Full Strength

Nineteen-Logan 🏒

        Eating breakfast was nearly impossible. I was too excited. My leg-the intact one-wouldn't stop bouncing.

         Lillian was perfectly at ease. After all, she worked with patients all the time. But this would be my first time actually doing something to improve my health. Sure, I'd taken antibiotics, steroids, vitamins, and all sorts of medications for my leg. But I hadn't physically been able to move on my own.

        It was convenient that I had a pool. However, it was not convenient that the pool, and the hot tub, were tucked away in the pool house, which was a good fifty feet away from my actual house. Trekking through the snow would be problematic.

        "Where are you going?" I asked Lillian, who had on her coat and boots.

         "I'm shoveling a path for you. Granted, it might make the ground more rough, but at least you'll be able to see something before you trip on it," she replied, zipping her coat.

        I took offense. "What makes you so sure I'll trip?"

        "See you in bit!" Sneaky, leaving with no answer. It only hurt my dignity further.

        I shoveled cereal down while I watched her. The shoveling went quickly, and she returned ten minutes later, snowflakes dotting her hair. Hastily, I shoveled in more cereal. I didn't need her realizing I was staring at her with dreamy, lovesick eyes.

        "Is it cold out?" I asked her.

        "Not really. You still have to wear a coat. And pants," she said firmly. "I don't need you catching a cold."

         "You know how much I hate pants," I complained. Normally, I was very attached to wearing pants, especially in the winter, but my cast made them nearly impossible to put on.

         "They don't have to be nice pants," she laughed. "You can wear sweats. It's just while you walk to the pool house and back."

          I drank the leftover milk in my bowl to stifle my complaints. If Lillian wanted me to suffer through wearing pants, I would suffer.

        It's hard when the girl you're crushing on is also your doctor. It's equally hard when your doctor is the girl you're crushing on.

        She sat down at the end of the table, her fingernails tapping against the wood. I frowned, asking, "Are...are you worried? That this isn't going to go well?"

        "No! No, no," she said, quickly flattening her palm to avoid tapping. "No, just thinking about something else."

        "Anything I can help with?" I offered.

        Lillian hesitated, finally admitting, "I heard the end of your conversation with Graham
yesterday. And it's really none of my business. So yes, it's bugging me, but I need to forget about it."

        "You know I can just tell you, right?" I said, smiling.

         She looked sheepish. "Oh."

        I cleared my throat. I still hadn't heard back from Graham, but I figured he'd text soon. "At the Christmas party, at Graham's house, one of the guys said some really awful things about Eve," I said thickly. "Graham overheard, and he's going to coach to see if this guy can have his contract terminated. If not..."

        "Graham's leaving," Lillian guessed.

        "Exactly. That's the dinner he was going to last night," I explained.

         "Can I ask what he said?" she asked. "It's okay if not."

         I looked out the window, towards the snowy mountains in the distance. "Stuff about how Eve acts desperate for Graham and how she clearly only spends time with me to get to him. Which doesn't even make sense, because she rarely comes to games or anything anyways."