Blackbird (2 page)

“I’d make it worth your while,” he whispered in
her ear, taking her earlobe in his mouth and gently sucking it.

Claire shrugged him off and planted a kiss on his
mouth. “I’m sure you would. But I’ve
gotta
get out of
here,” she said, quickly pulling herself from his grip and grabbing her bag off
the counter.

“Just let yourself out when you’re finished and
I’ll call you tonight.” Claire said as she quickly kissed Dave’s mouth again,
then
headed for the door.

 “Good luck!” Dave called out.

“Thanks!” Claire replied, smiling as she left her
unit. Nothing and no one could wipe the smile off her face. Everything in her
life was finally falling into place. She was nearly finished with her degree,
and she had finally found someone she could see herself settling down with.
Life was just as it should be.

***

“Are you sure you don’t want me to
come in with you? I could give you a lift,” Nate’s mum asked him over the phone
as he struggled to get out of the taxi with his crutches.

Nate cursed under his breath. The past two months
had been hell. The first four weeks had been the worst. The painkillers barely
helped with the pain, and the emptiness he felt from being on bed rest for a
month was sending him to the edge of depression. He couldn’t even dress himself
without his mother’s help, a task a six foot well-built twenty seven year old
man should be able to accomplish by himself.

Eventually he was able to use a wheelchair, which
helped his sanity by a fraction. But it was the moment he was able to finally
use crutches and move around freely that his mother no longer needed to be with
him every waking moment. Nate loved his mum and was extremely grateful for her
help with everything. But he had always been a strong, independent man, and
relying on someone was not in his nature. Plus he had just about had enough of
everyone’s sympathy and looked forward to getting on with his life.
His boring, pathetic life.

“Yes Mum. I’ll be fine,” Nate grunted into his
phone.

He’d insisted he didn’t need his mum’s help
anymore. He’d gotten his cast off three days ago and was now about to start his
physiotherapy sessions to learn to walk again. He hadn’t expected or prepared
himself for the weakness he felt in his leg. For some reason he’d thought when
the cast came off he would be walking straight away. Instead he could barely
put any pressure on his leg.

“Well you know where to reach me then,” his mum
said, sounding distant.

Nate sighed. Lifting his crutches under him he
rested his body weight on them and lifted his head still holding the phone.

He reassured his mum,
“Thanks for everything, Mum. But
I’m all good now. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you later okay?”

“Okay, honey.
As long as you’re
okay.”

“Bye, Mum.” He tried his best to sound cheery. He
didn’t want his mum to worry or make her feel like she was being a pain, even
if she was.  

“Bye, Nate.”

Nate hung up the phone and put it in his back
pocket. This was going to be a long, long day.

“So the next patient’s name is Nate
Williams,” John said, handing the patient file to Claire. “He was in a severe
car accident two months ago. His injuries included three broken ribs, whiplash,
ruptured spleen, and a fractured tibia and fibula. I’ve written up a suggested
recovery plan that you can use and adjust as you see fit. Are you happy to
tackle this one by yourself?”

Claire smiled. “Yes, of course.”

Claire had felt upbeat all day, John was a great
mentor and the patients they had been working with nearly made Claire cry on
more than one occasion. Their courage and determination was a true inspiration.
They made the past four years of university seem all the more worthwhile.

John had been kind enough to let Claire take on
the physiotherapy sessions for some of his clients and be her mentor for the
next five weeks.

“Okay, great. Well let’s go introduce ourselves,”
John said, leading Claire out of his office towards the reception.

Across the reception room, Claire spotted the
profile of a tall, muscular man leaning on a pair of crutches and looking at
the wall of pamphlets. She couldn’t quite make him out, but she could see from
afar that he had short shaven hair with an olive complexion. Claire examined
him as she moved closer and couldn’t help but notice the tattoos covering his
arms. They were cuffed at the wrist and she had a feeling the white tee-shirt
he was wearing was covering more tattoos. His jeans hung low on his hips and
she caught a small glimpse of the v on his hips as he reached his arm up high
to pull another pamphlet off the shelf. Claire felt her breathing hitch. It
couldn’t be… Nate?

