She still had months of physical therapy ahead of her, but Paige doubted she’d be ready for a relationship even then. Besides, what if Gabe wasn’t interested in pursuing a personal relationship when their professional one ended? What happened at the pool could have just been a heat of the moment thing.
No. Regardless of what Riley thought, Paige was better off not getting her hopes up.
CHAPTER 11
Fake it 'til you make it.
Gabe drew in a deep breath as he unlocked the door to the PT office Monday morning. For the next ten hours he had to pretend his world hadn't fallen apart.
He settled at the small desk and checked his patients' exercise logs then opened the case notes for each. Just as he suspected, Toa had changed several of the patients' exercises on Wednesday, then made notes in their file about their complaints at the end of the session. And Gary… Well, Gary hardly made any notes at all. He never did. And it drove Gabe crazy.
"Boy, am I glad to see you back." Luke had barely cracked the door open before speaking. "Last week was the longest week of my life. I thought listening to Toa drone on about how awesome he is was bad, but then I had to work a whole day with Gloomy Gary on Friday. Have you ever spent a whole day with that man?" After depositing his backpack and helmet behind the desk, Luke stood in front of Gabe with his hands on his hips. "Making conversation with him between patients was painful. And I swear he has no idea what he's doing when it comes to stretching and rubbing them out."
"Sorry about that."
Gabe hated asking either of the men to fill in for him while he was gone, but finding a replacement on short notice was difficult. There was a reason each of the men were available. They only worked part-time at their clinics, because they weren't competent enough to run their own.
Gabe was tempted to ask Luke how Paige did during PT last week, but he stifled the urge. He'd never missed a patient when taking a few days off, but he'd thought about her several times over the course of the week while they waited for the results of his mom's scans. And ever since he told his mom that ridiculous lie, he'd been unable to get her off his mind.
"No, wait. I'm sorry." Luke slapped a palm to his forehead. "I forgot to ask how things are with your family. Everything okay?"
Gabe clamped his jaw shut and drew in a deep breath through his nose as a sudden rush of emotion hit him. After giving in to the tears again last night, he thought he'd be fine, but he just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he didn't have much time left with his mother.
Luke's brow furrowed as he pulled a chair over to sit in front of Gabe. "What's going on, man?"
Gabe swallowed hard and took another fortifying breath before speaking. "My mom is…sick. Very sick."
"Wow, I'm sorry." Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Do they know what it is? What's her recovery look like?"
"Pancreatic cancer. Stage four." Gabe forced another lump from his throat. "She's…terminal." He forced the word out. It grated even more painfully than the word chemo."
"Oh man, I'm so sorry." Luke hung his head for a moment before looking at Gabe again. "I only met her a few times, but she was— I meanisa classy lady. She makes the best empanadas and flan."
“Yes, she does.” Gabe tapped the side of his thumb on his small desk. “Listen, don’t um…say anything to anyone, please. I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”
But I need to talk to Dr. Stoker soon.
Gabe would eventually need to cut back on his hours at the clinic in Pasco and condense his time here in Providence.
"No problem, man." Luke nodded. "I'm a vault. And seriously, whenever you need to take a day off, I promise I won't complain about having to work with Toa and Gary."
Gabe smiled. "Barring emergencies, I promise to try get more reliable replacements when I need to be gone."
Luke stood then paused. "Let me know if there is anything I can do for you and your family." Luke gave him an earnest look. "I mean it. Anything you need, I'm here for you."
"Thanks, I appreciate that."
Relief filled Gabe when Luke walked away, leaving him to his thoughts. Thoughts that immediately turned to his mother and the lie he'd told her.
He stood and cleared his throat. "Actually, thereissomething I could use your help with."
Luke looked up from the computer he'd just booted up. "Name it."
I can't believe I'm asking my twenty-two-year-old assistant to find me a girlfriend. How humiliating!
"I was…um…wondering if you knew a woman who would be interested in…pretending to be my girlfriend." The final words came out in a rush.
Luke burst out laughing. "Good one, man." When Gabe didn't join in the laughter, he sobered. "You're serious?"
