Coach Hembry walked into one of the open treatment rooms when he saw it empty. “On the bed,” he instructed, and left me there to do as I was told.
I wasn’t arguing.
T.J. came back with one of the younger PTs. Her hair was in a tight bun, her eyes were already assessing me, as she rubbed her hands together. The more I looked at her, the more I couldn’t remember seeing her before.
“Hey, just warming them up,” she said with a smile. “Let me take a look.”
Her idea of taking a look was close to dislocation, I was sure of it. When she stepped back, she looked at my coach.
“He shouldn’t be practicing like he has been,” she said simply. “I’ll schedule an MRI, but I don’t think it’s too serious yet. We want to keep him from throwing right now, though.” She looked back at me. “It’s the offseason.Thisis when you get to take it easier.” She turned back to Coach Hembry. “Simple rest and recovery, no throwing for the next week, let’s see how the inflammation settles. I’ll schedule you in with me for some physical therapy—”
“I think Doug was going to do that,” I cut in.
She exchanged a look with Coach Hembry. My coach cleared his throat. “Diana is here, let’s stick with her, yeah?”
What the hell was that? I nodded, watching them interact.
She smiled. “I know what I’m doing,” she said.
“Yeah, sorry,” I stumbled. “It wasn’t because you’re a woman.” They both stared at me, one in despair that I’d said it out loud, the other with amusement, and I felt my cheeks burn. “I’ll shut up.”
“Do that,” Hembry muttered. “Diana?”
“I’ll give you a corticosteroid injection today,” she continued evenly. “But physical therapy is where we’ll work on it. We’ll do a range of motion work, keep it from tightening, but not too strenuous that it will put pressure on it. Strengthening exercises, work with resistance bands,lightdumbbells, not those things I saw you and Matthews fighting over last week. We’ll workon your core and body strengthening, keep the whole machine working solid.” She flashed me a smile. “Sound good?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of that.”
“Yeah, and you’ve been doing it wrong. Too heavy, too fast.” She looked down at her tablet. “Ice it after every practice to reduce swelling.” Her fingers flew over her pad. “Heat pack before practice, it’ll help loosen the tissue and muscles.”
“We’ll take you off afternoon training,” Hembry said. “More film time.”
“It’s really just a niggle,” I protested.
“Niggles turn into rotator cuff tears. Let’s nip your niggle before it becomes surgery.” Diana looked up. “Your MRI is tomorrow morning. Lay back.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a massage, then your injection, and when you go back to your room, ice it for fifteen minutes, every hour.”
“Doug didn’t tell me any of this,” I grumbled as I lay back.
“Doug’s old school,” Diana said, keeping her tone neutral. “He deals with the bigger problem, but I prefer to work with the smaller issues before they become the bigger issue.” She glanced over at my coach. “You want your coach to stay? It’s okay if you do.”
I raised my head up and looked at her. “What?”
For the first time, she looked uncomfortable. “It’s okay if you prefer a chaperone.”
My eyes flicked to my coach’s, his face expressionless. “I’m okay... But if you want him to stay, that’s okay too.”
She looked down and then back at Hembry. “If you just stand in the corner, Coach.”
“Of course,” he murmured, and I lay back, wondering what the hell was with the subtext in the room. There was something in how she asked. Not embarrassed. Careful.
Coach and I left the treatment room about twenty minutes later. I felt like a marshmallow. Diana was small and short, but dear God, the woman had strength.
“I feel great,” I told him as we walked back down the hallway. “Honestly, point me to the thirty and I’ll have us in the end zone,” I added with a chuckle.
“Yeah, she’s good. She’s new,” he added, his voice low. “Wrighton’s not tarnished her too much, yet.”
