Page 136 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

"I..."

The protest dies before it reaches my lips. Had I? I replay the last few weeks in my head.

We're making progress.

We're almost there.

We had a breakthrough.

Oh.

"Oh."

Keisha smiles gently. "Exactly."

I sink farther into the sofa. "I didn't even notice."

"I know."

For a moment neither of us says anything, then she smiles again. "You know what's funny?"

"What?"

"You used to call me because your patients frustrated you."

I laugh. "I did, didn't I?"

"'This guy won't do his home exercises.'"

"'That woman insists she's ready to drive.'"

"'Someone tried to lift a couch two days after surgery.'"

I cover my face with one hand. "When you say it like that..."

She grins. "But lately?" Her smile turns almost teasing. "You call me because Jamie said something that made you laugh."

I open my mouth. Close it again. Because she's right.

The coffee scoop. His ongoing campaign against stretching. The way he'd convinced Mr. Jenkins that therapy wasn't nearly as terrible as everyone claimed. The little stories had become part of my evenings without me ever realizing it.

Keisha watches recognition slowly spread across my face. "I've never heard you talk about someone this way."

"It isn't..."

I hesitate. "...what you think."

"No?"

"No."

I sit up a little straighter. "I'm invested. I want him to recover. I care about all my patients."

"I know you do."

She says it so gently that I immediately know there's a "but" coming.

"But..." she continues, "...you don't know all your patients' favorite soup."