“Then you’re gonna have to suck it up and do the therapy.”
“Fine.” I put the water bottle down. “What’s next?”
Nate put through another rotation of the different machines designed to keep all the pains at bay and keep me walking like I didn’t have far too many pins in my body to count. I knew I waslucky to be alive, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t bitch about my circumstances every once in a while.
“I’m thinking about going to Colorado Springs this weekend.” I shared when we were done. “You interested?”
“I wish I could, but Tam and I are taking the kids skiing.” His lips thinned as he said the word. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I tightened my hold on the water bottle. “Just be careful.”
“Always.” He nodded. “We normally stay on the bunny hills.”
“Good.” I nodded. “I should get going.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yep.” I forced a smile on my face. “You guys have fun.”
“Alright.” He patted me on the arm. “And if you get back and want some company, you’re always welcome for dinner.”
“Thanks.” I gave him a hug and turned for the elevators.
I took one step and stopped. Stewart stood right outside one of the physical therapy rooms.
“Rita?”
“Major.” I kept going toward the elevator.
“What are you doing here?” He followed me. “Is this about your side? Are you still in pain?”
“It’s private.” I pushed the button repeatedly as if that had ever in the history of the world made the thing show up faster.
“Rita, talk to me.” He turned me so we were facing each other. “Who was that guy?”
“Like I said, it’s private.” The elevator opened, and I stepped in. “Bye, Major.”
“Rita.” I was glad he didn’t hop in after me.
This was too much. First the call, then the almost kiss, and now this. Aspen was right. I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t take the chance of getting any closer to him. It was time I did the right thing.
I wiped at the tear that suddenly fell. Why did doing the right thing have to hurt so bad?
Chapter 7
Stewart
The Rusty Spur wasn’t as crowded as I expected, which meant there must not be a live band tonight. That was fine with me. I wasn’t all that excited about coming out tonight, but I had an ulterior motive. Rita had said that if I showed progress she would sign the paperwork. I wanted to be done with her as my therapist so I could finally see what was going on between us. I was even more motivated thanks to seeing her hug that guy in the hospital. What if I were running out of time? Then again, she could already be taken. But I was having a hard time believing she would almost let me kiss her if she was involved with someone else.
I looked around for Crewe Hawthorne. We were supposed to be meeting tonight. It felt weird being out when I hadn’t done a full day’s work, but until I was back in uniform, I didn’t have a choice.
It also felt weird being here without my unit. We used to always grab a beer or two every Thursday and shoot a couple games of pool. I missed those days. I couldn’t wait for everyone to get out of the hospital so we could get back to our normal routine. I didn’t think that I would be able to do any of it again until it was all of us.
“Stu,” Crewe yelled. I nodded in his direction and then pointed to the long bar to let him know I was getting a drink first.
I’d called Crewe because he was easier to hang out with than the other guys on my team. It also helped that he hadn’t been there when everything went down. He’d actually been one of thepararescue leaders that pulled us out the fire. We all owed him so much.
What really helped was that he reminded me so much of Rex. They weren’t the same age, but there was something about him that made me feel like I was grabbing a drink with my little brother. That was something I wished Rex and I got to do more often. I could count on my fingers how many times we had been able to go out and just be guys. Maybe he had been right. I should try to get home soon.
