A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Title's POV

I took extra care with my appearance before Kaownah arrived to give me my physical therapy exercises.

He was so good with his technique that I was actually sorry that I was improving so much to the point that there might be nothing more that he needed to do with me. I knew it was silly to hope that I did not recover fast enough so that I would have a valid reason to lengthen my therapy days. If my insurance did not cover the additional days I planned to ask my dad to cover the expense.

Kaownah pressed the doorbell at the exact same time as the last time we had our therapy session. I hated myself for looking and acting so self-consciously. I hoped that he had not noticed it.

"Don't look so nervous. I'm not gonna hurt you," he teased.

Shit, he had noticed.

"Did you take your pain pill an hour ago?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," I replied.

"Very well," he said. "Now that we have covered your leg exercises and your trunk exercises, we will now focus on your neck. I saved it for last because the whiplash you suffered affects your spine and so I have to very careful with treating it. I wanted to let your neck recover first at least partially."

"I understand," I said, although I had barely been listening to whatever he was saying. 

I had not been aware that I had been staring at his lips the whole time. When I saw him wetting his lower lip with the tip of his tongue, I cursed at myself. He had noticed me staring at his lips.

"Which position would be more comfortable for you when doing chin tucks, the lying position or the sitting position?" he asked.

"Huhhh???" I felt the warmth rising from my neck all the way to the tip of my forehead.

"I asked which position......"

"The lying position," I replied quickly before he could go on any further.

"Alright then," he said, taking the exercise mat from the couch  and unrolling it before setting it down on the floor of the living room.

"This will be the last of your therapy session," he announced while setting the exercise mat on the floor. "Once I have taught you how to do the chin tucks, you can do them on your own."

The announcement, even though I knew that it was coming, brought unspeakable sorrow to my lonely heart.

"Are you able to stand up from your wheelchair? Remember the technique I showed you on how to do it safely?" he asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure that I can do it safely yet," I lied.

Without another word, he came to me and helped me up, putting his arms around my back.

"Put your weight on me, not on your feet," he instructed.

I did so, and as soon as my chest came in contact with his chest, I started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?" Kaownah asked with much concern in his voice.

Sweetheart? Did he just call me sweetheart?

"I... I honestly don't know... Unstable hormones?" I tried to put humor into the tragic situation.

I couldn't possibly tell him the truth now, could I?

"If you are worried that it will take you longer than expected to be back on your previous level of functioning, don't be," he tried to assure me. "My agency could always contact your insurance company to ask for an extension of your coverage. If the insurance company authorizes the extension then you won't have a problem. If they don't authorize it, we might be able to work out a payment arrangement with you or your parents. Will it be a problem if you would have to pay out of pocket?"

"I don't think so," I replied. I wanted to say, 'if I have to beg, steal or borrow just to be able to pay you to come back to me, I would most certainly do so."

"Okay. Shall I lay you down on the exercise mat now?" he asked in a very caring voice that brought the tears to my eyes again.

"I will try to manage on my own," I said bravely while hurriedly wiping my wet cheeks.

Although it still hurt a bit putting my weight on my injured leg, I managed to first sit on the mat and then to carefully make it to a lying position.

"You're doing very well," Kaownah said approvingly as he watched me going through my careful transition from standing to sitting and then to lying.

He then crouched close beside me and said, "Now try to tuck your chin until you feel the muscles on the back of your neck stretching"

I did as he instructed.

"Now keep your chin tucked while you lift your head one inch off the mat," he said, watching me carefully that I was doing the exercises right.

"Stay this way. Hundred one, hundred two, hundred three, hundred four, hundred five," I heard him counting. "Now lower your head back down on the mat and release your chin."

I did so.

"Did you feel any pain during this exercise?" he wanted to know.

"I didn't," I replied.

"Good," he said with a satisfied smile. "For today, I'm gonna ask you to repeat this exercise for five times, but tomorrow try doing it on your own for an extra five reps for a total of ten."

"Okay," I said, unable to hide the sadness in my voice and on my face, knowing that this was my last day to see him.

"Do you have any questions before I go?" he asked.

"I... I... I do believe that I need more guidance with making a safe transfer from my wheelchair to the couch or to my bed or to my shower chair," I replied. "Would you be able to get authorization for an extension of my coverage?"

"I'm gonna contact my agency and relay your request to them. The authorization process will take a few days though. In the meantime, if you wish for me to come back for another session the day after tomorrow, I could certainly do that, but if the authorization gets denied that session would have to be paid out of pocket, is that okay with you?"

I nodded wordlessly but put on a brave face to keep him from seeing my internal misery.

"Okay, I'll see you day after tomorrow then," he said, not waiting for me to get up from my lying position to a sitting position. Instead he placed his arms around me and lifted me to a sitting position and then to a standing position.

I savored every second of our physical closeness until he helped me back to my wheelchair.

"Bye for now, Title, stay well," he said with a kind smile.

Again I just nodded wordlessly and watched him in quiet misery as he opened the front door, stepped out and then closed it behind him.