This story is dedicated to Diane Hermans, thanks for the idea and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
-x-
Lucas Scott sat in the doctor's office waiting on the results of his CT scan from the injury he had sustained while at practice in the Royals Gymnasium. He had been goofing off with his best friend and teammate Jake Jagielski in a one on one match before the real practice began and had moved in the wrong way and pulled his thigh muscle. He ended up falling down and injuring himself more.
After hearing an earful about his reckless and irresponsible behavior from his father Daniel Scott, who was his father/agent, had him rushed to the nearest hospital to assess the damage.
"Hi I'm Dr. Jimmy Edwards and I've come with results." he said as he entered the room with a tablet attached to his hand. "Well Lucas sorry to say but you definitely have acute quadriceps tendonitis…see here there's the problem." he said as he highlighted the injury so Lucas and his parents could see the X-ray.
"What does that mean?"
"It means this isn't his first injury of this kind. Quadriceps tendonitis occurs most often as a result of repetitive stresses placed on the supporting structures of the knee. Running, jumping, and quick starts and stops contribute to this condition. Overuse injuries from sports activities are the most common causes of quadriceps tendonitis but anyone can be affected, even those who do not participate in sports or recreational activities."
Lucas rolled his eyes then said, "I had injured my left leg before but it wasn't serious so I kept it to myself—"
Dan looked as if he wanted to strangle Lucas but instead he turned to the doctor.
"How long will it take for him to return to full fitness Doc?" Dan asked as he stood beside his eldest son's bedside.
"The length of time that is required to return to full fitness will depend on the severity of the injury and whether or not it is a recurrent injury or a first time injury. For a first time injury, recovery may take 2 to 3 months. A longer term chronic, recurring injury may need 4 to 6 months."
"Are you kidding me?! That's the rest of the season! The Playoffs is coming up and I just earned the guys trust—" Lucas snapped, completely pissed that this quack was telling him that he would be benched 4 to 6 months.
"Is there something that can be done to shorten the recovery process?" Dan asked, not liking the news they received. "He's our star player and we need him—"
"It's not looking good. I'm sorry but there's no way that Mr. Scott will be able to come back in time of the Playoffs."
"Bullshit. I want a second opinion." Lucas said as he glared at the doctor.
Dr. Edwards ignored his comment and said to Dan, "I would suggest rest. However to speed up the healing process you should consider hiring a Physiotherapist. I know one that's perfect for the job and with her help it's possible for him to bounce back sooner…as for the pain I will write out a prescription for Vicodin. And you will have to take one pill every four hours."
Dan shook hands with Dr. Edwards and said, "Thanks Doc. However the team provides a Physiotherapist. But Lucas will do exactly as you ordered."
"Okay then Lucas will be discharged within an hour." he then left the room.
Lucas sat there mulishly. "I still want a second opinion."
"It's not as bad as we originally thought Lucas which you should be thankful for." Karen Scott, his mother and confidant, said as she rubbed his shoulder soothingly.
"What possessed you two knuckleheads to goof off in the gym anyway?" Dan asked in mild anger. "You were supposed to be getting ready for practice not slacking off—"
Lucas shot his dad a look of amused sarcasm, "I had no idea that keeping my skills afresh was considered goofing off. Remind me never to play outside of the real game."
"This is serious Luke! You could have broken your leg—"
"Yeah but I didn't! We were just having fun while sharpening our skills—"
Dan scoffed then said, "If you wanted to sharpen your skills—you should've played your brother. That Jagielski kid isn't in the same stratosphere as the two of you—"
"If he weren't one of the best then why did they draft him?" he asked with a smirk.
Dan shook his head, "Smartass. I'm going to go make some calls." Just before he got to the door, he paused. "Hey Luke…if you pull this shit again I will personally make sure that you will regret it. Got it?!"
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Yeah I got it."
"Your father's right…you just got here and you pull a stunt like this! Not telling anyone you injured yourself?! You could have ended your career like that!" Karen said with a snap of her fingers.
Two months ago Lucas had been traded from the North Carolina Bobcats to the Atlanta Royals which was his brother Nathan's team. At first everyone on the team hadn't taken a liking to him despite Nathan being his half brother.
They had heard about his bad boy persona and felt that he wasn't a good addition to their team. Unlike Nathan who is a upstanding guy that has a beautiful wife, Haley, and a son on the way, Lucas was a rumored ladies man, who could never really settle down. But nothing could be further from the truth. He came close once but Lindsay had other ideas, leaving him a note explaining why she couldn't be with him anymore.
