Page 20 of Merry with a Captain

“What?” she said. “I, well, I guess this is later isn't it? What a surprise. I didn't know you were getting physiotherapy.” She sat at the desk beside his chair.

He was a little stunned and wasn’t sure what to think.

"You're the last person I expected to see. What happened to Matthew?" Fletch asked her.

"He's the reason I was called me back from Savannah. He left, leaving us short staffed.” She turned to the tablet and typed. “Let me bring up your file.”

"Well lucky for us he left, unlucky for your clinic,” Fletch commented and watched her read his chart. “Is this weird?"

"How do you mean, me being your physiotherapist? Or that this is another way we have bumped into each other?" She smiled and rolled her chair so she was in front of his knees.

"Both I guess."

“Well, ethically, I'm not supposed to treat you since we are in a relationship." She smiled at him. "So, that being said, after today, I will have to find you another physiotherapist."

He nodded. "I understand that."

"I've glanced your file, and I see that you had an injury. I’m impressed. You've done a really good job at hiding it from me. Normally I can pick up on issues, and there were a couple of times where I wondered if you had pain, but then you rolled right along."

"High pain tolerance." He smiled. "But, I did something this morning that seemed to stir it all back up again."

“Tell me. Stand up so I can see.” She stood, and he groaned as he got to his feet. “Eesh, I can see that. Okay come out here. I want to see you walk.”

She led the way from the exam room into a larger exercise area.

"Walk away from me and turn around and walk back. And don’t try to hide any pain or fix your gait. I need to see how you move."

He chuckled. “You want to see how I move huh, or is it just wanna stare at my ass?” He was careful to keep his voice low.

She glanced around, an alarmed look on her face. “Shh, and this is exactly why I can't treat you. Now, hush, and do as you're told."

“Sorry, I forgot.” He turned and did as she instructed, but this time he didn't try to hide his discomfort.

"Now back to me. Stand with your arms hanging loose at your side."

"Matthew didn't do much of this. He just wrenched my leg around,” he told her.

"Perhaps that's why he's no longer here. Now, I’m going to touch you so don't jump."

"I'm not sure why your touch would make me jump. But okay.” He stood with his arms relaxed at his side, and when she touched him, he didn't jump, but tingles rippled along his skin and goosebumps rose on his arms. This was different a touch than what he was used to. It was inquisitive with a gentle firmness. She manipulated areas of his back, and down to his hips.

"All right, let's go back in the room." Once inside, she indicated the bed. "Lay down your back."

Fletch didn't say anything and got into a comfortable position, raising his legs for her to put the triangle shaped pillow under his knees.

"I'm gonna raise the bed and start working on your leg and hip. Let me know if there's any pain.” She lifted his leg, and he held it up. "No, relax into me. Don't stiffen."

It was difficult for Fletch to relax his leg and let her take the weight of it. But when he did, he saw just how strong she is.

“Okay?” she asked.

Fletch nodded. “Yep, but it’s not too pleasant.”

"I know, I'll do some ultrasound work in a minute, but it's important that we work on your flexibility, balance, and agility. It could take a while, so you have to be patient.” She slowly lowered his leg on the table, removing the pillow. "On your side."

The next half hour she worked on him, and he thought he'd be bruised and battered, but he had to admit, it did begin to feel a bit better. He almost fell asleep when she did the ultrasound.

“Right, you're all done, so you can go out and make your next appointment. But it can't be with me. I regret it as much as you do, but we have rules.” She tossed the towel used to wipe off the gel into the basket.

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