Page 16 of Gabe

Gabe crossed his arms over his chest, making him look even larger. Although I stood on the porch and his feet were planted on the ground, he barely had to look up to meet my eye.

“You promised to help Sebastian recover. You’re a physical therapist. It’s your job to help take care of people. Yet, you left the people relying on you alone and vulnerable so you could go shopping for junk. If you’re this irresponsible with all your patients, then healthcare probably isn’t the best career for you.”

We hadn’t known each other very long. Only a few weeks. Yet, somehow, Gabe knew exactly how to hit me where it hurt most. A literal stab to the chest would have been less painful. My job was one of the most important things in my life. Some days it felt like the only thing keeping me going. To say I didn’t deserve my job was basically the same as saying I didn’t deserve life.

He said it so matter-of-factly as well. I would have preferred if he screamed or got mad. Then I could excuse his statement as a fit of emotion.

But no.

He spoke calmly and disregarded my life’s work as if it were an obvious fact.

I stood frozen on the porch. A cool wind blew through the trees now that the sun had set, and goosebumps prickled my skin. Yet, I couldn’t even bring myself to move two steps into the warmth of the house.

“Hey, Frankie, you’re back,” Newt’s voice greeted me and broke the silence.

I turned away from Gabe and found my friend standing in the open doorway. The light from inside the house glowed at his back.

“Did you get the stuff? You were right. My idea with the chairs isn’t going to last. It’s almost fallen over twice now. I hope you were able to find something.”

He was smiling, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. I’d known the man long enough to recognize what was going through his head. He’d heard my argument with Gabe and was coming to my rescue.

The relief that filled my chest was so strong I nearly kissed him. Instead, I held up the bags still clutched in my hands. “Yep. Got it. The person at the hardware store gave me some ideas, too, so we should be able to come up with something.”

“Great.” Newt grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. “Come on. Sebastian is asleep right now, so it’s perfect timing. If we have to move him again it won’t cause him any pain.”

We brought the bags into the far bedroom where, just as Newt had said, Sebastian was deeply asleep. He was still on a lot of painkillers, and I was honestly surprised he managed to stay awake as often as he did.

We dumped the contents of the hardware store bags onto the floor and started sorting through the different bits and pieces. Thanks to the instructions I’d gotten at the store, it wasn’t hard to come up with a viable idea to replace the broken traction frame. The two of us sat on the floor like children putting together a puzzle. Through our efforts, little by little, the contraption started to take shape.

I was in the middle of struggling with a difficult screw that didn’t want to fit into place when Newt suddenly spoke up.

“I noticed you got some other stuff.”

“Yeah,” I said without looking up. The screw had just started to behave, and I didn’t want to let it get away from me. “Just some food and basic stuff, you know. To make living here a little more comfortable.”

“Great. I’m starving, and Sebastian is going to need plenty of good nutrition while he’s healing.”

The screw finally fell into place, and I laughed. “You and your freak of nature metabolism. I swear, Newt, your stomach is like a black hole.”

For the first time in several minutes, I looked up from our contraption, only to notice that Newt wasn’t paying attention to me. He was looking at something over my shoulder.

Craning my neck to look in the same direction, I saw Gabe standing in the doorway watching us with an unreadable expression on his face.

Not that it was different from his usual expression. His face was almost always unreadable.

“Do you mind?” Newt said, his voice flatter than usual. “We’re trying to get this finished before Sebastian wakes up.”

His hands were occupied holding the last pieces of our contraption together, so Newt stretched out his leg and closed the bedroom door with his foot.

Gabe didn’t say a word as it slammed in his face.

Newt didn’t ask me about the argument, and I didn’t feel inclined to talk about it either. We just passed each other an understanding smile and set to work finishing our project.

A few minutes later it was finally done. Sebastian’s leg was secured safely in the new traction frame, and he hadn’t even woken up when we made the transfer.

“Whew. Another crisis averted,” Newt said as we admired our handiwork. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”

“I know,” I agreed. “I think an early bedtime is calling my name tonight.”

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