Tobias: Book One of the Cantrell Series [Re-Write]

Chapter One

"Okay, Diane, could you lift up your arm so it points to the ceiling, please?" Jane asked the elderly lady before entering notes into her laptop.

She nodded and raised her arm. When Diane had first come in, she hadn't even been able to lift her arm to ninety degrees. Now, she was at a full one-eighty and could hold it there for an entire minute. Jane told her to set her arm down and then go through some stretches. Diane did them perfectly; she was a very good patient. Sadly, Jane couldn't say the same about the majority of her other patients.

"Do you have any questions at all?"

"No, it's the same old same old. I'm getting quite good at them actually."

"Glad to hear it, then you should be all set. I'll see you next week!"

Diane waved good-bye and then walked out to the waiting room. It was Friday, and she was excited for her card club meeting this afternoon, Diane had been telling her. Jane turned back to her computer and finished up with the rest of her notes. She had six minutes until her next patient was scheduled, and if she didn't get these notes done now, she would have to stay late. Jane did not want to stay late.

Jane checked the appointment schedule to see if her next patient had arrived. Tobias Cantrell. He was here after recovering from a broken hip. The box next to his name was green, so he was here.

She walked through the clinic over to the reception area. "Tobias Cantrell?" she called.

She watched as a man folded up a magazine and stood up from the chair. He was tall. Very tall. She guessed at least over six feet. He was dressed in worn-looking jeans and work boots that looked like they'd seen better days. His shirt stretched tight across his chest. Her mouth seemed to go dry.

She was used to older or obese individuals who would come in for lower back pain or joint replacements. A broken hip wasn't unusual for those populations, but it was for somebody who looked like Tobias. She guessed he was either in his late twenties or very early thirties.

He gave her a small smile as he limped toward her. "Hi."

She stuck out her hand. "Hi. I'm Jane. I'll be the physical therapist evaluating you today."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She led him down the hall and into one of the private rooms. He sat down on the edge of the padded table, and she pulled up the computer, going into his client profile. "Before we start, what is your date of birth?"

"January twenty-second, 1985." His voice was low. She liked that.

She turned towards him, still typing on her laptop. Tobias Cantrell was looking away from her, his eyes pointed down at the floor as he fiddled with his thumbs. His knee was bouncing up and down, and she could see that his shoulders were tense.

Jane couldn't seem to look away. His face was tan, and his jaw was sharp. He had closely cropped dark brown hair with eyes that were even darker. She supposed Tobias Cantrell wasn't what most women would deem to be conventionally attractive, but there was something about him. She had always been more attractive to muscular men, and Tobias Cantrell definitely fit into that category.

Jane snapped her gaze away, praying that he hadn't noticed. "It looks like it's your left hip that was broken?"

He nodded. There was that small smile again.

Her eyes skimmed through the rest of his records. At twenty-eight, he didn't have any allergies, had broken his humerus about four years ago, and had just been given the okay to discontinue using crutches.