15. Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Cal
I was screwed. Avery had worked overtime to flood the online review sites.
My skin crawled every time Dr. Cardoso touched me. Go anywhere else.
Arrogant. Doesn’t listen to patients at all.
I cried after every session. Don’t make the same mistake.
I kept scrolling, my stomach turning with each lie. But then, I came across three five-star reviews posted yesterday:
Dr. Cardoso is a great guy. I’ll visit him anytime I need PT.
Best PT I’ve ever known.
You’d be stupid to go to anyone else.
I scrolled down. Several more five-star posts broke up Avery’s hate rants. But even with the positive feedback, my overall rating had dipped to two-and-a-half stars. I rubbed my forehead. At this rate, Adam wouldn’t give me until the end of the month to fix things. I needed to talk to Avery ASAP.
Someone knocked on my office door, and I tensed. Adam wasn’t expected for another hour, but maybe he’d come in early to fire me. Then again, the knock had been gentle. Adam would have just thrown open the door and told me to get my ass out.
“Come in.”
Cammie walked into my office and pulled the door closed behind her. “You saw them, huh?”
I nodded.
“Well, at least you got a few good reviews as well. Too bad it didn’t help much.”
“Hurt is more like it. I think the good ones pissed off Avery more.”
“Yeah, but it got me thinking. Your patients love you, Cal. If I told them what was happening, I’m sure they’d all write you glowing reviews. Avery is one person. Plus, none of her reviews have a real name and photo attached to them. They’re all anonymous or use letters or made-up names.”
“Adam would fire you if he heard you begging my patients for reviews.”
“So, I won’t call from the office.”
“Which means you’re calling them on your own time and getting their numbers from their charts, which raises a ton of patient privacy issues.”
She waved her hand. “This is Peace Falls. I see a patient whenever I go anywhere. All I have to do is tell them to spread the word, help some of the older ones set up a review account, so they can post, and I’m confident we can bring up your ratings. Dr. Cohen isn’t in until nine. You could ask Rowan when she gets here. I’m sure she’d give you a glowing review.”
I cleared my throat. “Um, I’ll think about it. She’s still in treatment.”
Cammie raised her eyebrows at me. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said shuffling a random stack of papers on my desk. “Can you scan these scripts into the system for me?”
“I would if they were scripts and not the productivity report Dr. Cohen asked me to put on your desk.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Why wouldn’t you ask Rowan for a review?”
“It wouldn’t be appropriate. At least not until after we finish our sessions.”
“My hairstylist asked me for a review. I don’t think she meant it to be the end of our professional relationship.”
“She’s also my neighbor.”
“All the more reason she’d write you a review, Cal. Or are you afraid she’d write something bad?”
Judging by the sounds she made when she came, I think I did alright.
Though I’d kept that last thought to myself, Cammie let out a sigh. “You owe me five bucks,” she said and slunk out of my office.
I couldn’t remember borrowing money from Cam, but I pulled a twenty from my wallet, walked to the reception area, and dropped the bill on her desk just as Rowan arrived.
“I said you owed me five,” Cammie said and pushed the money back at me. “I wasn’t about to risk a twenty on your impulse control.”
Rowan’s eyes widened and her face turned bright red.
“Are you ok?” I asked, reaching for her.
She took a step back and cleared her throat. “I’m fine, Dr. Cardoso. Should we get started?”
My stomach sank. Rowan looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor. I’d gone back and forth a hundred times yesterday about whether or not I should walk down the street and knock on the Stevens’s door. I knew Rowan and I needed to discuss what happened, but I didn’t know what to say. Usually, I set expectations before things got physical. I was down for a casual hookup, if she was, especially since we couldn’t seem to keep our hands off each other, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or make her recovery more difficult. I’d hoped to get a read on how she felt during our session, but judging by how uncomfortable she looked, we needed to clear the air right away, without Cam pretending not to eavesdrop.
“Let’s warm up with stair training,” I said, holding open the glass door.
Cam looked like she wanted to lean over the desk and smack me. She and I both knew stair training wasn’t part of Rowan’s treatment plan, and rarely something I did on the actual stairs. We had a step box that achieved the same exercise without risking a fall down a stone staircase. If Cammie suspected something was off between Rowan and me, I’d just confirmed it.
“You can leave your things here,” Cammie said to Rowan with a smile.
Rowan handed over her large bag, which meant she planned to return to the office after our conversation. I smiled at her as she walked through the door, but her face remained blank. Once we were out of sight of the glass door, Rowan whirled around and shoved her finger in my chest.
“Did you also have a bet with Cammie about when you’d take your physical therapy out of the office?”
“What?”
“You know,” she said, motioning her hands over my body, “ physical therapy.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. She was so adorable when she was flustered.
“I’m glad you find this amusing,” she said, her eyes growing watery.
“No, Rowan.” Before I could stop myself, I pulled her close. She was stiff in my arms at first but then melted against me with a shuddering breath. My chest tightened. I’d hurt her, that much was clear, but I had no idea how or why she thought I’d made a bet with Cam.
