She shook a pill into her hand. She poured a glass of water.
She brought them to him.
"Take it."
Ryder looked at the pill. He wanted it. He wanted the gray fog. He wanted the oblivion.
But he looked at her hand. She wasn't wearing a ring.
"Why are you doing this, Elena?" he asked, not taking the pill. "You hate me. You have every right to hate me. Why are you here?"
Elena’s hand stilled. She looked at the pill, then at his eyes.
"Because Cole asked," she said. "And because I took an oath to do no harm. Even to idiots who run away in the middle of the night."
"I didn't run away," Ryder said weakly. "I left. There's a difference."
"Not from where I was standing," she said. Her voice was brittle.
She pressed the pill to his lips.
"Take the damn medicine, Ryder."
He opened his mouth. He swallowed the pill. He drank the water.
Elena set the glass down. She took a step back, creating a sterile field between them.
III. The Rules of Engagement
"Okay," she said. "Here is the reality. You have a titanium rod in your leg. Your quad muscle has been sliced open. If you lay in this bed and feel sorry for yourself, the muscle will atrophy, the scar tissue will harden, and you will walk with a cane for the rest of your life."
She picked up the clipboard again.
"I am the only PT in Oakhaven. You can't drive to Billings. So you are stuck with me. And I run a strict protocol."
She held up one finger.
"Rule one: I am your doctor. Not your ex. Not your friend. We do not talk about the past. We talk about flexion, extension, and pain scales. If you try to bring up 'us,' I walk out, and you can rehab yourself with a YouTube video."
She held up a second finger.
"Rule two: You do the work. If I tell you to do leg lifts, you do them. If I tell you to breathe, you breathe. If you skip a session, I drop you as a patient."
She held up a third finger.
"Rule three: The pills." She pointed to the bottle. "I control the dosage. I know your history, Ryder. I know you like the buzz. But on my watch, you take them for pain, not for escape. If I suspect you're abusing them, I flush them."
She looked at him, her chin lifted, her eyes blazing with a challenge.
"Do you agree to these terms?"
Ryder looked at her. He felt the Oxycodone starting to dissolve in his stomach, a tiny warmth blooming in the center of the ice.
He looked at the woman he had left behind six years ago. She was stronger now. Harder. She had built walls just like Cole had.
And he realized, with a sinking sensation, that he was terrified of her.
"I agree," he whispered.