She even used the 'it's not you…it's me' line…
If anything he was a loner. Sure women flocked to him after the game and tried to pass him their numbers but he wasn't into what they undoubtedly promised with their tight dresses and even tighter bodies. Nathan had even jokes that he might as well have been a monk since Lindsay.
Shaking his head to clear thoughts of his past, he looked at his mother and sighed, "I know it was dumb but we needed to cut loose a little…to remember just why we love the game, why we breathe the game, why we live for the game."
Karen patted his chest then said, "I understand. But you still have to be more careful. Anything could have happened to you and you could have lost everything…"
"I get it Ma…I won't do it again."
"Okay I got your walking papers right here…sign them and let's go." Dan snapped as he slammed the papers down in front of his son.
-x-
"Okay class today we're gonna start with the Standing Roll-Down. Stand with feet parallel, hip-distance apart. Inhale, then exhale while extending arms up and reaching through upper back. Inhale, then exhale and slowly roll down toward the floor one vertebrae at a time. Sit back as if sitting in a chair before reaching up and lifting heels. Return to standing." her instructor said while demonstrating the move. "I'll need you to do 5 reps of this exercise."
The entire class struggled to do most of the exercise but did as was instructed, all except Brooke Davis who loved fitness and felt that this was a breeze.
"Why are you even in this group? Obviously you're supposed to be in the advanced group instead." a curly haired blonde remarked while struggling with the exercise.
"I love fitness. I'm a physiotherapist. I work for the Royals organization. It's kind of demanding so I barely have the chance to come. That and the other classes were completely booked solid."
"Why not exercise at home like a normal person?"
Brooke looked at the blonde then shot back, "Why don't you?"
"Because if I worked out at home I would quit before the third rep." she said breathlessly, still struggling with the position.
Brooke giggled, "I'm Brooke."
"Peyton."
Brooke smiled, "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
The class did a brief cool down period then the instructor shouted, "Okay now it's time for the Dynamic Core Plank series. Walk hands out to plank position. Engage your abs to draw right knee into chest. Extend leg back, pointing toes to the ceiling and engaging glutes and hamstrings. Repeat for 5 reps. Then, bring right knee to left shoulder in the same manner for 5 reps. Finally, bring right knee to right shoulder in the same manner for 5 reps. Repeat entire series on the other leg. To modify, lower knees to floor and limit leg range of motion. I need 15 reps per side ladies!"
"Oh God it's official—she's trying to kill us." Peyton said as she did the exercise albeit flawed.
"You are really out of shape to be such a thin girl." Brooke remarked as she did the exercise easily.
Peyton smirked then admitted, "That's because I binge on pizza and gummy bears while watching old reruns of Sex and the City."
Brooke was liking this girl more and more. "Same. Only on my cheat day though which is on Fridays."
"You look like a girl that has a cheat day."
Just as Broke was about to respond a cell phone started going off. Brooke blushed as she heard the laugh of Goofy as he said, "Hey phones ringing come back come back wherever you are!"
"Who's phone is that?" Peyton asked with a laugh.
The instructor stopped and said, "I thought I made it clear that there were no phones allowed in this class?"
"It's mine…I'll go turn it off…"
Brooke hurried to her towel which held the device and was about to turn it off when she saw that there were ten messages waiting for her. Sneaking a furtive glance at the rest of the class she put the phone to her ear and listened to the messages after seeing that no one was paying her any mind anymore.
She cursed and gathered her things about to walk out but then remembered that she brought her personal mat. Brooke gathered her mat but not before Peyton whispered, "Where's Ms. Pilates going?"
"Work nosey. I'm on call so I have to go."
"If you're leaving then so am I." Peyton said as she gathered her skull mat.
Brooke chuckled softly then asked, "Why are you leaving—"
"Shh!" a nearly forty year old lady said while trying to concentrate.
Peyton glared at the woman and flicked her off and answered Brooke, "That's why. Besides I could barely stand this class anyway."
Outright laughing now Brooke grabbed the moody blonde and exited the class. They walked to the parking lot and paused just before the lot.
"I know this is strange but I have a good feeling about you…here's my card. Call me if you ever wanna hang out." Brooke said as she handed Peyton her card.
"I'm not a lesbian." Peyton blurted, then winced at how presumptuous she sounded.
Brooke laughed then said, "I didn't say you were and for the record neither am I. It's just that I barely have any friends here since I took the job two years ago and I'm pretty much desperate."
