by S. E. Law
I fill my arms with more flowing tops, a few skirts, and some high waisted jeans. Why not? They’re sassy, spunky and if items like these make me feel good, maybe they’ll work for Susan, too.
Back in the dressing room, Susan is spinning in front of the mirror again. This time, she wears a long blouse with a diagonal hemline, paired with some jeans. She looks amazing.
“Do you like it?”
She turns towards me with a giant smile.
“Does it come in other colors? I want at least three.”
I laugh.
“It comes in…” I mentally scan the rack. “Seven different colors.”
“I’ll take all seven!” she chirps as I grin.
“I’ll go get the other colors while you try on more outfits.”
She beams.
“This is so wonderful, Summer. Thank you!”
When I return with another armful of clothes, Susan has already tried on two more outfits. She didn’t like the peplum top I brought her, but she was a big fan of the wrap shirts. She wants those in every color, too.
After trying on all my suggestions, Susan has a cart loaded with over three hundred dollars’ worth of merchandise. Considering how this appointment started, I thought we’d be lucky to get her one outfit but now, she’s going home with over fourteen new ensembles and three new dresses.
“Summer, I cannot possibly thank you enough.” She looks tearfully at her cart. “You’ve been absolutely incredible.”
I bite my lip.
“Thank you for saying that, Susan. I appreciate it.”
My client shoots me a teary smile.
“I mean it, Summer. You were so patient with me even when I swore I wouldn’t like anything. You didn’t let me give up. You made me feel like I could be happy in my body, even if it’s a lot bigger than the one I used to live in. Frankly, you’ve changed my life today.”
I pull her in for another hug.
“Thank you, Susan.” When we separate, I can’t help but add a wink. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Her face brightens. I didn’t think it was possible for this woman to look any happier, but suddenly she does. “Please!”
“I’m thinking about opening my own business.”
Susan gasps. “You’re leaving Lalique?”
I clasp my hand over her mouth. My coworkers probably aren’t listening, but I don’t want them to hear because no one knows about my dream and they really shouldn’t find out about it from a customer. Besides, it’s not like this dream is fully realized yet. It’ll be a long while before I can actually go out on my own, and I don’t want to lose my job before it’s necessary.
“It won’t happen for a long while,” I tell her. “But I want to go into business for myself as a personal stylist. I love working at Lalique, and I’m really happy to be part of a team that has access to such a huge inventory. It’s not every day I find a store that has nearly every piece of clothing in my size.”
Susan nods.
“That’s exactly why I came here. I knew Lalique had the best variety of clothes for bigger girls.”
“That’s why I applied, too. But it’s also limiting, you know? If I was my own boss, I could style people with clothing from a ton of different stores. I could pick a top from Lalique and bottoms from a boutique or even 0n-line. The options are endless, so yeah, maybe I’ll strike out on my own.”
Susan squeezes my shoulder again, a move I’ve come to associate with her.
“That sounds fantastic, Summer. You should do it.”
I shrug.
“Hopefully, someday. I’ve been saving up, but we’ll see. It’s a future thing. I’m only twenty-five, so I’ve got time.”
My client looks me straight in the eye.
“Well, promise me this. When you open up your business, I want to be your first customer. Got it?”
We hug again. “Thank you, Susan. You’ll be my first call.”
“It’s no problem, sweetheart. You have no idea what you did for me today.”
I do have an idea, because someone at Lalique did the same for me seven years ago. I came to the store right after high school graduation, desperate to change my image before college. The stylist found me wandering the aisles at eighteen, confused and scared. She had an hour before her next appointment, and took me under her wing. We tried on clothes, she told me what looked good, and she helped me fall in love with myself. Then, when I had two bags full of new clothes, the stylist told me she was actually the manager, and they had an opening for a cashier. I’ve been working here ever since, slowly making my way up to my current stylist position.
But instead of telling Susan all that, I squeeze her hand and we walk together up to the register. As we walk, she makes chitchat.
“A pretty girl like you probably has a boyfriend, right?”
I laugh lightly.
“No, not at the moment. I mean, I date of course, but there’s no one serious right now.”
Susan grins conspiratorially.
“Have you tried out OkCupid? That’s where I met my husband.”
I smile lopsidedly.
“I have. OkCupid, and Match, and Bumble, and a bunch of other sites too. Unfortunately, on-line dating doesn’t seem to do so well for me. I’ve been out on a lot of dates, but they’re pretty much duds,” I say ruefully.
“Really?” Susan asks with her brow scrunched. “Well, don’t worry,” she says comfortingly, “Prince Charming will come along soon enough, and then you’ll have two rugrats underfoot and wish you were single once more.”
I laugh as I ring her up, but inside, my heart aches a bit. After all, I wish I could meet Prince Charming sooner rather than later. The dating scene in the city is painful, to tell the truth, and I’ve had my hopes dashed multiple times now.
Where is Mr. Right? Where is my tall, dark and handsome hiding? I’d love to meet a gorgeous guy with strong hands, swirly tats running up corded arms, and a smile that makes me melt inside. But alas, I don’t know where he is and as I walk Susan out of the store, I can only sigh to myself. I hope that my imaginary prince becomes real sooner rather than later. After all, a girl has needs, and I’d love to meet my Prince Charming now.
