She shook her head, but there was a spark in her eyes. “You two want to watch me fall? You want to see me fail? Fine. Fucking fine.”

“Noelle,” her father admonished.

Lila put a hand up to stop him. “No, she’s making an adult choice. Here in this place she gets to use any language she needs to in order to get through a session.”

Armie nodded. “You’re right.” He turned back to his daughter. “So do it, Noelle. Get up there and try.”

She seemed to understand she was in a corner and there was only one way out. “Fine. You’ll see. You’ll be the one who’s disappointed because your only child is broken and damaged. This is for you. Maybe I won’t be a burden if you can get me to walk.”

Armie paled.

“Don’t give in to that.” Lila had seen it all. “That’s not Noelle. That’s her fear trying to find a way out, and fear doesn’t play fair. So don’t play at all. Get on the bars, Noelle.”

Noelle huffed, but shifted forward in her seat.

Her father was right there, lifting her up. “Do I settle her on here?”

“The bars have been adjusted to the proper height, and I know she’s scared of falling but the floor is padded.” It would still hurt, but she’d made the place as safe as she could.

“I’m not worried about falling. Who cares about me falling?” Noelle asked. “What’s one more injury as long as I can prove to you that I’m a fucking invalid? Maybe you two can move me into a nursing home after this and you can have some perfect, non-flawed kids you can actually love.”

Armie looked like he wanted to throw up, but he didn’t falter. “We’ll talk about that in a while, Noelle. Not now. Now you work. LaVignes work.”

“I’m not much of a LaVigne, am I?” Noelle said even as she gripped the bars.

She was going to fight until the end. Lila ignored it. “I need you to balance on the bars. Your feet are flat on the mat. That’s good. Today we don’t have to do anything more than get used to being on the bars. Find your balance.”

“I don’t have any fucking balance.” Noelle seemed intent on using her new freedom of language.

She said she didn’t have balance and yet she was standing with both feet planted and her hips only slightly off. The therapists had done an excellent job keeping her muscles strong. And her slender arms held a wealth of strength. Still, her face contorted as she held herself up.