Peyton smiled at the candidness of the girl in front of her. "In that case…what the hell, why not. Call you later."
"Okay. Later."
An hour drive later Brooke was pulling into her assigned parking space in the garage and grabbed her purse before exiting and locking up her precious powder blue Beetle Volkswagen. Pulling up her chocolate colored locks into a high ponytail she made her way into the gym using her ID badge to gain access.
"Hey Brooke…you're here early." Pauly, the security guard, said as she flashed her badge.
"I know but duty calls." she said cheerfully.
Even though she hated being called in Brooke absolutely loved her job. Aside from the giant sweaty basketball players that she able to help on a daily basis, all of which she was completely professional with, she got free tickets to the games, close up seats—practically sitting in the NBA players laps she was so close, paid for travel and lodging when they played at the away games and she got to do what she loved which was to help someone after they had been told that it was hopeless. For some she was that last glimmer of hope.
Sometimes it got to Brooke that she had most of their careers in her hands, but thankfully she had a great track record for getting players back on their feet.
Brooke went straight to Coach Durham's office. As soon as she got there she found the owner of the Royals sitting behind Coach Durham's desk. Larry Sawyer was an all around nice guy and he wasn't like your typical team owner. He didn't just believe in his team, he made sure that they had everything that they needed and more. His only policy was no Royal staff member were allowed to date the players. From security to janitorial staff. He wanted no form of distractions unless the player had already been married and had a family.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked as she entered the room.
Larry nodded and tapped his nice Navy blue pen against Coach Durham's desk. "Yes I did…it's been brought to my attention that our newest star player has been injured as of this morning. You're familiar with Lucas Scott right?"
Brooke sat down and nodded, "Yeah I know of him sir." I know that he's a womanizing scumbag, she thought to herself. "He's an incredible player. What's the damage?"
"Straight to the point as always Ms. Davis. " he said with a friendly smile. "Apparently he and another player had been playing a friendly game of one on one before their official practice and his leg caved in on him causing him to have acute quadriceps tendonitis."
Larry tossed the file that Dr. Edwards had sent over containing Lucas Scott's X-Rays down on the desk with a loud clap.
"The reason I called you here is to formally let you know that you will be working with him exclusively until he is back on his feet. And I need him on his feet before the last practice is scheduled."
Brooke gingerly picked up the file and reviewed the notes that Dr. Edwards had jotted down and then looked at Larry, "Sir I have other patients—"
"They've been taken care of."
Brooke looked at him suspiciously then asked, "By who?"
"Erica Marsh will be taking on those cases."
Brooke shook her head, "Are you kidding me? She rushed through her own players, players who ended up retiring because their injuries weren't cared for properly! My guys don't deserve that—"
"See that's why you're the best we have Brooke. And Lucas is the best point guard we got. And those guys are mostly second string. I need you to work your magic on him. Can you do this?"
She recognized that look, he was digging his toes in and was not going to budge. "Okay I can handle it. But the body is unpredictable sometimes injuries take longer to heal and sometimes shorter. I guess we'll see which category Scott falls under."
Larry smiled and stood to his feet. "Great."
He then made a call saying, "Send him in Ellie." A few minutes later a burly brunette man walked into the office. "Brooke this is Mr. Scott's agent/father Dan Scott."
Brooke extended her hand with a pleasant smile, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Scott."
"We'll see."
Brooke retracted her hand and smoothed down her hot pink yoga pants, fighting the offense she was feeling.
"So is this the miracle worker that had gotten Tim Smith back in working order?" Dan asked as he observed her.
Larry nodded, "Yep Brookie here had practically healed his back injury in record time."
Dan looked at her, "Can I count on you to do the same with my son?"
"I have to review his injury a little more thoroughly before I can really say. But going by the X-rays I can probably get him back in the game within four months. It all depends on Lucas."
Dan smiled and looked at Larry then said, "I like her." He turned to Brooke and asked, "So when can you start?"
Brooke shrugged and said, "I'm free now."
"Fantastic." Dan handed Brooke the extra key card and said, "The reason that I'm giving this to you is so that you can let yourself in so that Lucas doesn't have to do any unnecessary moving around. He's staying in the Loews Atlanta hotel on the 35th floor. Room 3512."
Brooke was shocked that he was staying so close to her own room and had never once spotted him outside the arena. But she kept her thoughts to herself and said, "I will keep that in mind."