“Cammie said I owed her five bucks, so I paid her. I don’t know anything about a bet. I assumed I borrowed cash from her at some point and forgot to pay her back.”
“Did you tell her what happened between us?”
“No,” I said. “Why would I?”
I thought that’d put her at ease, but she tensed in my arms and took a step back. “Of course,” she said, wiping her eyes. “So, stairs.”
“I’m sorry. I should have stopped by yesterday.”
She waved her hand. “I misread the situation. Of course, you didn’t tell Cammie about what happened the other night. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”
“About that,” I said, taking a step closer. She straightened her spine, and all the warmth bled from her mossy green eyes. Everything stopped. My feet. My breath. I swear my heart stuttered. I backed away from her and pulled my tablet from my scrubs. “Let’s see how you manage a flight or two before the heat mat.”
She nodded and dutifully walked to the top of the stairs. On the rare occasion I did this type of exercise, I stayed beside the patient in case they needed help. This time, I remained on the top floor and watched her work down a flight, turn on the landing, and climb back up.
“Should I go again?” she asked, slightly out of breath.
“No, that’s good.”
She walked past me without a word, and I followed her into the office. Cammie looked between us and frowned. Rowan shuffled to the first table and laid face down. I ignored Cam’s frantic hand gestures summoning me to her desk and grabbed the heat mat instead.
“Are you ok?” I asked, placing the mat on Rowan’s back.
She closed her eyes. “I’m fine. Let’s just forget about the other night and focus on fixing my back.”
Which would be the sensible thing to do. Instead, I pulled the stool as close as I could to the table and took a seat beside her. “You know, when I was a kid, I never would have imagined I’d become a physical therapist.”
She opened her eyes but didn’t say anything. I figured that was enough permission to keep talking. “I switched between wanting to be a professional football player and a firefighter until I was twelve. Then, I decided I’d get a business degree and join my old man’s real estate firm if pro-ball didn’t work out. When I didn’t get recruited for college, I knew my chances of joining the NFL were slim, so Dad and I had a long talk about the work he did, and the classes I should take.” I stopped and took a deep breath. “Then, I shattered most of my right side in the accident.” Her eyes softened, and I had to fist my hands on my knees to keep from reaching for her. “The doctors said it’d be unlikely I’d ever walk without a limp. I went through four surgeries, and after each, I’d go to physical therapy. At first, I didn’t work very hard. Then, after I got Skye, I wanted to be able to run with her, so I did whatever the therapists asked, then I asked them for more. Little by little, I got stronger. Eventually, I could walk again. Then walk without a limp. By the time I finished PT, I could run, and I knew exactly what I wanted my life’s work to be. My dad supported my decision all the way, and I’ve never looked back.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Cardoso,” she said closing her eyes again. “You keep training Chris, and I’ll keep attending my sessions.”
“I didn’t tell you that story because I’m worried about my job,” I said. “There’s only one reason I ever talk about that time in my life.”
I waited until she opened her eyes again to continue. “Sometimes I tell patients who are struggling, the ones who can’t push through the pain to do the work they need to improve. But that’s not you. From day one you’ve been motivated to get better.”
She nodded. “So why tell me?”
“Because” I said. “I want you to know me. I want to tell you things I’ve never told anyone. Like how when the classes got really hard in college, I thought about Logan. He wanted to be an oncologist, and he would have been a great one. He was the smartest person I’ve ever known. He would have helped so many people, but he didn’t have a chance. And for whatever reason, I did. So, instead of getting upset when I thought I had more work than I could do, I brewed some coffee, which I hate, by the way, and studied harder. I want you to know that. And I want to know more about your dad, and if it ever gets easier to miss someone. I want to know everything about you. I’m not sure what that means. You’re still my patient. And you’re only here temporarily, but I like spending time with you. I hurt you this morning, and I never want to do that again, so I guess I’m asking what I need to do to make things ok.”
She smiled. “I think you just did.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but you should know,” I said, leaning close and lowering my voice. “I don’t do relationships. Not since—” Not since my last one caused the accident. “I can’t. Not that you’re even looking for that, but whatever happens between us has to be casual. I should have said something before we did anything, but when I’m with you—” I stopped, feeling myself grow hard. “The things I want to do with you.” I shook my head and blew out a breath, attempting to stop the rush of memories, some of which involved a certain pair of lace panties. “By the way, you’re never getting your underwear back.” Rowan gave me as startled look, then giggled. My dick made a valiant effort to push through my scrubs to find her.
“This blanket is stifling today,” she said and fanned her reddening face.
“I’m going to roll this stool away and think about my great-aunt Martha, so I have myself under control before my boss arrives. If you have a saggy uncle, I suggest you do the same.”
She laughed and the weight that had been pressing against my chest lifted, but a slight ache remained. I shoved away from the table, but instead of thinking about my elderly aunt, I pictured Rowan loading everything she owned into the back of Poppy’s hearse and driving away.