Page 4 of Deking at Love
“Yep.”He popped thep.
Keeping her eyes averted, she scrolled the screen.“I assume they took X-rays last night and didn’t find any breaks?”
“No breaks.”He pointed at the monitor she was currently drilling her gaze into.“Isn’t it right there?”he grunted with annoyance.“I don’t get why I have to keep repeating the same damn thing every time.Yes, it’s a high ankle sprain, aka a season-ending injury.”Those last words came out with some spicy sauce on them.Or was that venom?
She wasn’t about to tell him this was her first look at his records.Instead, she turned and snapped her wrist at him.
“Okay.Lie back.Let’s see what we’ve got.”She took the crutches from him and watched his posture as he reclined, his lungs seeming to deflate with a sigh.She tried not to notice how he filled the entire bed.Or that he was a big guy … with big muscles.Everywhere.He was dressed in gray sweat pants and a black T-shirt that didn’t exactly cling, but it didn’t hide the blocky definition of those toned muscles beneath the soft fabric.
After carefully rolling down his sock, she removed the ACE bandage and scanned his ankle, taking in the swelling and purply-blue hue of his skin.Oh, that didn’t look good.“When was the last time you iced?”
He stared up at the ceiling tiles.“The trainer did this morning when I got to the arena.”
“How long ago was that?”She snatched the tablet from the workstation shelf and took images of the offended joint from different angles.
He shrugged.“Two hours?”
“And before that?”She slid the tablet back onto its shelf.
“Last night.”
She corralled her surprise.“So only twice since you injured it?”
He flicked up a finger.“Last night.”Another joined it.“This morning.That’s twice.And yeah, I know I was supposed to do more, but like I told the trainer who just finished chewing me out before I got here, I was too fucking exhausted.”
She ignored the snark, instead zeroing in on the fact that twice wasn’t nearly enough and that her patient obviously hadn’t followed the trainer’s instructions.If Sam had a significant other at home, she would have made sure he iced.Therefore, no SO.Angie told herself she needed these important details because it affected his rehab.She had to gauge how difficult he was going to be when it came to sticking to his treatment.This was all about business and not for any personal reasons.Of course it was.
“Tell me if this hurts.”She palpated the ligaments, watching his expression closely for telltale signs of discomfort.Most hockey players had high pain thresholds and were good at masking their reactions when something did hurt.They all shared a strange macho don’t-show-any-pain gene, and some of them schooled their features so well one might mistake them for being bored.
Nothing registered on Sam’s face.Then again, he was a good actor.This she knew firsthand.
“I’m going to check your stability.”She began some gentle range-of-motion tests.A quick flex of his jaw muscle was the only sign that what she was doing made him uncomfortable.
“Did that hurt?”
He shook his head.Still looking at the ceiling, he murmured, “You look different than you did the last time I saw you.Of course, that was six years ago.”
Whoa!He remembered how long ago it had been?She paused a beat before resuming.“Different how?”
“I don’t know,” he chuffed.“Different.Maybe it’s the clothes.”
She couldn’t stop herself from calling bullshit.“Yeah?What was I wearing the last time you saw me?”
“Jeans.You always wore jeans.”
He had it wrong.She’d been wearing leggings and his jersey.For one untethered moment, she wondered if he remembered what she’d had on under the leggings and jersey.She’d worn those uncomfortable lacy bits for him after all.
Pressing her lips together to keep herself from spitting out something she’d regret—he was a patient, even if he was a user and a loser—she put her hands on his ankle with a firmer touch than necessary, and his butt lifted slightly off the table.
“Fuck!”
“Sorry,” she muttered.Not sorry.
“You didn’t hurt me.Your hands are cold,” he grumbled.
She took two steps back.“If you don’t like my cold hands, you’re really not going to like this.”She couldn’t keep the smile from her voice.
“What’s this?”He rolled his head toward her, his voice pitching with a hint of panic.
