Chapter 21: Hannah's Terms

Hannah's POV

I cleared the whole morning, and I told the front desk not to unlock the clinic doors until nine.

Tobias came in at eight in running shoes, with no cane and a sheepish look.

"I left it in the car."

"I know. I watched you from the window."

I had set up the stairs at the back of the gym, twelve steps with a rail.

He had been climbing them every morning for weeks.

"Up and down, no hands," I said. "Then we're done."

He went up.

I stood at the bottom and watched his left leg, which was thinner than the right.

It took his weight on every single step.

He reached the top and turned and looked down at me.

"Now the way back," I said.

He came down slowly, then faster, then jumped the last two.

He landed on both feet with a grin that took ten years off his face.

"Tell me where it hurts," I said.

"Nowhere."

"That's one of my terms."

He stopped smiling a little.

"There's a pull along the scar when I pivot. It's small."

"Thank you."

I walked across the mat and took his face in both hands.

"Dr. Brooks," he said. "You said there would be an after."

"This is the after," I said.

I kissed him, and then I kissed him harder, and he made a sound against my mouth that went straight through me.

I locked the gym door behind him with my elbow.

I had meant to take my time.

I got his T-shirt over his head and ran my hands down his chest and his flat stomach.

Keep reading free with an account. Start She Left Me in Traction, Then the Will Made Me Her Boss from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.