by Dale Mayer
As nights went, last night had been perfect. Brock had gone to bed with a smile on his face, and when he had woken up, the smile was still there. After all, he’d spent a fantastic hour in the pool with Sidney last night. He never expected to find somebody who mattered so much in a place like this. He’d not been against the idea. He just thought maybe professionally it wasn’t the best for both parties. And even now, he wondered. He understood the problem had been with Andrew becoming friends with his physiotherapist, and that when that little bit of doubt crossed his mind, he wondered if Sidney would get in trouble for the same thing. He could see himself doing what she’d done, if the roles were reversed. Hell, everybody would want to do the best for their friend. Look at him and Cole.
At that reminder, the smile was wiped off his face. On his way to breakfast, he headed to the front room and the reception desk where he spoke to Melissa.
“Any sign of Cole coming back today?”
“Cole will be back tomorrow morning,” she replied with a bright smile.
Instantly, he felt just that much better. “Thank you,” he said. “That’s the best news ever.”
His heart lighter, he made his way out to breakfast. On the patio, he saw Sidney and Dani sitting together, clearly in intense conversation. He didn’t know if something else had gone wrong, but he hoped it didn’t involve him. He wanted to keep getting top-quality care, because ultimately, that was what he was here for. He wondered about the idea of having a different therapist. Or would that happen as he progressed? Would that be something that would benefit him? He didn’t know. He’d been through a lot of physiotherapists before Sidney arrived. As soon as he’d met her, everything had changed for the better.
Still, a good night’s sleep and a bright, cheerful morning had given him a raging appetite. The aroma of the breakfast made his stomach growl. Brock loaded his tray higher than ever, and he stared at it, feeling bemused. Then one of the kitchen staff behind the counter walked over. He picked up Brock’s tray.
“I got it for you, man. You must be hungry today.”
“Honestly, I’m starving,” Brock replied as he led the worker to his table. He stared down at the pancakes, sausages, hash browns, toast, orange juice and coffee and smiled. This was something he could get behind.
And maybe it would help him to clear his thoughts as he started his day. His gaze lifted, and he caught sight of Sidney again. He smiled. Really, all he needed was to see her to get a better start to his day. He was a fool to worry so. He just needed to focus on the important things … and one of those was how she made him feel.
Chapter 12
The next few days fell into a regular pattern, and it was a pattern Sidney liked. She wanted the routine and the safety and comfort of knowing she was back where she belonged. It hadn’t been an easy adjustment. Not with Marsha and Andrew. But also, a level of discomfort had developed in the relationship between her and Brock. Before, they had just been friends, but she managed to keep her own perspective. Now, for the first time, she wondered if she was being as detached as she needed to be with his care. Was she falling into the same trap Marsha had fallen into? That would be the worst. Particularly after everything she’d been through already. It was something in the back of her mind she couldn’t quite let go of. Because of that, she kept her personal time with Brock as impersonal as she could. It was friendly and polite, but not loving. Maybe that was wrong of her, but she felt she needed the distance to make sure she wasn’t falling down that same rabbit hole.
Maybe it was because she was afraid she worked him a little harder than she had to, but he seemed to thrive on it. There was just something about seeing a big man come back fully into his own that gave such a sense of accomplishment for both of them. After one particularly grueling session, instead of tears in his eyes, which she had seen in the past, his gaze shone with a sense of achievement. “I’m doing much better, aren’t I?”
She flopped down onto the mat in front of him and laughed. “That’s not the word I would use. You’re doing fantastic.”
Shane, who’d been working on the other side of the room, came over to talk to them. “Hey, Brock. I didn’t know you had that in you.”
Brock laughed, clearly a bit uncomfortable with the attention, but it was obvious to everyone he was pleased with the compliment. “Thanks. It felt like a long road to get here. I sure as hell wouldn’t have made it as far and as fast without Sidney, though.”
Sidney laughed. She handed Shane her clipboard.
“Are you doing anything for the next hour?”
Shane looked to his patient who was being wheeled to the pool for a therapy session with somebody else.
“Actually I have a bit of a break. I don’t know about an hour, though. Why, what’s up?”
“In the spirit of making sure I’m not missing anything,” she said with a smile at the two of them, “is there any chance you could run through a few exercises with Brock and assess him for yourself?”
Shane’s eyes lit with understanding. “You know it isn’t a bad idea if we set something like this up on a regular basis.”
“I was wondering that myself. I mentioned it to Dani.”
“What’s going on?” Brock asked.
She smiled. “I just thought that having a change of perspective on your treatment and your development, from someone who has worked with you earlier, could possibly point out something I’m not seeing.”
Brock leaned forward onto the machine where he sat and said, “This is about Marsha, is it not?”
She flushed ever so slightly, heat washing over her cheeks. “Maybe, but regardless, it’s a good idea.”
“It’s not your fault, you know.” Brock grabbed the towel beside him and wiped his face and shoulders, tossing the towel over his neck. “I don’t have any objection to Shane putting me through the paces. Although I’m not sure I’m up for it today, considering I’m as tired as I am, but you shouldn’t let her erode your self-confidence.”
