Chapter 13

Although Kyle had watched the instructional golf videos he still hadn’t swung a club or hit any golf balls. To top it off he didn’t have any of the equipment to do that. The new clubs on display in the pro shop at the country club were nice but they were expensive. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to make that costly of purchase for a game he wasn’t sure he would be playing.

He asked around at work and one of the therapists said her husband recommended a golf store in town who could outfit Kyle with a good set of used clubs. Kyle did stop by this store and purchased the whole catastrophe consisting of golf clubs, shoes, a golf bag, balls, tees, and a glove. He just shook his head at the final total and thought, “it could have been worse.”

Having now all the equipment he wanted to try it out before Saturday. He went to the driving range at the club and hit some golf balls. There was an older man also on the range hitting some balls. Kyle told this man that this was his first time doing this and this man started giving him some tips and correcting some wrong things Kyle was doing. The range was well marked as to the distance the ball traveled. He explained that Kyle needed to learn how far he could hit the ball with each club because on the golf course there would be markings telling him how far away he was from the center of the green.

Kyle thanked the man for his advice and felt the soreness in his arms and at his lower back. The next day at work because of this soreness he used the heat lamps and then did some stretching exercises.

On Saturday morning Kyle was on the putting green when Elena showed up. As usual, she looked good in tan shorts and a white pullover.

He took a long look at her and said leering at her, “Screw golf, let’s go to your house so I can do all kinds of nasty things with you.”

Laughing she said, “Later.”

They did play a round of golf. Elena who said she was a little rusty posted a score of eighty-six. Kyle’s score was one hundred and eight. She told him he had the potential to do much better and with more experience on how to get out of a sand trap. She also said if he improved his chipping and putting his scores will get lower.

At the club’s lounge, they had a drink and a sandwich. He asked her how her week went.

“It was very interesting because of a meeting I had yesterday with the medical board and the university officials. I asked them why we don’t have a CPT program. They all look guilty and no one could give me an answer as to why we don’t. One of them finally said no one had ever asked that question before. When I said I think we should have such a program it seems I was getting the dreaded “Another Program” look. I did think that maybe I was throwing too much at them too soon so I told them to look into what other countries are doing in awarding the CPT designation and come up with what they think we should be doing. We will have another meeting in two weeks to discuss this but we are going to start a program if I have anything to say about that and believe me I do.”

“Along those lines have you thought about a non-certified physical therapist program? Someone like me doing a daily one-hour lecture training with them then they get on the job training here watching and working with my trained therapists. Maybe one day a week receiving some lecturing from the school on anatomy, medical terminology, and other subjects. Something that would last for two or three months depending on how fast we see they are progressing till I feel they have learned enough for them to go back to where they live and work this way. While they are here in training maybe they could be housed at some unused military barracks.”

“When they go back to the towns how are they going to be supervised? They need supervision by a CPT and I am not going to be changing that rule.”

“How about Skype or Zoom supervision? One CPT could easily supervise eight therapists electronically.”

“Okay Kyle, where are we going to get the equipment and the CPTs to do this?”

“As to the CPTs let me work on that. On the equipment that is yours to do or if you have an assistant to make some phone calls. There are manufactures of laptops in that States that have agreements where after time they take in old PCs and replace them with new ones. Some of what they take in are good and some are junk. Why not ask them to donate the old ones that are working. All you want is a laptop where the camera, speaker, and the microphone work so you can connect to the internet and download Skype or Zoom but that may already be on the pc.”

“Tell me, do you stay up late at night thinking of things like this to do?”

“No, my time is spent thinking of how beautiful you are and that I am a lucky man.”

That remark took her back for a few seconds but she responded with a nice smile on her face asking if he wants to come over to her house for dinner at six. He said he would and noticed the unsaid promise in her eyes in her inviting him.

Back at his house, he had time to compose an e-mail. He was going to send it to the members of his graduating class at school because they had exchanged e-mail addresses with each other. In his e-mail, he brought them up to date on what he was doing and where he was doing it. He asked if they knew of any CPTs, probably retired, who might be interested in doing some part-time work via Skype or Zoom from their home supervising some physical therapists down here. If they did could they please send him information on how these people could be contacted? He thanked them for their help and wished them all good health.

Kyle also remembered Elena’s gate code which he was ninety-nine percent sure indicated today was her birthday. He stopped at a bakery and purchased a large cake and a box of candles. At her home and before going to her front door he went to the back door of her house and gave the cake and candles to the servants with instructions.

Elena answered the front door herself after he pressed the doorbell button. He entered and seeing no one else there he put his arm somewhat low around her waist and brought her unresistingly into his arms and kissed her.

Ending the kiss and reaching up to wipe some lipstick off his face she said. “Be careful, mom and dad are here.”

She showed him to the library and he accepted her offer of a drink.

Kyle greeted her parents and shook the President’s hand. This was the first time he had seen him in casual clothes. They had some conversation with Kyle saying Elena invited him for dinner after she cleaned his clock on the golf course. Kyle taking up the game of golf and his reasons for doing it were discussed. The topic then changed to Elena’s appearance on the television discussing the vaccination program.

The President said he had heard about the potential establishment of a CPT program and thought something like that was long overdue. He thanked Kyle for his volunteering to be involved in advising on that program’s requirements.

Kyle broke the news of exploring a physical therapist program and doing Skype type supervision of them in outlying areas.

He had their attention when he told them of Elena accompanying him on the party boat for some fishing and the reaction from the people on the boat when they discovered who she was. The President thanked Kyle for helping Elena have these ideas and her receiving the publicity in announcing them. He said Kyle was a good influence on her.

The dinner was good, nothing fancy but a nice casserole with some accompanying buttered asparagus.

Everyone there except Kyle was surprised when for dessert the cake was brought in with many lighted candles on it. Kyle started singing Happy Birthday and Elena’s parent’s joined in. Kyle could see that Elena was surprised. The smile she had on her face was something he captured with the picture he took with his cellphone.

After dinner, the parents said their goodbyes and wished Kyle better luck on the golf course. The President laughing told Kyle that next time to ask for more strokes.

Now that her parents had left the pressure was off. He sat with Elena on the couch with his arm around her. She thanked him for the cake and for figuring out when her birthday was. He commented that practically all the time it is her father who is doing the talking and that the mother is very quiet. Elena said that is true but her mother is wise and that she thinks the mother is starting to suspect something is going on between her and Kyle. Elena said that if she was asked, she would just tell her mother there was.