Phases of Us

Tre

To RJ’s relief, she moves in two weeks later with Mama Ten, the family nurse (primarily his Lolo’s) orienting her about her patient and getting her acquainted with the gym room where their therapy sessions will occur.  All the equipment for his treatment has already been bought and installed into the room with Dr. Sotto doing regular visits to assess Richard's progress.

The next day, she greets him excitedly as he enters the gym, instructing him to stand next to the treatment table.  "Ok, Sir. Let’s start.  Depending on your progress, we will be doing the same set of exercises 3 times a day for the next three to four weeks.  This is what we call Phase I, or the protective phase.  The goal here is to manage your pain and protect your repair.  We will re-introduce movement to your shoulder so we’ll do passive range of motion exercises muna.  But before that, here's your pain meds then tanggalin natin itong support brace mo.”  She moves closer to him to do so.  “We’ll start with the pendulum exercise. You have to endure the pain to your limits, Gov. Kapag hindi mo na talaga kaya yung sakit, let me know and we’ll take a break.”

He nods in response but doesn’t look at her, although inwardly, he is glad that she didn’t change her mind even after what he did.  “Just tell me what to do,”  he says flatly.

She still hasn't seen him smile since she moved in that she wonders if Doc Bossing also gave him botox while going through arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.  “Ok, Gov, brace off. Can I call you Gov?”  When he doesn’t respond, she continues.  "Lie down and put your right hand on your stomach. We’ll be doing shoulder oscillations…"  She explains as she wraps her fingers on his wrist, carefully lifting his injured arm a few inches off the treatment table while her free hand lightly massages his chiseled triceps.

He closes his eyes and tunes in to the gentleness of her touch as she works her fingers from his arm up to his shoulder.  To distract himself from the pain, he focuses on the calmness of her voice as she explains the purpose of the exercise and asks him from time to time if he can still bear the pain.  He would nod, furrow his brows and clench the hand on his stomach into a fist in response.

"Kaya pa, Gov?" She asks, worried as her patient groans in pain.

He opens his eyes to respond only to be rendered speechless by the view before him: with her cheeks flushed and her eyes closed, Maine is biting the side of her plump lower lip between her teeth. Her lips seem like a magnet and his eyes, metal that he couldn’t peel off his gaze.  With a suddenly racing heartbeat just like the first time they met, he swallows an imaginary lump in his throat.

"Kaya pa." He replies, his breathing erratic, curious about how those lips would feel against his, wishing they'd do a different exercise already before she feels the sudden change in his pulse.

“Ok next exercise na." She blurts out, to his relief.  "Stand up. Bend your knees a little then lean forward, ayan.  Keep your back straight then let your injured arm hang down. Tapos yung isang kamay mo, ipatong mo dito sa table.”

“Wait. Ayusin natin.” She puts one hand over his chest and the other on his lower back. “Kelangan straight yung likod mo.”

He nods once.  His body then stiffens as he gets a whiff of her apple-scented hair and feels the warmth of her hands on him.  “Next, using your body to initiate movement, gently swing your arms forward then backward in a circular motion.”

He clenches his jaw and grits his teeth throughout the rest of his exercises but with Maine’s hands guiding him as they go along, her soft voice and gentle touch succeed in diverting his attention from the pain on his shoulder but did nothing to distract the thoughts going on inside his head about his beautiful sports physiotherapist and her luscious, inviting lips.

"Ok, Gov. We're done on our first round-- I mean session.” She corrects herself.

He smirks discreetly as he watches her blush.

***

“Let's reconvene after lunch. Call me if you need anything else. Dun lang ako sa kwarto ko."

She is speaking too fast. She is very aware of him, how from her periphery she sees him gazing at her, or how she feels his pulse quicken when she wrapped her fingers around his wrist earlier. She needs to get out of here before she does something that could get her fired.

"Maine, Maine!"  He calls when he sees her hurriedly walking to the door.

"Yes, Gov?" She ducks her head and turns around to face him.

"Di mo naman kelangang magkulong sa kwarto. There's a pool out back. May garden din where you can hang out. You're free to use them."

"May pool?! Homaygad, bakit ngayon nyo lang sinabi, Gov?!" She exclaims, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Di ka naman nagtanong eh. Kunin mo yung susi ng pool area kay Manang Virgie." He chuckles, amused at her, that dent on his left cheek finally making an appearance and almost turning her knees to jelly.

"Thank you, Gov!"

"RJ."

"Ha?"

"Call me, RJ."

"Thank you, RJ." she waves at him and leaves the room before her knees give out from his dazzling bedimpled smile.  "Nakita ko din ngiti mo sa wakas."  She whispers to herself.

Tama sila, sabog obaryo nga. Lord, six months pa ko dito.  Marupok po ako.