Page 68 of Crashing into Love

“It’s got flavor: some balsamic marinade thing. But that can’t help the fact that it’s made of rubber.”

“Ahhh… the hotel room service rubbery chicken; dinner of champions.”

That made Selma laugh, which made Drew smile.

“What did you have for dinner?”

“Salmon. Lemon sauce thing. It was overcooked, but not bad. Salad with that.”

“Broccoli,” Selma said of her dinner and held up a piece of broccoli on her fork.

“Gross. I hate broccoli.”

“Really? I love it. I really like it with cheese, but I’ll settle for just some flaky salt and maybe some lemon if it’s cooked right.”

“Is that one cooked right?”

“God, no,” Selma replied with a little laugh. “I think they shoved it into some boiling water, forgot about it, then gave it a sprinkle of salt and prayed I wouldn’t complain about it.”

“Are you going to?”

“No, I’m too tired. And you get what you get in hotels like this sometimes, you know?”

“I do know; comes with the traveling-a-lot territory.”

“So, how was it today? Good to be back?” Selma asked.

“It was good until I worried I’d hurt my knee again,” Drew answered. “I didn’t. Everything is still normal. It’s all in my head. But I can’t get my head to move the hell on.”

Selma turned toward the phone and dragged her tray of food over the bed so that she could look more directly at Drew than before.

“It’s because it matters a lot now.”

“What does?”

“You made it. You’re back. It’s about to happen for you; another chance at the Olympic gold medal you probably should’ve gotten last time had it not been for some young hotshot who thought she could get by the more experienced and much faster boarder.”

Drew smiled at that.

“You’re worried about your knee causing you problems when it matters, so it’s manifesting physically, that worry,” Selma added. “Have they shown you the X-rays or MRIs?”

“Shown me the images? I guess after my surgery, they did, and then a few months ago. Why?”

“Ask them to show you everything they have from the most recent scans so your mind can see that there’s nothing in there to cause the problem.”

“Are you a doctor or something, too, and you didn’t tell me?” she teased.

“No, but I read a book by this sports psychologist once who talked about how athletes sometimes have a hard time believing when they’re no longer hurt. She suggested something like that. Seeing is believing, right?”

“I guess I can ask.”

“Oh, and have them explain it.”

“Explain what?”

“What the injury was, what they did to repair it, and how it’s not there anymore. That helps, too,” Selma suggested.

“Okay. Well, maybe I should just buy this book and read it myself.”

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