“I don’t want to listen to excuses. You can come up with a million and one and none of them are valid. People will always find a reason to point and stare. You think the braces are worse than a wheelchair? God, is that the reason you don’t want to try? Because if you try you won’t have an excuse to not leave town? Are you afraid of the big bad world, baby girl?”

Finally there was some real fire in her eyes. “Screw you, Lila. You think I don’t know why you’re doing this?”

Sometimes a knock-down, drag-out fight was exactly what was needed. “I’m doing it because you’ll thank me in the end. In here I’m not your friend. In here I’m your primary care provider, and what I say goes. I won’t coddle you.”

Noelle got enough of that at home. It had become very clear to her as she’d watched Noelle deflect every time the therapist tried to get her out of the chair that something was driving Noelle, and it wasn’t pain. It was fear. There was only one way to break through it, but they were running out of time. They’d already wasted a bunch of it. She wasn’t going to be the one who simply let this brilliant young woman throw away a chance at more normalcy.

“You’re not my friend at all. You’re trying to get at my dad.”

It was obvious this would get nasty. Luckily she didn’t back down from a fight. “I already have your dad. Believe it or not, I’m doing this as much for him as I am for you. One day he’s going to figure out he handled this wrong, and that guilt will eat him up forever. Now give me your hands and we’ll get you on the bars.”

“You want to get rid of me.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Sure. I want to get rid of you. I want your dad all to myself. You’re wasting my time.”

Tears shone in Noelle’s eyes. “Why are you so mean?”

The shift was obvious. Again, it was something she’d absolutely seen a hundred times. The patient started out aggressive, and when that didn’t work, tried to play on her sympathy. She couldn’t afford sympathy. Sympathy would leave Noelle in that chair. “I’m mean because you’re too stubborn to see that you’re allowing your fear to keep you in that chair. Is that what you want? Do you want to sit there the rest of your life? Do you want the rest of the world to wait on you hand and foot? That sounds awfully easy.”