Chapter Seven - Elsie

Elsie

Elsie stared at her computer screen. She had a search window up and Oliver Lance's name already typed out. Her finger hesitated over the “go” button. Did she really want to find out about him?

She chewed her lip for a moment before finally giving into temptation.

Apparently, he was just as famous as he said he was. There were thousands of pictures of him and tons of websites devoted to not only his football prowess, but his life as well. She clicked on the “images” tab first. In all his pictures, his hair was a rich black that made the blue of his eyes pop. She definitely preferred it to the bleach blond hairstyle he currently wore.

She glanced through all his football pictures. Some were action shots from various games, many were of him lifting the championship trophy over his head, and then the obviously staged photos made to put on TV with his stats underneath. Mixed in with all of these were him around the city. The most prevalent were pictures of him at various clubs around his city- always with a different gorgeous girl hanging off his arm. He sure knew how to pick attractive women.

Elsie shook her head and marked him as a player in her head. He was attractive and funny, but obviously a womanizer. If he wasn't her patient, he would be the exact opposite of her type. She wanted a family and loved being at home on Friday nights cuddled up in front of the TV with a movie and popcorn. From the pictures, that was the last thing Oliver Lance would enjoy.

Elsie moved her mouse back to the results tab and clicked on the top link to his Wikipedia page and started to read. She only got through the first sentence before stopping. It felt like snooping.

“This isn't against my contract,” she whispered to herself, but it didn't matter. Her eyes wouldn't go past the words “Oliver Lance was born December 28th...” She had her medical file on him, so she knew that already, but it didn't feel right to read all the details of his personal life.

Elsie chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, unsure of what to do next. There was so much information on Lance right in front of her. The headings tempted her with his football games, his money, his history... but she didn't click on any of them.

She thought of what it would feel like if there were a Wikipedia page about her that Oliver could read about. Where he could find out all about her sisters, her uncle, how she left a promising sports training career to come run her uncle's PT clinic, even her past romantic history...

“I don't want to know,” she said out loud to the computer and shut the window. “I'll let him tell me what he wants.”

Her heart felt lighter after closing the window. It felt like she was doing the right thing. She was excited to have him tell her all the information instead of the emotionless website page. She would ask him if he preferred her to look at it, but she suspected he didn't. Besides, she liked the way his eyes widened and the shocked look on his face when she told him she didn't know who he was. It was rather fun to surprise him with that.

Elsie smiled and closed her laptop. She'd had a busy day and should be heading to bed and not messing around on her computer anyway. With a deep breath, she stood up from her office desk, turned off the lights and went home.

***

“Okay, Ollie. That's it for today. You did a good job.” Elsie finished massaging his knee like she did after all their sessions. She wanted to get as much blood flow to the injury as possible. In addition to the massage, she'd spent the last hour putting Ollie through simple, yet important, leg exercises.

Oliver wiped his brow and sagged back onto the treatment table. Sweat soaked through his shirt and he seemed very relieved that the punishment was over. “You sure, Doc? I think I can handle some more torture.”

“You're done for the day. We don't want to push you too far, or you'll just re-injure yourself. It's a delicate line we need to walk, between challenging you and letting you heal.” Elsie patted his shoulder. “Plus, your check hasn't cleared yet, so I need to keep you liking me for at least a few more hours.”

She watched as Oliver cocked his head to the side and froze. It was like she had said something wrong.

“I'm only teasing you,” she said, with a smirk. “Your check is just fine.”

Ollie released his breath and relaxed once again. Elsie grabbed a bottled water from the mini fridge in the corner of the room and handed it to him.

“You need to stay hydrated now,” she said. “The more water, the better.”

Oliver nodded as he took down a big gulp. When he finished, he set the bottle next to him. “I've been working out for most of my life and I think this might have been one of the hardest workouts I've gone through. I'm not joking either. Even the drills that coach made me do as a rookie didn't kick my butt like you just did.”

“The worst isn't over.” Elsie took a step back from the table to make room for Ollie to get up. “Just wait until I make you stand up again.”

Oliver groaned and wiped his face. “Don't remind me. Do you think there's any way you can just let me lay here the rest of the day?”

“Would you like me to throw the ball for you at your next game too?” she teased, glancing down at his knee. He gave her a good-natured glare as he wiped sweat from his brow again.

The swelling had gone down significantly and the incisions were nearly healed. Still, though, they had a whole lot of work to do before Ollie could consider himself recovered.

“I feel like I should be all better by now,” he said, gently touching his knee. “It still freaking hurts, though. But, it's been a whole week!”

“Ollie, you had three men attack you with knives and dig around in your knee for several hours.” Elsie gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. “They were just nice enough to sedate you first.”

Ollie frowned at her.

“Your body doesn't know that it was actually surgeons and not masked murderers that did this to you,” she explained. “You have to be patient. Give yourself a little time. You're going to get better and better as the weeks go on. I promise.”

Oliver was silent for a moment. Contemplative. “I'm just not used to feeling like this. I've always been able to push through. I've never spent one day on the injured list. This just isn't like me.”

“You're doing great, Ollie,” she said, feeling an urge to pull him in for a hug. She didn't, but she wanted to. “You're doing far better than any patient I've ever had. Honestly. You'll be up and running before you know it.”

Oliver lifted his gaze to meet hers. His clear blue eyes caused her feet to melt to the floor. She felt magnetized toward him, a pull which she forced herself to ignore. He was her patient. She picked up her clipboard and pretended to write something just to break the connection.

“If you say so, Doc,” he finally said with a sigh.

Elsie looked up and smiled and Ollie slowly returned the gesture. He was so obviously down about the whole thing. He put on a brave face, but she knew how scary an injury like this could be for an athlete. This jeopardized his whole world, and he was doing his best to smile through it. It broke her heart.