“Nate Williams?” John called out.

The man started to turn to John’s voice, but one
of his crutches clipped the corner of a nearby chair sending him falling.
Claire quickly dropped his file and reached out in lightning speed to grab him
before he hit the ground. She managed to just wrap her arms around his chest,
her head pressed against him, using her weight to hold him up. She hadn’t
anticipated the weight of him as he nearly crushed her.

“Fuck!” the man cried out.

Claire winced at the sound, praying he hadn’t hurt
his leg. This guy had just gotten his cast off, and she wasn’t about to let him
get back into one.

“I got you,” Claire reassured him.

She saw John place the crutches back under his
arms. She found herself breathing in his scent and closing her eyes. He smelled
amazing. Claire quickly opened her eyes, shocked she had even done that.

“There you go,” John said next to her.

Claire
unwrapped
her
hands from around Nate and looked up at the man.

“You!”
Claire seethed,
quickly pulling away from him, creating distance. “You’re Nate Williams?”
Claire questioned.

This could not be happening. Not right now. Not in
her last clinical placement. There was no way she could be his therapist.

The main raised his eyebrow at her.
“The one and only.
Why? Did you expect someone else?” Nate
looked at her, genuine confusion masked his face.

Claire turned to John. “Can I have a moment with
you in private?”

Nate chuckled. “Better be a quickie, I’m not
waiting here all day,” he mocked.

Claire death-stared Nate, which only seem to amuse
him even more.

“Quickly then, Claire,” John said, pulling her
away from Nate so they could talk out of earshot.

“What is going on?” John asked sternly. “Do you
know him?”

Claire shook her head. “I…I…” she stuttered.

How was she going to explain to John how she knew
him, and why he affected her so much?

“Look, Claire. This is your last clinical
placement. I’m giving you a great opportunity. Whether you have history with
him or not, this is something you can’t pass off. You have to be a professional
about this.”

Claire knew John was right. She couldn’t decline
taking Nate on as a patient. She needed the experience, and it wouldn’t look
good to her professors if she turned down a patient without sustainable
reasoning.

“No, you’re right, it’s fine.” Claire smiled
unconvincingly.

John smiled and handed Nate’s file back to her.
They both turned and walked back to Nate, who was standing there with a smug
look on his face.

“I’m John
Seymor
, and
this is Claire Green. She is a student at the University doing her clinical
placement,” John said, pointing to Claire. “She will be taking your
physiotherapy sessions for the next five weeks.”

Nate eyed Claire up and down, frowning. “Maybe it
would be better if I got someone who knew what they were actually doing.”

Claire’s mouth dropped.
Just when she thought
she couldn’t hate the guy anymore,
Claire thought

“I assure you, Claire is very good at what she
does. I’ve giving her your recovery plan for her to follow. Of course if you
don’t wish her to do it, then it’s up to you,” John said.

Nate stood there for what seemed like an eternity
looking back and forth between Claire and John, considering his options.

Claire could feel her skin burning under his gaze.
She knew every patient had the right to refuse and request that John be their
therapist, but the fact that it was Nate made her blood boil.

“Well?” Claire snapped.

Nate locked eyes with her. If he thought he could
stare her down, he was wrong.
Very wrong.

“
Mmmm
.
Do I get anything in return for doing this for you?” He winked and grinned at
her.

Claire tilted her head. “
Mmmm
,
let me see. Maybe the ability to walk again?” she retorted, not willing to play
along with his little game. If he was going to dish it out, he’d better expect
her to do just the same.

“Claire,” John warned.

Claire kept her composure. Part of her wanted to
plead for Nate’s forgiveness. She didn’t want John thinking badly of her. But a
huge part of her, the dominant part, wouldn’t let Nate get away with being
rude.

