Chapter 7 #2
Jorge pushed his jacket at him, then strode towards the kitchen.
Newt slung it over the banister, hoping it would fall off, except it didn’t, then followed.
The guy’s tattooed biceps were huge. Not something Newt found attractive.
The biceps, not the tattoos. He’d quite like a tattoo if he ever had money to spare.
“Morning, River,” Jorge all but shouted. “Ready to do some work? No pain, no gain! Up and at ‘em. What hurts you today makes you stronger tomorrow.” He clapped his hands.
Christ. There was no need to yell. Particularly not clichés.
River wasn’t deaf. Or stupid. Newt wasn’t sure whether to say anything or not.
Not about the use of clichés but the shouting.
River looked miserable as they made their way to the gym.
Jorge continued to offer encouraging remarks in much too loud a voice.
I have to say something.
“River’s not deaf,” Newt yelled as loudly as he could.
Both River and Jorge stopped walking and turned to look at him. River’s eyes were wide and he had a little smile on his face. Ah, maybe I was right. Not a bad night but anticipation of a bad morning.
Jorge didn’t say anything before he turned and continued towards the gym. Newt followed. At least Jorge kept his mouth shut.
Physio wasn’t something Newt knew much about, but it wasn’t comfortable watching River being hurt.
It made Newt clench his teeth until they squeaked.
Mild discomfort was one thing but doing something that caused a sharp pain didn’t seem right.
River was gasping and crying out as Jorge pulled and twisted his weaker arm, and all Jorge did was yell louder at him.
“Pull against my fingers. Pull! You’re not trying. Make the effort.”
River’s face was tight with discomfort.
Newt didn’t want to keep watching, but he did. He also surreptitiously recorded before Jorge noticed and told him to stop.
“I just wanted to see what to do,” Newt said. And it won’t be doing what you’re doing, dickhead.
River struggled with everything. The session on the treadmill almost ended in disaster when he tripped. Newt ran towards him but fortunately, Jorge was quick to stop the machine before River was thrown off, though he did end up on his knees.
“He’s fine. Stop panicking,” Jorge snapped.
“You need to take more care with him.”
The look Jorge shot him was one of pure menace.
By the time the hour was up, River was a sweaty mess on the treatment bed having his bad leg worked on, and Newt was seething. He couldn’t let Jorge leave without saying something.
“Stay here,” Newt told River as Jorge packed up his stuff and got ready to leave.
As Jorge headed off, Newt followed.
“There’s no need to shout at him,” Newt said when they reached the hall. “He’s not deaf or stupid.”
“He’s not trying.”
“Yes, he is. You can’t ask him to do more than he’s capable of.”
Jorge scoffed. “That’s the point of physio, to get him back to the way he should be.”
“At a pace that’s appropriate and suitable for the individual. You’re pushing him too hard.”
Jorge stepped right into Newt’s space and Newt stood his ground.
Though barely. “Are you a qualified physiotherapist? No, you are not. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
Keep your mouth shut and keep your hands off him.
” His eyes widened and he chuckled. “Oh, I get it. That’s your game, is it? ”
Newt felt a flutter of panic in his stomach. “What game? I have no idea what you mean. I’m employed to look after River. Housekeeper and speech therapist.” I’m not the latter, but you don’t know otherwise. “I can help him with his exercises. But I don’t like the way you treat him.”
“It’s physio. It hurts. Grow a pair!”
As soon as Jorge’s car was out of the gate, Newt returned to the gym. He found River lying just where he’d left him. He looked terrible. His face was white.
“He’s gone.” And Newt wasn’t going to let him come back. But since he couldn’t promise that, he didn’t say it. “Can I help you sit up?”
River nodded and Newt carefully supported him so that he could shift to a sitting position.
“I don’t like him,” Newt said. “He’s a bully.”
River gave a tired shrug.
“Is he why you were in a bad mood this morning?”
A nod was his answer.
“What do you want to do? Lie down upstairs for a while? Go for a swim? Swimming might help your muscles.”
River took a deep breath. “Riv…er. Newwt. Sss…sswoo.”
“Swim.” Newt exaggerated what River needed to do to say the word. “Swim.”
“Swww…swim.”
“Yes. Swim. Well done. We can go for a swim but I don’t have any trunks. I’ll have to wear my boxers, so I don’t make you green with envy.” Shit. Maybe that wasn’t an appropriate joke. It wasn’t as if Newt had a huge cock. He was just average. But River chuckled.