2
Ridge
The small blonde on the bench in front of me grunts as she stretches her knee against an elastic exercise band.
“It hurts,” she says through clenched teeth.
“I know it hurts right now, but breathe through the pain. You can do this. Just nine more reps.”
Mina takes a deep breath and bends her knee, placing her foot back on the floor. Once again, she lifts her foot to stretch out her knee, the elastic acting as resistance to help strengthen her muscles. She repeats the move until the set is finished, then collapses back on the table with tears in her eyes.
“You’re doing great, Mina. You just have one more exercise to learn today, okay? And I’m gonna need you to keep it up at home until our appointment next week.”
Mina nods, her chest rising rapidly. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay, let’s stand up then.”
She does so gingerly, careful not to put too much weight on her bad knee. I slide a chair over to her.
“Put your hands on the back of the chair okay? Then you’re going to lift your heel so it’s as high as you can get it. Do that for me. Come on, one, two, and … three!”
Mina slowly lifts her leg, flinching from the pain in her knee. She gets about halfway up before dropping her leg back down with a grunt.
“Good. That’s good, Mina. Now I want you to do that for me fourteen more times. We’re doing three sets of fifteen on this one, and then you’re done. You can do this.”
The twenty-year-old blond looks at me, exasperated.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Dr. Maddox.”
“Come on, Mina. You’re not going to let some knee pain stop you, are you?”
She sighs. “Fine.”
I’ve only known Mina for an hour, but I can a
lready tell she’s got spunk. That is, when she’s not in excruciating pain. After all, I’ve seen patients like Mina come through before. She’s a gymnast for an intramural team at her college, and just got her bandages removed after knee surgery following a bad fall. Even though she’s considered ‘old’ for gymnastics, the girl loves to train and pushed herself a bit too hard, resulting in a devastating injury.
It was painful to watch, to be frank. Before she came in today, I scrutinized the video of her fall to better do my job. Mina was doing a floor routine when she landed wrong, her knee bending forward instead of backward. I winced as she collapsed, her face a mask of shock. As a physical therapist, I’ve seen a lot, but even I had to look away from that one.
Despite the gruesome injury, Mina is lucky. She didn’t tear anything major, and merely pulled some tendons. The surgery she had was to repair a minor laceration that healed pretty quickly. However, she still has to relearn how to use her knee slowly, or she could do some permanent damage.
After the first set of fifteen, Mina sits back down on the workout bench to catch her breath.
“Here, drink some water,” I offer.
Like a pro athlete, Mina takes the bottle and chugs down half of it. The poor girl is in more pain than I can even imagine. The problem is, this is the easy stuff. Next week, we’re going to add weight and do more intense exercises that will likely make her scream. But no pain, no gain, at least not in my field.
After a five-minute break, I usher her back to standing behind the chair. I normally wouldn’t give that kind of time, but she’s clearly struggling and I want her to feel confident.
Mina powers through her last two sets like a champion. As soon as she finishes her last rep, she falls back onto the bench. Tears brim in her eyes, but there’s a smile on her face.
“I did it.”
I nod. “You did it, kid.”
“I didn’t think I could. After that first thing, what did you call it?”
“Leg raises?”
“Yeah, those. I thought I was going to die. And forget about the squats. Dr. Maddox, I used to be able to do squats. Real squats. I did squats every day. But today, oh shit. I’ve never felt pain like that, but I powered through. I did it!”
“I told you that you could. It takes confidence,” I say encouragingly while cleaning up the area, wiping down the exercise band and all the other equipment we used. Mina is my last appointment of the day, and I’m exhausted.
But then the petite blonde turns to me.
“Dr. Maddox, can I ask you a question?”
I turn to find Mina still sitting on the exercise bench.
“Sure.”
She bites her lip.
“Will I ever… I mean, is there even the slightest chance I’ll ever be able to do gymnastics again?”
I sigh. She’s my patient, but it’s important to be real because she’s a nice girl. If something happened to me that put my career in jeopardy, I’d be nervous, too.
“Listen, Mina. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t going to take a lot of work. Your knee is pretty weak from the surgery, and you’re still in a lot of pain. It’s not going to be instant or easy, but yes. I think you’ll be able to do gymnastics again.”
A hesitant smile forms on her face. “Are you just fucking with me?”
I laugh. “Do I look like the type to fuck with people?”
She takes in my six-foot-four frame and black-as-sin hair. Finally, she shakes her head.
“You definitely don’t.”
“So you can trust what I say. You’ll get back out on the floor someday. But you have to keep doing the exercises every single day. You hear me?”
Mina nods. “I hear you loud and clear, Doc.”
She stands, wincing when she puts weight on her knee. Her crutches are perched next to the bench, and she grabs them and looks relieved when she can lift her right foot off the floor.
“Are you taking anything for the pain?” I inquire.
Mina shakes her head.
“They prescribed an opioid, but I didn’t get it filled. My mom was addicted to the stuff after my brother was born, and my grandfather nearly died from an overdose. I don’t want to risk it.”
