Release (Off Balance 3)

Kova stood at the end of the table and pulled the tape off my calf and heel. He applied salve and massaged it into the sore muscle.

"Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No."

"I need an honest answer from you, Adrianna."

I stared at the white wall. "I have no pain, Coach."

His hands paused. "Why are you calling me Coach?"

"Because that's what you are."

"I have never just been Coach to you."

I kept my voice neutral and steady. "Well, that's what you are to me now."

His hands slowly moved up my calf like he was deep in thought. "I know you are angry with me, but I do need to know if your Achilles is acting up."

"Okay."

"Adrianna, I did not go through training for you to give me one-word answers and lie to me." His accent was so much stronger when he was annoyed. "I spent time and money learning to do this for you. It is important that I know."

There was so much I could say, but I wasn't going to.

"Okay, Coach."

Kova clucked his tongue under his breath. His hands pulled away and I heard the steel of the tools clash together. I knew he was frustrated with me.

Welcome to my life.

The chill of the metal touched my skin and I took a deep breath. This was going to suck, but on the plus side, I'd be ready and healed from the treatment for the meet this weekend.

Kova ran the concaved blade up and down my skin, pressing and smoothing out the calf muscle. After a few minutes, he said, "You are all red and inflamed." I didn't say anything. He moved down to my ankle and scraped around the hollow spots. "You are all gritty here…"

Kova didn't hold back, not that I expected him to, as he dug and cut into my skin like he was carving stone with a butter knife. I chewed the inside of my lip as I replayed my routines over and over in my head to block out the searing fucking agony. I swear, God hated me.

"You will be sore when I am done. Tomorrow we will go a little lighter with practice."

No, I needed the practice, the focus to take my mind off all the shit around me. "I'll take extra Motrin. Problem solved."

Kova paused. "You know you cannot have that while you are doing the plasma injections. No anti-inflammatory medication at all."

Shit

I'd forgotten I couldn't take it and I’d been eating it by the handful. When I didn't say anything, Kova tapped my leg with his instrument.

"You have not been taking it, right, Adrianna?"

"Nope," I lied.

He went back to treating me, this time pushing a little harder. I didn't flinch, but it hurt so fucking bad.

"You are lying to me."

"I'm not."

I glanced over my shoulder and watched him. Focused, Kova's perfectionist fingers peppered over the instruments. His thumb slid up and down the edge of one tool I remember his sexy doctor friend, Ethan, said is more defined to get deeper into the grooves to even out overworked spots. Basically, it was going to be agonizing.