-x-
Lucas laid there on his back, staring at the ceiling while making full use of the free ipod dock by listening to his IPod on full blast, trying to drown out his own thoughts. Four to six months out of the game seemed like a death sentence to him. But his parents were right it could have been much worse. He could have been injured so badly that there wouldn't have been any way for him to come back from.
Basketball was his life.
He wouldn't even have had the dozens of women coming to see him on a nightly basis had it not been for the sport he cherished. And on top of that his teammates had just finally warmed up to him due to Jake and Nathan's help.
God when he first was traded to the Atlanta Royals in place of their star player Felix Taggaro, hardly anyone wanted to pass the ball to him—except Jake and Nathan. He chuckled recalling that the first time he had the ball firmly in his hand when he made a three pointer on his first shot. Despite winning the game the other players continued to give him a hard time.
He told himself that he didn't care. That this wasn't high school basketball this was the pros, his future was being set and he was getting paid the big bucks so he could care less about the juvenile games. He never once admitted that it bothered him. Even if it did.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard someone entering his room until a plain woman stood before his bed wearing hot pink yoga pants and a loose white T-shirt with a bag over her left shoulder as well as a table with wheels that she must have brought up with her.
"Why are you in my room?"
"Hi. My name is Brooke Davis I'm the team's on call physiotherapist. Mr. Sawyer and Mr. Scott sent me. I'm here to help you on whatever you need—" she blushed then rushed to say, "I meant that in the most professional way possible."
Lucas brow cocked at her rambling then said slowly, "Uh-huh…"
"I took a look at your file and I believe that I can help get you back playing before the playoffs." She said with a smile.
Lucas looked at her then said, "We'll see."
"You know your dad said the same when I met him…only he kinda made me a little bit intimidated when he said it." she said as she prepared for the session. "I'm gonna need you to get down to your underwear and I also need you up here."
Lucas began undressing right there in front of her, his eyes on her flushed face.
Brooke could not look away. He was in great shape, his lithe body packed with lean muscle encased in tanned skin. She cleared her throat then asked professionally, "So how did this happen?"
"My leg caved in while I was playing with Jake." he said as he carefully got on the table and then laid back.
"Ah Jagielski…he's a nice guy. Had him a few times. He was my first client when I took the job. He had pulled a hamstring, a year later he had a back injury. But after months of physical training and massages he was back on the court." she said as she warmed up the massage oil.
"What are you planning on doing?" Lucas asked as he observed her movements.
Brooke thought his nervousness was cute and said, "Just a massage today…to get your body used to my hands."
Did every word that came out of her mouth have to sound so…sexual?
"I meant that—"
Lucas couldn't help but laugh, "In the most professional way. I know."
"So how did you get into the NBA?"
"Well as you know my Dad's our agent and my mom used to cheer so naturally I really had no choice in the matter…my whole life revolves around basketball. Same story with Nathan."
"You two are the same age right? How did that work?" she asked as she kneaded the tender muscle deeply.
"Dad used to be a big basketball star in his day and he was also a womanizer… he got my mom pregnant one lucky night and Deb the following week." he then chuckled then winced as she began kneading his leg, right to the muscle. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I feel like I'm being interviewed or something."
"I'm just curious about you. I want to know all the deep dark secrets of Lucas Scott. You know seeing as you're new and all." she said as she worked out his quadriceps.
Lucas groaned in both pain and pleasure. "Well I'm curious about you too Brooke Davis."
"What do you want to know?"
He watched her work his legs and asked, "How old are you? Because you seem like you're a little young to be in this field."
Brooke shot him a look then said, "I'm twenty three not six."
"I didn't mean that. I just thought that you were eighteen." he said sheepishly.
Brooke smiled, "Well I already know you're twenty-five because of your file…what's your favorite thing about your career?"
Lucas chuckled, "Besides doing what I love? My favorite thing about it is I get to travel all over and meet our fans. They craziest and coolest things about them is that they know our stats like the back of their hand. I remember this one guy walked up to meet while I was getting coffee and he told me that he was glad that I came to the Royals because he'd been my fan since I was playing college basketball and now he didn't have to feel divided anymore because his favorite player was now on his favorite team."
"What about you? What's your favorite thing about your job?"
"I love that for some I give them hope. I love being the third opinion and watching them succeed in their healing. There's nothing better than that." Brooke said with a small smile while having a distinct feeling that they were going to get along just fine.
-XxxX-
Well that's the first chapter. I hope that you liked it and be sure to review. Deuces.
