Page 36 of Fixation

“You arenotan invalid,” she stressed.

Shit, he was once again speaking his thoughts aloud in her presence.

“Alright, the only way to do this is to check how well you can stand without support,” she said, her tone cool and detached.

“Don’t,” he said.

She raised a brow.

“Don’t behave distant, Reina,” he said quietly. “Not when I need you. I’m scared.”

Her face softened. She moved in front of him. Taking the remote, she lowered the bed and made it fully upright. She signalled Stefan who came to stand next to her.

“Take my hands,” she said. “Use them to stand.”

He stared at her hands, swamped with worry. What if he couldn’t stand again? What if he couldn’t be himself again? What if he actually became an invalid?

“You won’t know until you try,” she coerced gently. “Mr. Oshnov, take your time, but wearedoing this right now.”

He took her hands, ignoring the familiar spark. Instead, he focused on moving his legs until they were dangling from the bed. He shifted further, letting his feet touch the ground. Gripping her hands tightly, he stood.

His head swam, and he fell forward. He shut his eyes. Stefan immediately caught his shoulder, straightening him.

“Give it a moment. You will be fine,” he heard her soft voice, “You’re standing after several days. It’s just a head rush.”

Gaining confidence from her assurance, he opened his eyes slowly. He stared at her beautiful face. She gave him an encouraging smile. Squeezing his hands, she backed a step. He followed. Pain shot through his leg. He winced but continued walking with her slowly despite the discomfort. Letting go of one hand of his, she turned and walked him back to the bed. God, how hard was it for him to even walk a few steps back to the bed!

“That’s enough for today,” she told him.

“You did well, Sir,” Stefan gave him a winning smile.

Vedant sat on the bed, his leg aching and shaking from all the effort. He pressed a hand to his trembling leg, feeling drained by this little movement also.

Seeing his discomfort, Reina said, “You will get better soon. We will start your physio sessions from tomorrow. You have already made good progress today, much better than my expectation.”

His chest soared. He was going to be fine. Today was just the first step. He would be fine. A yawn slipped out of his mouth. He felt exhausted.

She turned to Stefan. “You have the exercise chart I’ve given you, correct? We do the exercises thrice a day, morning, afternoon, and night. And the ointment needs to be applied on both his scars three times a day. Got it?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Stefan grinned. He helped Vedant settle on the bed and rubbed the ointment on his wounds. Once done, he said, “Shall I go fetch Laila now?”

“Yes.” When he turned to leave, she said, “Actually, no, I’ll take over from her.”

Once Stefan left the room, Reina rounded the bed, lifted her glasses from the floor where they’d fallen off earlier and put them back on her nose. He hated that she chose to hide behind them. One day, he hoped she’d tell him why. After hearing Laila mention that she had defied her senior’s orders for him, he was even more curious about her. He yawned, again. He wanted to ask her so many questions, but now was not the time.

She neared him. “Rest.”

“Thank you for allowing me access to my phone.”

She shrugged. “Tyrion requested me if I could, and it has been two weeks since your surgery. I think it’s safe for you to slowly get back into your earlier routine now. My only request is to not overdo anything.”

He smiled and then said, “Reina, I also have a request.

“It’s Dr. Singh.” She rolled her eyes.

“But I like your name. It’s pretty, just like you are.”

“Arguing with you gets me nowhere. Fine, call me Reina.”

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