Surprising herself, she blurted out, “But I eroded hers.”
Both men stopped and stared at her. She shrugged. “I didn’t mean to say that. I just realized how much it bothered me. She complained to Dani, so a formal investigation had to be opened.” She motioned at the clipboard now in Shane’s hand. “Before it comes to something and it gets any uglier, I would like you to take a look at what I’ve been doing, and what Brock’s been doing, and see if I’ve missed something.”
Shane nodded. “Happy to. But I don’t want you to let Marsha get to you. She did miss something, but it never even crossed her mind to ask for help. At least you try to be open and honest about it, and you look for a second opinion. That’s normal in our business. That’s why I think we should make some changes. We all have multiple patients. There should be discussions on the best treatment for each of them between us. We aren’t islands here. We should be a team on an island together.”
Sidney liked that. She gave him a big, quick hug and said, “I will leave you two for the next half an hour. I’m going down to make that suggestion to Dani right now.” With a bright smile, she turned and walked away.
Shane was one of the easiest people to get along with. He was always open to ideas, and he often saw where problems were that needed to be fixed before anybody else did. She really appreciated working with him. She’d grown as a physiotherapist here because of him. Sidney worried Brock had dominated her thoughts a little too much. What if she had missed something herself?
She peered into Dani’s office, to find her friend on the phone and buried in paperwork. She frowned, considering whether she should walk away and come back later, but then she saw her folder was on the top of the stack and realized this needed to happen now. So, she waited.
Brock motioned at the clipboard in Shane’s hand. “I can’t imagine she could possibly have done anything wrong, when I personally know how much I’ve improved since she took over my care.”
“She’s all heart. Therefore, she wants to make sur
e her relationship with you hasn’t affected her ability to be detached enough to see what you need and don’t need. I approve of what she’s doing, and I certainly understand it. Because of Marsha there’s been a lot of bad blood, and that’s something she’s very uncomfortable with, too.”
He couldn’t help himself. “My relationship with Sidney?”
Shane shot him a knowing look. “I know exactly what’s going on between you two, regardless of all the rumors about that little lovemaking session in the pool.”
Brock’s heart stalled, and then raced. He opened his mouth to speak.
But Shane was still talking. “I happen to really like Sidney. I know she had a bum deal with her last boyfriend, so I’m hoping what you’re feeling is more than just a fly-by-night attraction because she’s a long-term girl. She is one of those that you take home to your mom. I know that her heart is already engaged, so I’m really hoping you aren’t going to mess her up.”
As much as Brock loved to hear that his attraction to Sidney was reciprocated, and he already knew she was the take-home kind of girl, he was still stuck on that “lovemaking session” bit. “You do know we only shared a kiss in the pool, right?”
Shane studied him searchingly. “You serious?”
“Yes. I kissed her, but that was it. Believe me, I wanted to do more. But obviously, it wasn’t the time or the place.”
Shane let out a rumble of laughter. “Absolutely not the right time or place, considering somebody’s passing rumors about her screwing around with you in the pool and making it sound nasty and kinky and very much something she wouldn’t want other people to see.”
“I’m certainly not into having other people watch,” Brock said in horror. “I can’t imagine Sidney would appreciate anybody passing rumors around about her.”
“No, locker talk is not something any girl likes. Especially not somebody as sensitive and simple as Sidney is. She’s very straightforward and honest. There will be bloodshed over this if she ever finds out.”
“Then I’m presuming she doesn’t know yet, or she has heard some but not the whole story.”
“I assume not, too, but I don’t know for sure.” Shane looked back down at the clipboard. “Now, if you’re up to it, I could run you through a couple of tests that will give me a good idea of where you’re at.”
“After what you just said, absolutely. I feel like I need to pound something into the ground, but I’ll take it out on the equipment, not my body, then a little bit out on Marsha.”
“Relax about her. That kind of behavior always has fallout. She’ll get her own. You don’t have to do anything about it.” Shane dropped the clipboard and turned to look at him. “Just so we understand each other—it would be much worse for Sidney if you did try to defend her.”
Brock clenched his jaw and glared at Shane. He understood what Shane was saying, but it was going to be damned hard to let anybody else say something nasty about Sidney.
“Brock, do you understand me? If you make this a big deal, it’s only going to get worse. Dani won’t have much of a choice but to step in hard. Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” he bit off. “But it’s not fair. Sidney didn’t do anything.” His glare deepened. “Neither did I. That’s just as upsetting as thinking somebody is attacking her. It’s also my honor.”
“I hear you. So let’s get to work and make sure there is nothing here that Sidney can be held accountable for.”
On that note, Brock gave him a hard nod. “Where do we start?”
Chapter 13
Dani looked up as she replaced the phone on her desk and smiled at Sidney. “I was just about to call you.”
“Oh, good. I came because Shane and I were discussing some of the issues between physiotherapists and patients and friendships. We were thinking that as a common practice, we should check in on each other’s patients—just to get a new perspective, a second professional opinion.” Sidney exhaled, realizing she was babbling. But her employee file had been open on Dani’s desk.