“I do say so,” she said, patting his knee gently. “I'd tell you if you were sucking. That's actually an important part of my job. I won't sugar coat anything. You can count on that.”

“You sound like Coach,” Ollie said, taking another swig of water.

Elsie chuckled. “I like your coach already.” She jotted a few notes down on her clipboard about the day's session. “Sounds like he and I think the same way.”

“Yeah, but he'd say it with an angry sneer,” he said, with a chuckle.

Elsie twisted her mouth and narrowed her eyes, looking up from her clipboard. With her voice lowered as much as possible, she growled, “You're doing a great job. Now hit the showers, kid!”

For the first time that day, Ollie let out a genuine laugh. He cracked up for a full minute, which put a smile on Elsie's face. Hearing him laugh was the best part of her day.

“If I didn't know better, I'd say you do a better Coach than Coach does.” Ollie said, wiping tears of laughter from his cheek.

“You know, I do help coach little league in the fall for the local elementary school,” she said, beaming with pride. “That's probably where I picked it up.”

“What sport do you coach?” he asked, eyes widening and ears perking.

“Football, actually,” she replied, with a laugh. “I love it. There's nothing more satisfying, or hilarious, than watching 6-year-olds run around in those pads.”

“That's awesome. You probably know more about football than you've let on.” Ollie's eyes were still locked with Elsie's. “Who roped you into coaching kid's football, anyway?”

“My oldest sister,” Elsie admitted. “Her son is on the team and they needed a coach. It worked out great, though, because it gave me a chance to hang out with my little nephew.”

“So let me get this straight,” Ollie said, scooting to the edge of the table. “You coach football, yet you had never heard of me before we met last week?”

Elsie shrugged. “I like football a lot, I just don't have any time to watch it. I haven't been able to be a real fan since I took over the physical therapy clinic from my uncle. There's just too much work for me to do and not enough time to watch the games.”

“When was the last game you watched?” he asked. “Any from last season?”

“I wish,” she said, shaking her head. “You're going to laugh, but I haven't watched a professional game in three years. No, wait... four years.”

“You're kidding,” he said, eyes wide with surprise. “You haven't been to a game in four years?”

“Been? I've actually never been to a professional game,” she said, pushing her hair over her ear and biting her lower lip. “We don't have a professional football team in Iowa and I couldn't afford a ticket in grad school.”

“That would make it more difficult to go to a game,” Ollie admitted.

“I used to watch all the games on TV while I was growing up, and I loved going to college games,” Elsie explained. She leaned against the massage table across from Ollie and shrugged. “But once I graduated, I just couldn't find the time.”

“You've missed out on a lot of good games.” Ollie looked up at the ceiling, as though recalling great memories from his past. “I wish you had been able to keep up on the sport. It's come a long ways.”

“I hope to get back into sometime. I used to love my Sunday afternoons cheering at the screen. Maybe things will slow down for me one day,” she said. “But I promise, I'll watch a game once you're playing again.”

“I'd love for that to happen.” Ollie looked down at the ground, an expression of sadness written all over his face as he remembered what he was facing. “Let's hope I'm playing again and you can watch me next year.”

“Hey, we'll get you there, Ollie,” she said, sounding sure of herself. “The two of us are a team now and we'll work together. I've got your back.”

His eyes lit up and he reached forward, placing his hand over hers. His touch sent a pleasurable chill through her. She liked it, a lot more than she cared to admit.

No, Elsie. No, she thought. Sure, he's cute and he's got a great story, but he's your patient. That's all.

Slowly, she pulled her hand away and picked up her pen. Then she pretended to jot some notes down on her paper.

“I appreciate all that you're doing for me,” he said, after a few moments of pause. “Truly, it feels good knowing you're on my side. I was hopeless when I woke up in that hospital. But you've really made me feel like there's a chance I can pull through this thing.”

Warmth spread through her chest and she couldn't stop the smile on her face.

“Thank you. Just don't get down about it,” she said, placing a hand onto his shoulder. “Stay positive and keep the same 'work hard' attitude that brought you into your career in the first place.”

“That's some very sound advice,” he replied. “You sure you're not related to Coach?”

She chuckled.

“I hope you take it to heart,” she said, her lips curling up into a wide smile. “Anyway, that's it for today. Keep yourself comfortable tonight and don't be afraid to put ice on that knee. You know the drill.”

“I do.” Ollie nodded.

Elsie grabbed her clipboard and purse, but then paused. The session was over, but she didn't really want to leave. She was having a nice time. There was a great connection between them and it made for smooth and relaxing conversation. It had been a while since she had been able to enjoy that with someone. Still, though, she feared if she stayed much longer than she would wear out her welcome.

“You have my phone number if you need anything,” she said, turning toward the door and mentally telling herself it was time to go.

“That I do.” Oliver grabbed his crutches and eased himself back down to the floor. “And you have mine. Which is good, that way if I do call you, you won't think it's some crazy spam caller or something.”

She grinned at his comment, but couldn't think of anything else to add. The session was over and it was time for her to leave, even though she was having a nice time.

“Okay, I'll see you Friday,” she finally said, and started walking toward the front door.

Just as she touched the doorknob, she heard Ollie call out, “I'm looking forward to it.”

Elsie grinned and stepped outside into the icy air.

It almost feels like a date, she thought.

She liked the idea of that, but also feared the implications. Combining her professional world with her personal was never a good idea. They'd gone over that plenty of times in school and she'd seen coworkers get in trouble with patients.

But she couldn't get rid of that feeling of attraction toward Ollie. It wasn't about his good looks or money, either. It was something different. Maybe it was his playful personality or how he made her feel important. Whatever it was, she couldn't get him off of her mind. And Friday couldn't come soon enough.