SUSHI for ONE?

by Camy Tang

  Lex felt too weak to do more than growl at her.

  She got up onto the exam table with Venus’s help. The doctor came in and shook hands with both of them. “How does it feel?”

  “It’s burning, like a sunburn. I had to stop using the CPM machine.”

  “Hmm, not good. You need to keep using the CPM machine so your knee doesn’t freeze up. Let’s take the bandages off and see how it looks.”

  He took off the outer Ace bandage to reveal the flat, water-filled plastic pad that had attached to the ice machine. Oh, so that’s what it looked like. Lex had only felt the coldness.

  Then he took off the gauze and pads underneath.

  Whoa, momma. Blisters covered her entire kneecap. The swelling hadn’t gone down at all, unlike the redheaded girl’s knee.

  “Your body didn’t shunt the fluid away, so it formed subdermal blisters.”

  Whatever that meant.

  “I’m going to drain the fluid.”

  Lex didn’t quite get what he intended to do until he whipped out several humongous needles, and then drew up some clear liquid with another one. “I’ll numb the area a little.” He injected the fluid a little above her knee. It pinched but didn’t seem to reduce sensation.

  Then the doctor grabbed the big needle.

  Suddenly, all she could feel was white-hot pain pain pain pain pain . . . She grabbed the table, but her fingers scraped over the paper covering and the smooth vinyl. Whoa, Momma!

  The doctor moved the tip of the needle to another blister. Lex’s teeth scraped against each other. The cuss words started flaming through her head sharp and fast.

  Let no unwholesome words come from your mouth —

  Oh, shut up. God has it in for me or something.

  God didn’t answer, not with comfort or a lightning bolt. Lex felt completely alone.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Let’s ask Mimi for help.”

  “What?” Lying in her bed, Lex paused as she adjusted the pillows behind her aching back. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  Venus pulled out her cell phone. “She doesn’t have any scars from that auto accident a few years ago, and it burned her pretty badly. She might know how to help your blistering.”

  Lex had last seen her cousin when she stole her slimeball date George at Crustaceans Restaurant. “But Mimi? She’s not your favorite person either.”

  “Do you have any other ideas?”

  Lex started up the CPM machine again and winced at the rippling pain from the blisters that gradually dulled. “I guess not.”

  Venus made the call, which, after some initial snarling, went well. “Mimi said she’ll be right over.”

  “She’s probably coming to gloat over how terrible I look. I’m not holding out hope, Venus.”

  “Let me warm up some soup for you. You haven’t eaten in three days.”

  Lex shifted her back against the pillows. The CPM machine —moving only her right leg and not her left — had caused her lower spine injury to worsen.

  Her cell phone rang. “What do you want, Richard?”

  “Is that any way to speak to your favorite brother?”

  “I’m hanging up now — ”

  “Wait, wait. Can I come over?”

  Lex’s alarm bells went off. “Why? You don’t do sickrooms of any kind.”

  “Well, my friend and I — ”

  “A friend? Richard, I’ve kind of had surgery.” She tried to stretch out and ease the pain in her back.

  “You’re okay, right? Not bleeding?”

  “I’ve been puking for three days.”

  “Oh.” He paused. “Can I still bring him over?”

  Lex snapped her phone shut.

  Venus punched the microwave touchpad. “He’s been introducing you to a lot of guys the past few weeks.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know why. Maybe Grandma got to him.”

  “But she doesn’t have anything on him. Why would he do what she says?”

  “Good point.”

  Lex was halfway through her tepid chicken noodle when the doorbell rang. “Mimi already?” She finished another spoonful.

  Venus opened the door.

  A very short Asian stranger stood in the doorway. His polite smile brightened when he caught sight of Venus. His eyes glazed over. “Hey, baby — ”

  “What do you want?” Venus’s hand went to her hip.

  “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put U and I togeth — ”

  “Oh, come up with something original. Who are you?”

  “Ben Shue.”

  Venus glanced over her shoulder at Lex, who shook her head and shrugged. Ben never took his eyes off of Venus.