Dani’s eyebrows rose. “This is because of Marsha?”
“Shane asked me the same thing. In a way, yes, it is, because it did illustrate the fact that we have a flaw in the system. Nobody else had seen her work, and in the work she did with Andrew, there was either a mistake or simply poor work being done. If another physiotherapist had been working with Marsha, it would be quite likely problems would have been noticed sooner. But she did the bulk of the work with him exclusively.”
“You’re saying that the team system we have in place isn’t enough?” Dani asked as she leaned forward and propped her elbows on the desk, studying Sidney.
“I do think the team system works well,” Sidney said. “But I think we need more team-based physiotherapy relationships as well.”
“So, you’re suggesting doubling up on each patient?”
The frown was almost instant, and in that moment Sidney shook her head and smiled. “No, no. I’m not talking about needing to have twice as many physiotherapists or booking in twice as much time with each patient. I can certainly understand the budget being your primary concern.”
“It’s not that it’s a primary concern, but it’s definitely a constant concern so if you’re suggesting we need to do something like that, the budget just does not allow for it as it stands.”
Sidney shook her head again. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just saying that in the days and weeks that we plan out our work with each patient, we need to have somebody come by on a regular basis to see how things are working out and to give a professional second opinion. Honestly, it’s no big deal. It’s just something that Marsha, and now my relationship with Brock, has brought to the forefront.”
“Is it something I need to set up, or is this something you need to set up?” Dani sat back.
Feeling better about the whole situation, Sidney said, “It’s really something that we physiotherapists can do between us ourselves, maybe with Shane taking the lead on it. I just wanted to run the idea past you.”
“Consider the idea run, and I approve. Anything that helps to improve patient care is the bottom line.”
“I figured that’s how you’d feel, and I’m quite glad, actually. Shane is currently putting Brock through a couple of exercises to see how he’s doing. I wouldn’t want to think my own feelings had gotten in the way of Brock getting the best care here he can get.”
“I understand your concern, particularly with what happened with Marsha, and I guess it’s certainly possible, so thank you for getting Shane to step in and take a look. Having brought up your relationship with Brock, maybe I can bring up something else.”
“Sure.” Sidney settled back in her chair, feeling much more relieved about the entire situation. She wondered if Dani was going to ask about their future, and she really didn’t have too many answers for her, but she didn’t want to leave the center if it wasn’t necessary. If Brock decided to stay locally, she could continue to work here, and she’d be a happy camper. But she had to understand that maybe Brock needed to move elsewhere. If that was the case, then she had to consider her options, too. She had certainly left enough times and come back, but what she didn’t want to do was leave for a relationship that was going to end, and then come back.
It would really suck to leave with her boyfriend, and then find out that it wasn’t what she thought it was.
“I told you about Marsha and the pool.”
“Right. The famous kiss.” Sidney grimaced. “Who thought that such a simple thing would make me notorious here?”
“Unfortunately, apparently Marsha didn’t tell just me.” Dani spoke slowly, but her gaze was direct and her tone firm. “It seems like she may have enhanced the story, and she appears to be spreading it in buckets.”
Sidney stared at her, stunned. “Why?”
“I don’t know for certain, but my guess is it’s probably because of what you did about Andrew.”
Sidney slumped in her seat. “This is wh
y I don’t have many girlfriends,” she said. “That’s just not something I could ever see myself doing. I might be pissed off at myself for having not done as good a job as I could, and I might be pissed off if somebody else pointed it out to me. But I’m sure as hell not going to blame the other person and go so far as to get revenge.”
“That’s why we are friends,” Dani said with a brilliant smile. “I can’t do that to anyone either. But we do know that not everybody thinks or acts the way we do. Right now, I have a situation on my hands that I have never had to face before.”
“I just gave her more fodder, didn’t I?”
That startled a laugh out of Dani, and she leaned forward conspiratorially. “That said, it was a good kiss, right?” Her eyebrows rose and fell suggestively.
Sidney giggled. “Oh, my God, it so was.”
Then she collapsed in big, boisterous gales of laughter. No matter what happened with Marsha, Brock was in her life. She didn’t know where that was going to take them, but she wanted to give it as much of a chance as she could. “Too bad there isn’t any way to prove what happened.”
“Actually, there is. People tend to forget I have security cameras everywhere in this place.”
Sidney gasped, heat flushing over her cheeks. “Now that could have been embarrassing.”
Dani looked at her with a sideways smile. “This is where we go back to that question—is there anything I’m going to find on that tape other than a kiss?”
“No. But let me tell you, it was some kiss.”
“Having brought it to the head that she has, I don’t have any choice but to view it to make sure I understand exactly what went on and when,” Dani said. “Then I will have to deal with Marsha.”
“I’m sorry about that. It never occurred to me somebody would have that kind of vindictiveness. She’s right, though. We shouldn’t have kissed like that.” She leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling of Dani’s office. Not as passionate a kiss, at least. She frowned. It looked like the situation was far from over.