"That's good," he liked Sinthia. "Yes, I noticed. He pushes himself hard. He's a bit of a perfectionist. But don't let him go too far. He needs to take it easy on himself. Give him this," He handed her a package with a sling in it and a prescription for a non-narcotic anti-inflammatory. "He shouldn't push it too hard and if he gets tired, have him put his arm in this to rest it. Ice it if it's sore and I've written him a prescription for an anti-inflammatory."

~~~~

Illya took Avi to the small park across from the hospital and ran with him on leash around it while they waited. It was good to get out in the fresh air. He'd looked at this park from his hospital room window for days. It was nice to finally be able to run the short trail around it. Avi really wanted to run, though, so Illya let him off the leash for a bit. The big dog spent his time running circles around the Russian. And as much as he wanted to get on the ground and wrestle with the dog, when the dog threw himself down in a patch of clover, Illya knew that he couldn't.

"Sorry buddy, that will have to wait a little while longer." It didn't stop him from sitting down in the grass next to the dog and rubbing his belly.