  “Sorry, we don’t know you.” Venus started to close the door.

  “My mom told me to come here.”

  Venus just stared at him. Lex wished she could see her face.

  Ben’s gaze grew dazed again. “You have such beautiful eyes — No, no, don’t close — !”

  His voice came muffled through the door. “I’m supposed to help Lex Sakai with her surgery recovery.”

  Venus whipped it open. “What?”

  “I live at an apartment building down the street. Lex, your grandma told my mom you needed someone to help you.”

  What? “No thanks.” More like, No way. Lex took in his expensive clothes and the way he didn’t even turn his eyes from Venus when he spoke to Lex.

  Then another figure appeared in the doorway. “Is Lex here?”

  “Hi, Aiden.”

  In contrast to Ben, Aiden’s eyes barely skimmed over Venus before he peered inside and smiled at Lex. “How do you feel?”

  “Come in, Aiden.” Venus grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.

  “After all, you guys have been dating awhile.”

  Both Lex and Aiden stared at Venus, who gave him a meaningful glance with a quick motion at Ben, still standing in the doorway.

  “Boyfriend?” Ben finally looked somewhere besides Venus’s face.

  “Lex’s grandma didn’t say anything about a boyfriend.” His eyes narrowed.

  Lex put every ounce of desperation in her look to Aiden.

  He turned to Ben. “Uh . . . yeah. We’re dating.” He stepped into the apartment, maneuvering around boxes, and handed Lex the small bouquet of flowers he carried. Ben’s dark scowl followed him.

  Lex smiled and murmured through her teeth at him. “Give me a kiss.”

  He obliged with a hand on her shoulder and a peck on the lips. She had to concentrate not to flinch. It wasn’t too bad, really. He smelled like soap, fir, and musk.

  He immediately released her shoulder, but his voice sounded low and deep in her ear. “You really don’t like being touched, do you?”

  His words relaxed her. Maybe because he’d gotten it and she didn’t have to explain it to him. “Just by men.” She swallowed. “Nothing personal.”

  His look told her he understood and didn’t need to know anything more.

  Venus blocked Ben’s view. “We’re good here. You can leave now.”

  “Hey — ”

  Venus shut the door in his face again.

  “What — ”

  Venus cut Lex’s words off. She peeked out the window near the door. “So, Lex, good thing Aiden’s here because he can remove all your ingrown toenails.” Venus’s voice boomed in the tiny room.

  Aiden’s face had gotten rather rigid, as if he were trying to decide how to answer that politely. Perhaps, Is that so? Or How interesting.

  Venus jabbed her fingers at the closed door, eyes wide and meaningful, mouth moving silently in words Lex couldn’t exactly decipher, but that she could understand. Ah. Lex picked her jaw up off her lap.

  “Yes, thanks, Aiden. And I’ll need you to pop these blood blisters.”

  His expressionless mask cracked as he shot her a bug-eyed look.

  Venus rummaged through one of Lex’s boxes and pulled out what looked like a miniature tennis racket — oh, perfect. Dad would be so proud
of the way they were finally using the electric bug zapper he’d gotten for her.

  Venus pressed the battery button to charge up the metal strings lacing the head. “And Aiden can help you lance that bleeding mole on your butt.” She stepped into position behind the closed door. “But I think that maybe that third hand growing out of your head needs professional surgery.”

  She cranked the doorknob and whipped open the flimsy door. The charged bug zapper racket came sailing down on Ben’s head, where he crouched on her doorstep. Crack! Fizz! Pop! The scent of burning hair reached Lex’s nose.

  “Aaaiiieee!” Ben zipped away, hands grabbing his head.

  Venus closed the door with a click and a triumphant wave of her racket.

  Lex applauded her. “You are so evil.”

  Venus’s smile reminded Lex of Catwoman. “I know.”

  “Good thing you didn’t really hurt him.”

  Venus lifted a delicate eyebrow. “You don’t know much about men and their hair if you think that.”

  “Huh?”

  “Honey, he probably goes to Lana’s or Vertigo every three weeks for a sculpted head like that. I just caused him abject pain.”

