect for each other. Yet I get nervous every time I see Cole, talking to another girl." She halted herself. "I apologize 'cause I'm doing it again."

"I agree, but I need to be able to take your advice and say, now is not the right time. I wanted it to be," she recalled their almost perfect Christmas and smirked. "The finale is right around the corner and I doubt that I will win, because I only have two weeks to rehabilitate my leg." She rested her weight on it and felt a surge of pain shoot through it, again. She sat down on her bed to relieve the throbbing.

"We know you can do it and we're still here we're cheering for you. Keep fighting."

"I will. Go back to your dinner. I'm sorry I interrupted. Yet, I'm glad to see that you two are still going strong."

Jacob winked at her, "Thanks Hope and good luck."

They waved goodbye.
Hope ended the message, then limped back out to the kitchen.

She asked, "Hey Cole, did you remember to tell them to save the cast? Do not let anybody throw it away."

"Yes. That's why I'm your best friend. It's in the truck of your dad's car."

"Thanks." She saw her bottle of painkillers on the table next to Cole. "Where did you get the spaghetti?" She nodded at his plate with a tiny amount of smeared marinara sauce remaining.

"Don't worry. Sit down. I'll get it for you." Cole jumped off the chair and piled it high with spaghetti and meatballs from a still warm pot on the stove. He also gave her a glass of water. She read the prescription, and it said to two-at-a-time with food. but she took three instead.

"Have you heard anything from your dad, today?" Hope asked.

Cole replied, "Yes. From his lawyer. We received a summons to appear in court tomorrow after school."