“Okay. At least take ibuprofen, though. It’ll help with the pain and swelling, and it’s not addictive.”
She grins.
“I’ll do that, then. Thanks again, Dr. Maddox. I’ll see you next week.”
Mina’s father, who I met when he dropped her off for the appointment just over an hour ago, appears in the doorway. “You ready to go?” he asks.
“Yeah, Dad. Can we stop at the pharmacy? I need to get some ibuprofen.”
Mina’s dad nods. “Sure thing, kiddo.”
The pair finally leave me to close the studio. Just as I’m putting away the last of the now-clean equipment, a heavy knock sounds on my door.
“You decent?” comes a low growl.
I roll my eyes. “I’m always decent, Leo.”
My best buddy, an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, walks into my PT room. “I saw that sexy blonde leave just now. You’re really telling me you’ve never gotten down and dirty in here?”
I snort.
“How long were you sitting in the hallway? She left like five minutes ago.”
“Are you dodging the question because you have slept with her?”
I snort again, rudely this time.
“First of all, today was her first appointment. Second of all, no I absolutely have not slept with any of my patients. Are you saying you get laid in the OR?”
Leo barks out a laugh. “I wish. They’re unconscious when I see them. You get the fully awake version after I fix them up. And you’re the one massaging their muscles, straddling them, and doing who knows what. Come on, man. If you’re not screwing them, you really should be.”
“There is so much wrongness in that sentence, it’s unbelievable.”
“Like what?” Leo asks innocently.
“Well, for one, I have a girlfriend. I wouldn’t cheat on her with a patient.”
Leo waves me off. “Candy isn’t your girlfriend, she’s your keeper.”
“Whatever, man. There’s also the fact that sleeping with patients is unethical. I could lose my license, or do different rules apply in the OR?”
He throws me a sly look. “Only if you get caught.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I’m not sleeping with my patients. I don’t get your obsession with this.”
“Why not? That blond was hot.”
“She was also twenty.”
Leo pushes even harder.
“That’s great. She’s legal.”
I roll my eyes.
“Did you just come here to tell me to risk my job by sleeping with injured girls, or did you have a purpose?”
He jumps onto the recently wiped down exercise bench. Now I’ll have to clean it again before I can go home. “Let’s go to lunch.”
I glance pointedly at the clock on my wall. “It’s almost three thirty.”
Leo shrugs.
“Yeah, but I just got out of a two-and-a-half hour surgery and you just finished your last appointment, so it’s lunchtime.”
I take a quick look around my PT room. I’m the only physical therapist at the hospital, so I have the place to myself. Aside from the bench Leo just dirtied, everything is spic and span, so I give in.
“Fine. Where do you want to go? Anywhere but the cafeteria.”
“Agreed. How about Sam’s?”
I nod and grab my coat. Sam’s is a sports bar across the street that actually has decent food. It’s where Leo and I eat most days when we’re not short on time. The cafeteria isn’t the worst food I’ve ever had, but I don’t go there if I don’t have to.
“Let’s roll, then.”
Leo follows me out the door, pulling it closed behind him. I don’t bother locking up. It’s not like anyone other than my patients ever venture into the PT room of the hospital.
Once we g
et to Sam’s, we order burgers and waters and take a seat at our regular table. A young waitress brings our food quickly. Even when we’re off duty, this place likes to take care of doctors. We’re served first no matter what and it’s one of the reasons we love Sam’s so much.
“So what’s the deal with tonight?” I ask.
Leo shrugs while taking a ginormous bite of his burger.
“I don’t know. I think we’re going to that new billiards place on Highland.”
I nod. “Have you talked to Seth?”
My friend shrugs and sips his water.
“He’ll either show or he won’t. There’s no way to tell.”
We’ve known Seth for ages now, but he went into private practice last year and we’ve hardly seen him since. He bails on most of our nights out.
Leo takes a bite out of his burger, unaffected by our missing friend. He stares out into space, seeming distracted.
“You good, man?”
My buddy heaves out a sigh. “That surgery I mentioned earlier? Man, it was incredible. We almost lost the patient a few times, but the kid pulled through. I think he’ll make a full recovery.”
I nod. Leo has one of these incredible surgery stories nearly every week, and of course, I’m happy for the guy. We all like it when the patients pull through.
“That’s great, man. I’m glad to hear your patient made it.”
Leo nods while eating ravenously.
“The kid was sixteen. Hit by a car. They called me in to set his legs while they worked on his internal injuries. We figured it would be best to do as much in one surgery as we could. It took forever, but he’s good, and the nurse on duty is supposed to let me know when he wakes up.”
“Sixteen? That’s young, but it’s easier for the young ones to recover.”
Doctors try to save every patient, but the kids are always the most heart-wrenching. They have so much life ahead of them, and everyone’s pulling for them.
Leo lets the subject drop when our waitress brings over the check, with a ten percent discount for being doctors. Like I said, this place cares about the hospital across the way. It helps that the owner had a bad accident a few years back, and the physicians at our hospital fixed him right up and got him back to work in half the time it should have taken. In fact, Leo was one of his surgeons.