As soon as she steps away, I lighten up on the exercises. I do the required reps, but don’t do them nearly as hard. Marven didn’t have me do any of this stuff, and already I can feel the ache in my healing muscles.
But even though I let up a little, I’m still breathing hard when I’m done. “I’m finished,” I tell her in between pants.
“Great.” She’s looking at a machine, her back to me, but talking to me. The way she’s bent over, her scrubs are pulled taut across her ass, and I know I’m drooling. “Give me another set since you didn’t push all the way through that last one.”
“I did all the reps,” I tell her stubbornly.
She stops what she’s doing and turns back to me. Her lips are set, and it makes me miss her easygoing smile that I’ve become accustomed to. “Yeah, I know you did. But did you push yourself or did you slow down?”
“I slowed down,” I tell her quietly. Even saying it, I’m embarrassed. This isn’t me. I don’t normally half-ass things. So why am I half-assing this? Something this important. Normally I’m the one that puts in one hundred and ten percent all the time.
She’s just staring at me, and I don’t argue with her. I sit down and start pumping my legs, pushing the weights again. I give it my all, and by the end of it, I’m dripping sweat, but I did the set she wanted plus an extra one… all at full force.
It’s a hard session, and I’m drenched when it’s over. I figure we’ve got to be square now since she pushed me hard, she made me pay, and now we can get back to talking.
I’m toweling off the sweat pouring down my face and neck. My shirt is soaked, sticking to my skin, but she’s not even looking at me. I know she noticed that I put the work in. She had to. She doesn’t seem the type to miss a thing. But I’m disappointed when all I get from her at the end of the session are three words. “Okay, you’re done.” No good job. No see you tomorrow. No ice it. Nothing. Just “Okay, we’re done.”
Karly
It’s hard to remain angry with Jason even though I feel he deserves it. He’s obviously making an effort. His cocky smiles and the way he’s always watching me has my heart racing, and I’m not even doing anything to warrant it. But now, well, I know I need to just keep this whole thing professional. Even if I want to smile back at him, give him a high five or something, I know it’s only going to open up the lines of communication – and flirting. And I can’t have that. When he was Marven’s patient, I felt I could relax a little bit and be myself with him. Now that he’s officially my patient, I can’t forgive him, or it would be too easy to go back to flirting. The nurse in charge would love to catch wind of that.
I can’t help being proud of Jason for pushing as hard as he did. I want to praise him, but even doing that seems like it would just lead into some more talking and possibly flirting. No, I’ll just have to note all his hard work in the chart, and I’ll make sure his meals will provide extra protein and carbs for energy through talking to my friends in the kitchen. It’s not nearly what I want to do. I want to hug him and reassure him that everything’s going to be okay. But of course I can’t. Not now.
7
Jason
I’m feeling stronger and more energetic even though the last three sessions with Karly have been so challenging. She’s much more stubborn than I initially thought because she hasn’t warmed up to me one iota.
The doctor comes to see me in my room and looks over my notes. Normally, I have a gazillion questions for him, but now I find myself looking at my watch. I have a therapy appointment with Karly soon, and I don’t want to be late.
The doctor hangs the clipboard back on the wall. “You’ve really improved, especially in the last little while. I think it’s time we get you home. What do you think, soldier?”
I should be excited. Heck, I want to be home. But I’m already starting to sweat at the prospect of leaving here. Everything is going to be so different. I won’t be able to do even half the things I used to do. And what about Karly? How am I going to get better if I’m not seeing her? I mean for therapy, of course. “I’m done with physical therapy?” I ask, glancing at the cane next to the bed that I still have to use.