Nate laughed. “Oh well, what the hell.
Might as well give her a try.
Doubt she’ll be able to handle
me. If I’m not satisfied, I’ll be sure to hand her back.”

Claire rolled her eyes. Her life had just gotten a
little bit more interesting - for the worse.

“Well, now that’s settled I’ll be going.” John
smiled at Claire,
then
turned back to Nate before
leaving. “Good luck, Nate.”

Claire watched as John walked away, leaving her
with
him
.

“So, sunshine, where do you want
me first?
On the floor?
On
the bed?”
He smiled mischievously.

Claire rubbed her temple with her free hand.
“Look. It’s plain and simple. I’m here to get you to walk again. We can do this
the easy way or the hard way.”

That comment only seemed to make Nate smile more.
“Hard does sound appealing.
Hard.
Rough. Thick.” Nate
breathed heavily and narrowed his eyes.

Focus, focus
, Claire thought to
herself
.
He is doing this to you on purpose.

“You’re wasting my time. Let’s go.” Claire
shuffled the papers in his pile trying to distract herself from his gaze.

“Fiery little one, aren’t you?” Nate laughed to
himself.

“Just follow me, will you?” Claire said, turning
on her heel.

They moved down the corridor and into the room
where they would do their sessions together. She could feel his eyes burning
into her back as they walked.

They approached the large room which looked
similar to a gym with several pieces of physio equipment scattered across it.
She noticed a couple of other therapists with patients across the room. She
walked to one of the patient beds and turned to Nate, who was still smiling at
her.

“If you can hop up onto the bed, we can begin.”

‘What, no foreplay?” Nate teased.

Claire ignored his comment as she helped Nate up
onto the bed, taking his crutches and placing them against the nearby wall.

“So we’re going to begin by doing some basic
stretches and exercises. Your ankle will be stiff from the cast, and you’ve
lost a lot of the muscle in your leg. Our aim this week is to get movement back
to your leg, and start building that muscle back up so you can start putting
pressure back on it. I will give you exercises to do at home, too.”

“What, so you’re not going to let me get up and
try and walk?” Nate frowned at her.

“If I let you do that, you risk injuring yourself
even more. We have to take things slow. Trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t even know you.”

Claire thought about what he had said for a
moment. Ever since he had arrived this morning he had showed no sign of
recognising her. Yet she had recognised him instantly. She didn’t think she
would ever be able to forget Nate. Never forget the most amazing kiss she had
ever had, and then of course the painful events that followed.

“Can I ask just one thing before we get into this?
Do you recognise me?” Claire asked.

Nate looked at her with confusion on his face.
“No. Should I?”

Claire looked at Nate hard. “When did you say your
accident was?” she asked.

Nate shrugged. “Two months ago.”

Claire frowned and sat down on the stool at the
end of the bed. She opened the file and quickly skimmed through Nate’s details.
Then it hit her. The date of the accident was the same day they had met. She
read further on. The chart noted that his last memory was of the morning of the
accident when he was getting ready for work. He didn’t remember their meeting.
The scene at the club.
The kiss.

Suddenly, she didn’t know what to do. Should she
tell him? Would it make a difference if she did?
Probably
not.
Maybe it was better this way. He didn’t know her, didn’t know what
had happened between them. She could do these sessions with him without their
past encounter hanging over their heads.

“Claire?” Nate pulled her attention away from the
file and its contents. She must have zoned out.

“Sorry.” Claire smiled shaking her head. “Where
was I? Oh yes…so if you want to lie back on the bed and I’ll help you with some
initial stretches to get your muscles moving,” she said, her voice sounding
more cheerful.

Nate stared at her briefly, seemingly confused at
Claire’s sudden change in attitude, and then followed her direction. Placing
Nate’s file close by, Claire wheeled her stool so she was in front of his feet.
She grabbed the ankle of his fractured leg and started massaging and stretching
the muscles and tendons. She watched Nate tense every now and then and saw his
face clench. She knew it must be painful for him, but he was doing his best not
to let it show.