kuroba-k:

At first Kaito simply listened, watching Hakuba’s face while doing so and letting his hands rest on the injured leg, one slightly below the knee, the other a little off the scar. He clearly registered the anxiousness his patient was showing and together with the words started forming a hypothesis.
“Mhh”, he answered noncommitally at first, more to let Hakuba know that he’d heard. Then he focussed on the brown eyes before him. “It is more pain than I would have expected from what I’ve seen on your file and on your skin. But Hakuba-san, there is no norm you’re supposed to meet. There is no exact manual for a human body, each and everyone is different and reactions can vary. You’re not bound to feel anything but what your body tells you.” He took another short look at the leg and then leaned back, removing his hands to lean back a little.

“Let me humour you with some of my thoughts,” he began. “This incident has clearly shaken you up, as it would anybody and the person I’ve got to know in you is someone who prefers to have some control over himself and the situation around him. Injuries like this one though are things we can’t control by our will. They happen suddenly and then they’re there, confining you to medical attention where you are dependant, limiting your movement against your will. They force you to change your life around them.
"It is frustrating and sometimes it feels like you’ll never get anywhere, because no one will have the guts to assert you that it will be alright again, preferrably even give you a date for your full recovery. I assume you’ve always given your hardest and probably already experienced how it feels like when you push too hard. I daresay you pushed it too far more than just once and remember very clearly that it had hurt and felt like you were walking backwards within your recovery.
"I can see that you’re anxious, Hakuba-san. I guess you fear to fall or already have fallen behind on some given recovery schedule or that your case just won’t get any better. That I might say that there’s nothing I can do.”

Taking a short break, Kaito got up to remove a bottle from a shelf and sat back down with it.

“There is no schedule and you haven’t fallen behind anything. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. I ain’t going to tell you that I’ll stop before I even tried. I see no reason not to work with you.
 It’s not bad if it hurts, because we are going to do something against it. And pain is not an enemy, pain is just one way of your body talking to you.
"I have changed my mind about testing the hell out of you today. What I’m planning now is having you relax for the ten minutes we have left, while I’m giving your scar a little massage helping it keep recover so well. What do you say?”

Although he really didn’t want to, Hakuba let the fear show in his eyes as he listened to Kaito speak, practically hanging on every word while holding his breath. Gradually, his cheeks colored with embarrassment and he let his gaze drop down to his leg again, head hanging in shame, guilt, and growing anxiety.

Kaito was right. Of course he was right. He hated feeling so weak and useless. He hated not being able to work, that he couldn’t get around without considerable time and effort, and that it hurt so god damned much all the time. He’d followed doctors’ and therapists’ orders to the letter, but had pushed himself harder than was probably necessary. 

Was it over, then? Was he ruined? He wondered, fretting as Kaito walked away from him, chewing on his lower lip. How was he supposed to take care of Akira if he couldn’t even walk properly? 

Gulping, he reached for the pocket watch that he kept, running fingers over the engraved surface while he waited for Kaito to return, dreading the worst. What he said, though, surprised him, and Hakuba looked back up with a single spark of hope in his otherwise troubled face. 

“Ah…” He stammered, blinking, and gave a small, submissive nod. “All right, then… yes, I think that’d be fine. Thank you.”

He was no less embarrassed, but the relief he felt was palpable. Honestly, if he could get out of the office without having to admit his failings out loud, and without much more pain, the detective would be satisfied to go home and ignore the world for the rest of the day. 

kuroba-k:

It was rather obvious that Hakuba had trouble undressing, which made the therapist wonder slightly. Did he still get help from someone? Or was it because of the awkward situation here and perhaps more pain than usual today? It sure caused him to go perhaps a little more easy for today than he usually would. If things were this irritating.

While Hakuba scooted back onto the table, Kaito bent over, grabbing the trousers and casually folded them in half before he placed them on an extra chair. The brace followed right after and he disinfected his hands once more, rolling right next to the table, taking a good look. The skin seemed to have healed back together properly, no open wounds or complications he could see. What he did see though was that the injured thigh was distinctly slimmer than the other one, as to be expected after six weeks of not using the muscles.
“From the looks of it, I would say superficially the healing’s going well. The scar’s a good red which means circulation’s working properly. The haematoma is receding nicely as well. Your muscles are a little atrophied, but that was to be expected and we’ll be working on that.” He didn’t bother to colorfully describe common terminology, in Hakuba’s like of work they were just just the same.

“I’m going to put my hands on your leg now.” He warned quietly before he gently, yet very assured, slid both of his hands onto the skin next to the scar. “If it hurts or the pressure’s getting uncomfortable, please tell me.” After another second of letting Hakuba become acustomed to his touch, he moved his hands along around the scars, feeling for temperature differences and changes in humidity. Then he used a little more pressure to feel the muscles beneath. “I’ll need some comparison.” Again, just a short warning before he moved one hand towards the other leg, doing the same things over.
“How’s this for you? Feeling any differences?” His gaze slid up to Hakuba’s face as it had been every now and then, judging the other male’s expression.

It hurt, that much was clear, and Hakuba did his best to stay calm and focused despite. His expression betrayed him, though– brows furrowed, face pinched in a grimace, and his fingers clenched and unclenched in anxious fervor. 

“My right leg isn’t really in any pain at all,” he said, looking to his uninjured limb. “Just a little sore, though I expect that’s from putting so much weight on it all of the time these days… ah, the left one, though…”

The detective looked down at his offending leg again which, as Kaito had said, was healing remarkably well. Even so, the pain was the deep sort, and Hakuba bit his lip before attempting to explain it. “After all, the femur was fractured by the bullet… that’s… bound to cause some long-lasting pain, isn’t it? It’s normal… … … right?"