  The doorbell rang. Venus charged the zapper and opened it.

  “Hi guys.” Mimi sashayed into the room, then froze as she saw Aiden. Her slow smile would have put Jezebel to shame. “Well, helloooo there.”

  Lex had to stop herself from growling. Then she had to ask herself why she felt the need to bristle in the first place. Maybe she was still upset from when Aiden touched her. Shouldn’t she not care that Mimi’s hands were all over Aiden as they chatted?

  “So, Aiden, where’s your physical therapy clinic?”

  “It’s a combination clinic and fitness gym . . .”

  Lex stared at her bowl of soup, cold now. Her stomach burped. She set the bowl down before the sight of it did more weird things to her digestive system.

  Venus cleared her throat sharply. “Mimi.”

  Mimi snapped out of vamp mode mid-sentence. “Oh. Right. I brought all my stuff.” Then she glanced at Lex’s leg, exposed only as far as her warm-up pants would go. “Um . . . we’ll need to take your pants off.”

  “My cue to go.” Aiden turned rather effortlessly from Mimi to Lex. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Thanks. And thanks for that . . . thing with Ben.”

  “No problem.” Aiden let himself out.

  Mimi loosed a long, low breath. “What a hottie. He’s cuter than Orlando Bloom.”

  “What is it with you stealing every man in my vicinity?”

  Mimi blinked at Lex. “You mean Kin-Mun?”

  “George. Crustaceans. You were even there with a date of your own.”

  “Ooooh.” Mimi stifled a laugh. “Actually, I’m sorry about that, but I had to meet George so he’d ask me out. I had him drive me to Shoreline, and then I stole his car and stranded him there. Revenge for when he did that to one of my girlfriends.”

  Lex looked at Venus and saw her mouth open as well. “You’re kidding.”

  “So, you see? It was for a good cause. You weren’t enjoying your time with him anyway. I could tell even from across the restaurant.”

  Lex cleared her throat. Couldn’t argue with that.

  Mimi dropped her bag near Lex’s bed. “Take off your pants and the bandages. Let’s see.”

  Lex obliged.

  Mimi seemed genuinely distressed as she saw the blisters. “Ouch. Okay, first of all, pump your foot up and down. Yeah, like that. You need to get your lymphatic system going to drain the swelling and the fluid.”

  She started pulling various jars from her bag. “These will help with the swelling and the blistering. There might be some scarring, but hopefully these will take care of most of it.” She plopped down on Lex’s bed.

  Her serious eyes, so different from any other time Lex had seen her, made her start to tear. “Why are you doing this?”

  Mimi glanced at the leg, then back up to Lex. She shrugged. “You’ve always been aware of what you were good at — fitness and volleyball. When Venus called . . .” She twisted the bottle in her hand.

  “This is what I’m good at. Plus . . .” Mimi pinned Lex with a more normal Mimi-like gaze. “Now you owe me.”

  Lex had a hard time taking it all in — her view of her younger cousin seemed too set to be shaken, but she’d just had a minor quake. Still, the fact that Mimi had come — despite the Siren-act with Aiden — revealed something honest in her words.

  “Thanks, Mimi.”

  “Let’s get started.”

  “I’m going to call Aiden.” Venus walked into the apartment and dumped the bags of groceries on the floor.

  Lex looked up from Venus’s Cosmo. “Why?”

  “I saw Ben lurking around outside. I think he’s still suspicious about Aiden being your boyfriend.”

  “Gee, I wonder why, considering he’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Well, unless you want Ben around, we have to convince him otherwise.”

  “Just don’t answer the doorbell.”

  “I read guys pretty well, especially when they’re in a predatory mode like that. I don’t trust him.” Venus punched in a number.

  “Hey, how’d you get Aiden’s number?”

  “Aiden? It’s Venus. Can you come over? That guy Ben is hanging around . . . Thanks.” She snapped the phone shut. “He gave it to me.”

  Lex frowned. “He didn’t give it to me.”

