Page 29 of Rise Above

Rise Above

“How are you feeling today?”

“Better than yesterday.” Mr. Porter smiled again. “Wonderful.” I smiled back. “I’ve come to talk to

you about inpatient rehab or IPR as you might hear it. Essentially, it’s three hours of therapy spread throughout the day in an inpatient setting. You’ll have doctors, nurses, therapists, and social workers just like here. The only difference is they specialize in therapy to help get you back to your normal baseline. There are two companies with different locations throughout the city. One is through our hospital and is called GIRR which stands for Greater Institute Rehabilitation and Research and the other is called Focus.” I handed him two lists with several location sites and my work number. “Any questions?”

“How soon do you need a decision?”

“Really the sooner the better. Insurance always

takes the longest piece out of everything. The sooner I can submit your information to the facilities, the sooner we can get you out of here.”

Mr. Porter nodded and pulled the lists to him. “You

got it, Aife.”

The rest of my morning passed in a similar fashion

and before I knew it, it was lunch time. There were still a few things I had to do on the ICU, so I took the stairs down. As I entered the unit, I bumped into a very hard chest. “Oomph.”

Arms settled around my back and waist to steady

me. “Sorry.” His voice was deep and slightly raspy, with a twinge of an accent to it. “I guess I didn’t expect anyone to come barreling down the stairs.”

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I stepped out of his arms and looked into his

beautiful blue eyes. “TJ?”

“Hello, Aife.” He sounded a little confused. “What

are you doing here?” Sweat peppered his forehead. Strange given how cold hospitals were.

“I work here,” I said, pointing at my badge. I took a

moment to look at him, somehow always finding myself starting at his thighs. “Are you and Zeke our mystery hockey players?”

He nodded while taking me in. “We just finished

spending some time with the ICU patients on the surgical unit. We’ll be here the rest of the afternoon.”

That was the most I’d heard him say in the few

times I’d met him. TJ didn’t really strike me as the talkative type. He had the whole silent and brooding type down to a T. I felt my cheeks blush as I continued to stare at him. He was an extremely attractive man, and I’m sure he knew it too. How could he not?

“Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work.” I scooted

around him, headed toward the nursing station. I felt him follow behind. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Yes.” He didn’t say anything else, just continued

to follow me.

As we arrived at the station, I noticed Zeke’s ginger