As You Were, Cowboy by Heather Long

Author:Heather Long
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star Books

7

MATEO CLENCHED HIS fists as the therapist affixed the leads to his back. He should be back at the ranch making sure Claire stayed out of trouble. Not that she seemed to get involved in trouble. The truth of the matter was, she handled the horses very well and with great patience.

“You’re tense today,” his technician, Amber, said. The girl couldn’t have been more than twenty-two. As part of her degree and licensing program, she worked at the physical therapy suite where he received treatment. His plan called for him to go three times a week, but it was a hell of a drive and he went only once a week—if it was a good week.

“Long morning.” Deflecting concern had become a habit for him, and he didn’t see any reason to stop now. His appointment had been at seven, so he’d left the ranch at five to make sure he had plenty of time to get there. It usually took an hour to ninety minutes. By the time he got home, most of the morning would be gone.

Amber chuckled. It was what she did. From what Mateo had been able to determine, if a patient spoke, the staff listened or responded. It didn’t matter how benign the comment.

“Okay, you’re set,” Amber said. Ready to lie down?”

“Yeah.” He waited till she had all the leads before lying down on the table where the heating pad waited for him. The air inside the therapy center was cool, but not uncomfortable. The leads were connected to a TENS—or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation—unit, to which they hooked him up every session. It helped with nerve pain, increased blood flow to his muscles, and ultimately made the rest of his therapy bearable.

Or at least, that was the theory.

Amber got the device turned on and dialed up until he could feel the tingles spreading from the pads she’d affixed to his back. Once done, she turned to the door. “Fifteen minutes, then Tony will be with you next.”

“Thanks.” Though he gave voice to a sentiment he didn’t feel, Amber didn’t seem to notice. She closed the door behind her and he began to flex his hands. The unit and the heating pad were supposed to help him relax, alleviate the tension and cramps in his back while also helping him numb some of the nerve pain. The pull across his back didn’t abate, though, and he gritted his teeth against the clenched muscles.

Why the hell did he have to come to these sessions? It made sense after the first round of surgeries, even the second. The third proved they weren’t ever going to fix him, not fully. Taking huge chunks out of his day for sessions, which more often left him more sore and exhausted than improved, were not high on his list.

I passed out on her. Collapsing while showing Claire around Fredericksburg didn’t qualify as a shining-star moment in his existence. She’d covered for him, taken him back to her place and let him sleep off the painkillers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.