“How long till I can go back to work and running?”

“Whoa, take things one at a time.  Let’s start with how long till you can walk on it.  First we did an MRI this morning to see how badly it is torn and how much is left.  I don’t think it needs surgery.  If it does you will be in a cast for about 5 to six weeks.  You need to be very careful and follow directions to the letter. It is badly damaged and if you tear it we will have to do surgery and we start where we are now on recovery.  You will lose more muscle tissue.  We’ll keep you for two to three days to watch for any problems and get you some crutch training.  Assuming nothing turns up we send you home.  For at least 2 weeks we will keep on the immobilizer all the time bending it daily when you come in for therapy.  The exact time for recovery will depend on how well you follow directions and how fast you heal.   Remember, if you re-injure that leg it can set you back to square one or worse.  You can take the immobilizer off to shower late in the second week if all goes well but no weight or stress on it and absolutely no trial steps.  Don’t even try to lift the leg or put weight on it.  At the end of two weeks if it looks like it is healing real well we will let you take the immobilizer off when you are laying down.  After that there is more therapy and hopefully we can let you use one crutch for support if you can walk on it with the immobilizer.  Maybe in five or six weeks we have the therapist start you walking with crutches for support.  Then we see how the muscle has healed and we decide in maybe six weeks if we can let you start walking.  That muscle will not be strong enough to support you at all for four to six weeks without risking it.”

“What about running?  I do marathons.”

“Maybe in four or five months we can let you try.  That muscle was torn almost the whole way though just above the knee and there is a piece missing.  It’s much like tearing an Achilles tendon.  If you can avoid tearing it the whole way it heals much faster.”

“What if I tear it?”

“Like I said, surgery to put it together, four to six weeks in a full leg cast that goes to the waist to keep the leg straight, then at least 2 months of therapy to walk good.”

“OK, lets go with the ‘I will behave now’ strategy.  You scared me enough.”

Kevin dropped in to see her later in the day.  He had twelve bandaged wounds, if they remained infection free and didn’t bleed till tomorrow morning he could go home from the hospital.  He would probably be back at work within a week.

Samantha brooded.  She would be out of action for months. 

The Night Sniper Chapter One: On the Beat

The Night Sniper: Ch. 017 The Women Move

The Night Sniper: Ch. 019 The ATF Enters the Investigation