Page 9 of Shielding Aubree

"No problem at all, Leon."

Ruben relaxed a little at the use of his Army name. Most of the time he felt like it was a better fit for him than his birth name.

"It's just that I've never seen you in here at this hour."

Ruben nodded, hearing the truth in the man's words.

"I met one of the new clients today. An officer with the State Police."

It only took a moment for Brick to recognize who it was. "Aubree Cueva. Injured in a car crash. Spinal injury and memory loss."

"She was touring the grounds with Henley today and we had a chance to talk." He shook his head. "Not really talk so much as get introduced to each other. I think I'm going to get her in the pool. At least she showed interest in the idea even if she can't swim."

Brick found that entertaining. Or at least his arched brow gave that impression. "You're up on your life guarding skills, right?"

Ruben nodded. "You know I'm certified in all of the necessary areas."

"And more, if memory serves."

And it did.

Ruben had gone in for advanced certification and training, taking his job at The Refuge very seriously.

"She had a walking device and didn't really use it until she was tired, but when they left, she was leaning on it quite a bit. I wanted to look at her medical records and make sure that I can do what's best to help her regain her strength and mobility."

Brick reached out and moved the file so he could look at it.

Ruben knew that Brick had already seen the file before, but there was no harm in letting him see it again, even if Ruben felt a pull toward Aubree. He knew that Brick was just trying to help.

Besides, there was nothing that said Aubree was going to work with him on the regular. She'd just promised to come down and try the pool. If that didn't work out, Brick would be involved in helping to design the best program to help her succeed.

"She had back surgery like you."

"Yeah, I saw that." Ruben used his fingertips to draw a paper out of the stack in the folder. A printed image of an x-ray post-surgery. "It doesn't look like mine where I'm basically a pin cushion, but she had two discs replaced."

Brick looked over the x-ray and nodded. "Did you see the photos of the accident?"

Ruben hesitated for a moment. "No. I didn't want to see... her in pain."

Brick picked up the file folder and turned to the back where they had a clasp closed envelope. "She's not in the photos, but I did ask her father to include photographs of the car." Brick released the clasp and slid the photos out a few inches.

Ruben watched his boss as he selected the photo he wanted to show him.

"Here."

Brick laid the photo out on the table and turned it so that Ruben was looking at it straight on.

As his eyes moved over the image, Brick explained what he was looking at.

"Her car went over an embankment off the side of the road. From the damage, it looks like it pitched forward landing on the front end and then fell forward, landing on its roof. The windshield, you can't see it in the photo, but it was cracked from top to bottom, spider-webbed across the surface. It's a miracle that it didn't splinter because she laid on the windshield for hours before she was found. I've seen windshield damage like that shred flesh, but somehow it held together.

"There's more about her accident, but that she'll have to tell you if she wants to. I just wanted you to see the physical damage to the car, so you'll know the physical aspect of her injuries. But we both know..."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg." Ruben finished Brick's thought. "Yeah. I know."

Brick clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We all know, Leon. I just wanted to remind you. I have a feeling that this client is going to be different from the others."

Ruben looked up at Brick as the other man stood and headed for the door.

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