He lowered his feet to the gym floor and steadied himself before he tried to walk.
As River limped towards the door to the pool, Newt didn’t think he looked strong enough to swim.
He followed quickly, ready to catch him if he fell.
River opened the cupboard below the towels, pulled out two pairs of trunks and handed him a pair.
“Thank you.”
When River went into the bathroom to change, Newt quickly stripped and put on the swimwear. He had to wait a few minutes for River to emerge.
“No more than a hundred lengths,” Newt said.
At least that made River roll his eyes. He sat on the edge and slipped down into the water. Newt did the same. He didn’t take his eyes off River, nor did he stray far from his side. For a while, River did little more than float, so Newt floated with him.
“I want to tell Max what Jorge is like. I don’t think he’s good for you.
I know physio is a sort of necessary evil…
Maybe that’s not a fair description because I understand that it has to hurt a bit to get muscles working properly again, but Jorge’s attitude is wrong.
He shouldn’t be shouting at you. He should stop when you yell out in pain. Go more gently.”
River started to swim breaststroke down the pool and Newt swam alongside. Back at the shallow end, River stopped at the steps. He was breathing heavily and looked despondent.
“Ninety-eight to go.”
“Fuck off.”
Newt laughed. “Yeah. I couldn’t do that many anyway.”
River pointed to himself and gave a fierce nod.
“You could? Wow. Hey, you had a horrible accident. You have to give yourself time to get better. I know you’re frustrated. I would be too but you swam two lengths! That’s an achievement. Swimming is great exercise.”
River turned and tried to climb out of the water. He only got as far as the first step before his shoulders went down and he stopped moving.
“Let me help,” Newt said.
River was clutching tight to the rail and struggling to lift his right leg.
For a moment, Newt couldn’t figure out how to help him.
Push from the back, lift his right foot, or maybe get out of the water and pull him up?
In those few seconds of indecision, River slipped, falling back against Newt, sending them both under the water.
River flailed and hit Newt on the face. Newt pulled him up and made sure River had his feet firmly planted on the bottom of the pool before he let him go.
Newt blinked water from his eyes. “Still breathing?”
River lifted his hand, brushed Newt’s hair from his eyes and said, “So… So…” Then groaned.
The breath caught in Newt’s throat. Oh, you are so gorgeous. Newt couldn’t help smiling at him, but River didn’t smile back.
“Were you trying to say sorry or soap?”
River glared.
“So…ree,” Newt said. “So…ree. Sorry.”
“So…ree.”
Newt nodded. “You got it. Let’s try again. I’ll be right behind, making sure you don’t slip this time.”
River made it up the steps and Newt climbed after him.
He wrapped a towel around River’s shoulders before he put one around his own.
River looked so sad that Newt wanted to pull him into his arms and hug him.
But if he did, and River got shirty, that was the end of this job and Newt had to put that above everything else.
He’d never get another opportunity to earn this sort of money.
Not only that, but it would be a job that he could say he’d done when he applied for the next, even if he couldn’t say who he’d worked for.
Though Max might give him a reference. This job could change his life. And he wanted to change River’s.
“Want to go up to your room and have a shower?”
River nodded.
“I’ll bring your clothes.”
He followed River all the way. River was slow on the stairs and Newt stayed behind him, just in case.
When River reached his door, he took his clothes from Newt’s arms, gave him the towel from round his waist, then tipped his head to one side and closed his eyes.
A gesture that Newt took to mean he was going to rest or sleep.
“Good idea,” Newt said and went to his own room.
The first thing he did was send the video clips to Max. Then he showered and dressed. When he checked his phone, Max had texted Call me!
“What the fuck?” Max snapped.
“Sack him.”
“Already done. Why the hell has River not told the guy to fuck off? He managed to get rid of three speech therapists, two cleaners, two housekeepers and the occupational therapist. Most of them inside their first visit.”
“That’s impressive. But if he knows you’ve been paying Jorge, he was aware he couldn’t sack him. Just like me. I know physio is hard but River was in pain, proper pain, not just discomfort.”
“I saw. Jorge came highly recommended.”
“Who by? Attila the Hun?”
Max sighed. “Someone that I now suspect might have had an ulterior motive. I’ll be dealing with that arsehole, but River should have told me.”
“How? And maybe he thought it should hurt. He’d do anything to get back to where he was.”
“Can you get River to exercise until I arrange for someone new?”
“No problem. I’ll buy a whip off .”
Max ended the call still laughing.