“I’m serious,” I told him with a frown.
He snorted. “Ya usually are.”
“Huh?”
“Just sayin’, I haven’t seen ya smile much, and ya don’t laugh anymore either,” he said with a shrug, looking troubled. “Been spendin’ time with ya for almost two weeks now? And I barely seen ya do either. Could probably count on my hands how manytimes I’ve seen ya smile, and ya never have laughed, not really. A couple of times, but it’s not been like…a real laugh.”
“Things have changed in my life as much as they’ve changed in yours,” I said quietly. “Not in the same way, but they’ve changed.”
“I get that,” he said with another shrug. “Just somethin’ I’ve noticed is all.”
I opened my mouth to ask him if he really got it, but common sense reasserted itself, and I closed it before I asked the stupid question. If anyone understood what it meant to have your whole life turned on its head, it was Cade. Just because he’d figured out how to still smile and laugh didn’t mean he hadn’t gone through hell and not come back out. Maybe that made him a better person than me, or a stronger one, but even if neither was true, I didn’t have the right to call into question whether he was in pain.
I eyed him as he leaned awkwardly. “Your hip bothering you?”
“A little,” he said. “Twinges now and then.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I remember how much of a PITA you were.”
“I am not.”
“Yes, you are. You could break your leg and insist it didn’t hurt that bad; your guts could pour out, and you’d insist it was an upset stomach.”
“Sounds like my stomach would be pretty upset, though.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Aren’t they offering you physical therapy?”
If he thought I didn’t notice the wary look in his eyes, then he was losing his mind. “I mean…I think they do.”
“That was a trick question. I got bored on the trip up here and looked through all the activities and amenities,” I said, frowning. “I saw they offered it. They have a physical therapiston staff. Which, since they have access to our medical records, means they offered it to you, probably more than once. You don’tthinkthey do; youknowthey do. So you lied. Between that and being a PITA, I now know you’ve been avoiding going to physical therapy,
“Aw, c’mon,” he said, shifting his weight back and forth. “It’s achin’, ain’t nothin’ worth makin’ a fuss over.”
It was almost amusing to see this fully grown man squirm under my glare. Someone who had faced death routinely and was far more dangerous than anyone in this resort suspected, or at least could be dangerous; he was normally a big softy. Except, right now all I could think was how he was perfectly capable and in full control of his faculties, which meant he was also capable of making the intelligent decision to get the help he needed.
“Don’t tell me what is or isn’t worth making a fuss over,” I told him, crossing my arms and glaring at him. “If you’re having mobility or pain issues, you need to have them addressed by someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“Someone like you?” he asked, and if I wasn’t wrong, there was a note of hope in his voice.
“Exactly,” I said with a smile that made him perk up, and then I frowned again. “By telling you that you need to find a physical therapist who will help you, using the training and education they put great effort into getting. Something I don’t have because I’m a goddamn medic, not equipped to help you.”
“Aww,” he grumbled, briefly looking more like a little boy being chastised than a full-grown man who knew better. “C’mon.”
“If you think for a minute I’m going to let this go, you clearly don’t remember how these things work,” I told him with a continued glare. “You’re obviously not falling over or having an impossible time getting around, but it’s obvious you needsomething.”
“Does that mean we can stop talkin’ about it, then?” he asked with that same hopeful tone.
“For now,” I said, hating that I found it a little endearing. “But like I said, if you think I’m going to let this go, you clearly need a refresher on how seriously I take this shit. There’s no reason you shouldn’t take full advantage of what this place offers when it’s all right there, ready for you to use. I mean, hell, you’re paying for this place, you might as well use what it has.”
“Well—”
“What?”
He winced. “I’m not really payin’ for it…never have.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Well—”
