Therapy

The new patient came in, limping slightly on his one crutch. Tammy check the chart that had all of his medical information in it: torn ACL. It was a tendon in the leg, and tearing it was a long, tedious recovery time. Despite that, the patient—Collin—was laughing and joking with the guy who was with him, probably his ride. They were both tall, muscular, good looking, and obviously Native American, though the one on crutches was obviously the more attractive of the two. His dark hair hung into his eyes, which twinkled with mirth as he shoved at his friend.

Tammy shook her head and stopped checking out the new patient from the reception area. She opened the door into the therapy area and cleared her throat. "Collin?" It sounded much more unsure than every other time that she brought a patient back, and she fought a blush.

Collin threw one last punch at his laughing friend before standing up and limping in. He barely looked in her direction as he passed her, suddenly becoming much more serious. That was fine with Tammy; not everyone liked having their muscles stretched and pulled and worked, especially when they were sore.

She led him into a spare room, grabbing the pillows off of the medical table and placing them on the counter before turning around. "Your therapist should be in-oh!" He was right behind her when she turned, and she nearly walked into him. "Sorry," she said, craning her neck back to see him. "Dean will be in shortly. You can have a seat."

The patient—Collin, she reminded herself—looked…shocked. His eyes were wide, and his jaw was hanging open slightly. He took a step even closer to her, but forgot to use the crutch, and stumbled forward slightly.

"Whoa, don't forget that crutch," Tammy chided, as if he were any other patient. As if he weren't staring at her like she had three heads. She grabbed his arms and supported him as she hauled him in the general direction of the table. Boy, was he heavy.

He shook his head and seemed to wake up. "Sorry." His voice was deep and rough, and seemed to reverberate in Tammy's chest. He pulled his crutch forward and took his weight off her, and Tammy reluctantly pulled her hands off his biceps.

She stayed and made sure that he made it onto the table safely before quickly exiting. What the heck was that? she wondered. Maybe he didn't see white people often? Maybe he was unfamiliar with the medical system?

When Dean was done with the examination, Tammy went in to go over his stretches and paperwork, as she did with all of the patients. Collin was lying on the table, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Does it always hurt this much, or does he not like me?" he asked her, half seriously.

"It'll hurt less once you start getting better," Tammy assured him. She felt oddly over sympathetic that he was hurting. "Do you want an ice pack?"

"Yes!" Collin burst out. "I mean, sure, thanks."

She smiled and left to grab one. By the time she got back, he had pulled himself into a seated position. "Here, prop your leg up on a pillow," she advised. She wrapped the ice pack around his calf. "Whoa, you're skin is so hot!" she said, surprised. "Did Dean work you too hard?"

Collin's head was leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. "No, it's fine." He reached out, his eyes still closed, and grabbed her hand. "See? I'm always like this. Genetic condition."

She gasped a little when he took her hand, her heart beat speeding up. He smiled a little.

"How did you get injured?" Tammy asked softly.

Collin stiffened a bit, and opened his eyes. "I was…chasing a criminal. A really bad guy. We were in the woods, and I wasn't paying enough attention. I slipped on a root and fell, and it snapped. The lee-the criminal got away." His jaw was stiff, and she wanted to reach up and smooth the lines at his forehead.

"It wasn't your fault," she said softly.

He frowned, but didn't disagree.

"Ok, well," Tammy struggled to regain her professionalism even as she noticed how nice it felt to hold his hand, how well they fit together. She reluctantly withdrew. "Dean showed you the stretches already, right? Here's a few sheets with instructions, just in case you forget, and a note for your employers. Do you have any questions?" He shook his head. "Great, then we'll see you next week."

"Wait!" he said as she went to leave. "Are you…what's your name?"

Tammy smiled and pointed at her name tag.

"Tammy," he breathed. She shivered involuntarily at the way he said it, like a caress. "Would you…would you want to have dinner or something?"

Tammy raised her eyebrows. First he's laughing, then he looks at me like I'm a lunatic, then we have a heart to heart and now he's asking me out? She couldn't keep up with his mood swings. Fortunately, she had an easy way out of this problem. "Sorry, I can't date patients. Medical ethics and all."

His expression fell as he nodded. "Right, of course. Would you, though, if I wasn't a patient?" There it was, hope shining in his eyes again.

He had her there. "Maybe," she answered truthfully. "But your ACL's practically shredded, so your recovery will take a few months at least. Especially if you keep forgetting that crutch," she said pointedly as he removed the ice pack and jumped off the table.

He grinned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, doc. I heal pretty quick, though. Should we plan on next Friday?"

She almost laughed at his audacity. "Next Friday? Why don't you get better first, and then we'll see."

"Alright, alright. I'll see you next week, Tammy." He held her gaze meaningfully before turning and limping out the door.

"Don't forget those stretches!" she called after him, once she could breathe again. Despite what she had told him, she checked his records for his age. He looked like he was 25, which was way too old for her mere 19. "He's only twenty," she muttered, surprised, then became angry that she was even considering dating a patient.

"How long're you out for?" Brady asked as soon as Collin came through the door of the waiting room.

"Therapist says three months. I'm hoping to ditch the crutch in a week," Collin said. "Dude, what were you reading?" He picked up the magazine Brady had just put down: Horses Illustrated. There was a large picture of a thoroughbred mid gallop on the front.

"Hey, they're majestic and stuff. It reminds me of my other half," he said, meaning his lupine side. "Let's get out of here. Sam wants an update when we get back."

Collin cast a glance back when they left, but couldn't find Tammy.

"Did you see the girl that brought me in?" he asked as soon as they got to the parking lot.

"Yeah, she was hot," Brady said. "Ow!"

"That's my imprint," Collin said, slapping the back of his head. "Hands off."

"Just saying. I wasn't going to hit on her or anything," Brady defended himself. "Wait, you imprinted? Who's going to go to bars with me when we turn 21?" Collin glared. "I mean, I'm happy for you and all, but you too? We're the two musketeers! Now I'll have to hang with Paul or something." He sighed. "So tell me all about her. Did the angels sing when you saw her face, etcetera?"

Collin laughed. "The angels did a frickin Broadway number. She's gorgeous, and nice, and funny. But she won't date me until the doc clears me, so we'll still be the two musketeers."

Brady rolled his eyes as he unlocked the truck. "Get in the car, man."

As soon as Tammy got home, she called her friend Rachel. She had been one of the first people Tammy befriended on the west coast, and her best friend over here. They had been roommates freshman year at school, and were inseparable ever since.

"I met a guy," she said immediately. "He's…fantastic, Rachel. He's really upbeat and funny, and he's sooo hot. And he asked me out."

"What? Tamora Lee Jones, when did all of this happen?" Rachel demanded.

Tammy giggled, which in itself was uncharacteristic, never mind becoming gaga over a guy. "This morning, at work. I don't know, there was just something about him. Though he was really weird at first; he stared at me like I was dancing the cha cha with a monkey. But then he became much more normal."

"So when are you going out?"

"When he's not a patient anymore." Tammy sighed. "I think." She hoped he didn't just hit on every female around. He could be out right now picking up a cashier as she bags his groceries, she thought. Then she shook her head. Even with all of his weirdness, there was too much genuine in his expression.

Thanks for reading! Reviews much appreciated!