A Shattered Moment (Fractured Lives 1)

“Bless you. I don’t think Jake would keep me around if I needed to be rolled into the office.”

I couldn’t help laughing in agreement. Jake wasn’t some asshole dictator like her joke made it seem. He was just all about fitness. “I’m sure that would never happen.”

She laughed, too. “Only because he would be lost if he had to do all the bookkeeping. You can go on back now.”

Adjusting my cane, I headed through the door to the large physical therapy room where Jake normally worked on my leg. With all the different machines and contraptions, the wide-open room looked like a combination dance and Pilates studio mixed with a gym. I grimaced looking at the padded tables that lined the far wall. During my last visit, I’d lain there with an electric muscle stimulator attached to my leg. The idea of electronic impulses stimulating my muscles turned out to be less painful than it sounded, but I still found the vibrating, tingling sensation unpleasant. Hopefully, I would be spared that torture treatment today.

“Hi, Mac,” one of the other therapists called out as I passed. She was working with an elderly man on the rowing machine.

I waved to her. “Hey, Grace. How are the girls?” I learned a lot about each person that worked in the office by listening, even if I hadn’t engaged in much conversation.

“Growing like weeds. Thanks for asking. They’re with their dad this week, so the house is pretty quiet.”

I set my bag and cane on the long counter on the opposite side of the room. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I asked, going to the mats on the floor where I knew Jake would start me off with stretching.

She laughed. “I never thought I would say it about my babies, but after having them home for Thanksgiving break, the silence is a little nice.”

“Nothing wrong with that, honey,” the elderly gentleman piped in. “Beth and I love our grandkids, but we thank God Almighty every time we send them home.”

“My darling, Mac. How’s it going today, girl?” Jake bellowed, entering the room as the three of us laughed. “Did I just walk into the Twilight Zone or something? What’s so funny that even my lovely Mac is laughing?” he asked, hunkering down on the mat by my feet. He grasped my bad leg at the ankle and lifted carefully as I lay on my back.

“You know the routine. Take a deep breath and exhale as I lift.” I grimaced as he pushed against my leg to stretch my hamstring. “That’s good, Mac. And back down. So, what was so funny?”

“Grace was just telling us about how nice and quiet her house is.” I gasped slightly as he repeated the stretch on my other leg.

“She was, huh?” He looked at me for a second in the same surprised fashion Mary had. Jake had more success at getting me to talk during our visits, but he hadn’t seen me actually engage in conversation with anyone in the office other than him. “Don’t let her fool you. By the end of the week, she’ll be moping around.”

“Not this time. I’m going to binge on Game of Thrones and eat all the food the girls normally won’t eat,” Grace called out.

Jake looked at me, shaking his head. “Sounds like a plan.” Grace and her husband had split up during the summer after ten years together. They were still trying to work out the kinks and custody headaches. Being shuttled back and forth every other week between parents didn’t sound like an ideal situation to me if I was a kid, but what choice did they have? None, I guess. Thank God Mom and Dad had never put me in that position.

“You seem more sore than usual,” Jake commented as I continued to grimace while he twisted and stretched my bad leg. “You overexerting yourself in other ways I need to know about?”

I choked, sucking in a deep breath as an image of what Bentley and I had done in his apartment the other night flashed in my head. I rolled to my side coughing, while Jake patted my back.

“Whoa. You okay, girl?” He helped me to my feet so we could move to the next exercise.

I cleared my throat, shuffling slowly behind him since walking without my cane took more effort. “I, uh. No. I’ve just climbed more stairs since I last saw you.”

“Really? What is that, two times now?”

“Three. The theater, a basketball game at the arena, and I climbed the stairs at Bentley’s apartment the other day.”

“Wow. Okay, how was the leg afterwards?” He slid my foot into the harness of one of the leg exercise machines.

“The stairs at the apartment made me pretty sore, but not intolerable. It definitely wasn’t as bad as the arena and much better than the theater.”

“That’s great. I don’t want you to overdo it, but it’s good that you’re pushing yourself. I can tell by the way your calf muscle is developing that your leg must be getting stronger. We’ll do some work with the weights to see just how strong.”

“Oh joy.” I had a hate-loathe relationship with the weights. They hated me and I loathed them.

Jake chuckled. “You’re cracking me up today. I like this happier, more talkative Mac. Things must be going good with Bentley.”

“Yeah, it’s good.” Jake kept up a running commentary as he put me through the paces on each machine. By the time we were done, my legs felt like cooked spaghetti.

After confirming my next appointment with Mary, I headed to my car, still sweating profusely. I caught my reflection in the tinted windows. It was never a pretty sight after my therapy sessions. My hair was stuck to the back of my sweaty neck and my face was a red blotchy mess.

If Bentley saw me now, he’d probably rethink the whole love thing. Since his bold declaration the other day, he continued to be open about his feelings. He wasn’t pressuring me in any way, but I could tell he was disappointed I hadn’t returned the sentiment. It wasn’t that I didn’t have strong feelings for him. I just couldn’t bring myself to say it.