  Venus stared at Lex a long moment. Lex squirmed a bit under her strange, neutral gaze. Finally, Venus turned away to unpack the groceries. “He said to call if you needed anything.”

  “Oh. That was nice of him.” Lex scratched her ear. “Do you think he still feels bad about tearing my ACL?”

  Venus didn’t bother to answer, just stuck the fruit into the refrigerator.

  Lex checked her email. She only had dial-up, which took ten times longer than the cable modem at her old home. She had several responses to a message she’d sent to friends about physical therapy recommendations.

  “Why does that name sound familiar?”

  “Hmm?” Venus didn’t even look up from her new Entertainment Weekly magazine.

  “My insurance would only pay if I used one of two different physical therapy places, and all my friends say to go to Golden Creek Fitness and Physical Therapy.” Lex tried to bring up the website, but her dial-up dragged along. “I’ve heard that name before, but I can’t remember where.”

  “I know where.”

  “You do?”

  Venus nodded and flipped a page.

  “Well? You’re not going to tell me?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s more fun watching you rack your brains.”

  The doorbell rang. Venus jumped up, grabbed the electric flyswatter racket, and then opened the door. “Oh, hi, Aiden. Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem. Hi, Lex.”

  “Hi.”

  Aiden squeezed in between a few boxes so he could sit on the one filled with books. “I saw Ben on the way in, by the way.”

  “Oh good.” Venus picked up her magazine and perched back on Lex’s bed. “Can you just hang out for a while?”

  “Sure.”

  Lex stared at her computer screen. Still loading. “Wait a minute . . . Aiden, you’re a physical therapist?”

  “Yeah.”

  A dreading suspicion crept over her. “Where do you work?”

  “Golden Creek.”

  Lex’s shoulders sagged. “You’re kidding.”

  His face remained neutral, but somehow sharpened to all hard edges. “Hey, it’s a great facility.”

  “No, I know that — ”

  “And it’s nearby . . . Oh, I get it. That’s where your insurance wants to send you.”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” Somehow, having Aiden as her PT kind of weirded her out.

  “I didn’t tear your ACL on purpose, you know.”
<
br />   “No, I know that — ”

  “It’s not like I’m going to tear the other one once I’ve got you on the table.”

  “I . . . I guess.”

  She’d never seen frustration on his face before, but he looked like he wanted to strangle her. “You’re acting like you don’t want to get better and play volleyball again.”

  “No, it’s not that at all.”

  “So what’s the problem? I’ve treated dozens of volleyball injuries, most of them ACL. All the ACL surgeries go to me.”

  “All of them?”

  “I’m good at what I do, Lex.” A dangerous glint appeared in his eye, making her backtrack with haste.

  “I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m good at helping players get back into shape. And now that I’m playing, I understand the injuries better too.”

  Didn’t she want someone like that, who knew her sport, knew her injury? Why the hesitation? She knew he wasn’t to blame for the injury, but a part of her didn’t want to spend more time with him —and she wasn’t sure why — while another part liked spending time with him too much.

  What was her problem? She was such a basket case.

  “Why don’t I drive you to PT at Golden Creek?”

  “Thanks.” Venus answered before Lex could reply. “That’d be great.”

  Lex frowned at her. “Excuse me, I don’t see the surgical holes in your knee.”

  “Excuse me, I don’t see you needing to go to work right now.”

  “Oh.” A flush rose from her neckline. “I’m sorry, Venus. You’re right.”

  Venus turned to Aiden. “Are you sure it won’t be a problem for you?”

  “Not at all.” He dug out his PDA. “Lex, I’ll arrange for you to have my first morning session — actually, I’ll give you my first two sessions — and then I’ll take you home right afterward.”

  “Your boss isn’t going to be mad?”

  “He’s my friend — we went to PT school together. It won’t be a problem.”

  Aiden seemed confident, so Lex didn’t see a reason to doubt him.

  “Thanks.”

  “Next week will be two weeks since your surgery, right?”

  “Yeah, about.”

  “I’ll schedule you. Give me your doctor’s PT prescription.”