that he had terrific legs.
Which he did. Perfectly muscled. Not too bulky. Just...perfect, except for the scars from too many surgeries on one knee and the fresh scars on the other.
She frowned slightly before meeting his eyes. “It looks like both your knees have been through a lot.”
“The right one, yeah. The left? This is the first time it’s gone out, which is why I don’t buy what the other PT told me.”
“Who are you seeing?”
“Rich Nygaard.”
“I don’t know him.”
“Just moved into the state. Supposed to be good according to my doctor.”
“But he’s not making you better fast enough.”
“How’d you know?”
“It’s a common complaint.”
Matt just shrugged. “So I’m impatient. I want to start practicing.”
She gestured for him to take a seat, then reached out for the envelope he held in one hand. He gave it to her without a word and she took a few minutes studying the images inside. Wow.
Turning back to Matt she knelt in front of him and put her hand on top of his knee, forcing herself to think of him just as she’d thought of her previous patient, old Mr. Zachary. Except that Mr. Zachary’s skin hadn’t felt so warm beneath her hand, and she’d had no difficulty at all meeting his eyes.
“Tell me what you’ve been doing for both passive and active treatment.”
“The usual stuff. Anti-inflammatory medication. Ice when it swells. Knee brace when I might stress the knee.”
“Not that you’d ever do that.”
“Of course not.” He smiled crookedly, momentarily turning on the Montoya charm. “I have a suite of exercises I do nightly.”
She tested the joint, focusing on the knee rather than on Matt’s face, or his hands, which were clasped loosely in his lap. She was way too aware of him, which would never do in a patient/therapist situation.
“What is it exactly that you want to know?” she asked.
“I want your opinion.”
“You want to know when you can start roping calves again.”
He nodded.
“Never,” she said, letting go of his leg and sitting back on her heels. “At least not at a professional level. Not with this kind of injury.”
Matt exhaled, his mouth tightening as he focused across the room.
“I can’t change the facts,” she said.
He met her eyes fiercely. “I’ve seen people come back from more serious injuries than this. Broken backs, broken necks—”
“I’m giving you my professional opinion, Matt.” One she had no doubt he’d heard before. “I can give you some exercises to help strengthen the area around your knee, which will help support it, but it’s never going to be one hundred percent and at some point you’ll probably be looking at a knee replacement.”
“I don’t need one hundred percent. I can make up for the lost time with quicker catches.”
For a moment Liv simply stared at him. “Why?”
“What do you mean why?” he asked impatiently.
“Why do you have to keep roping? You’ve had a great career, but you knew it had to end sometime.”
“Not now,” he said stiffly.
“Do you need the money?”
“I need to rope.”
“So, it’s like your...identity?” Liv asked softly, wondering why that bothered her so much.
“It’s what I do,” Matt said, gripping the table on either side of his thighs. “And it’s what I plan to keep doing. I’m not buying what you say.”
“What did the other PT say?” Liv pushed the hair back from the side of her face. “What did your doctor say?” And why won’t you listen to us, Matt! We’re all saying the same thing.
Matt got off the table, bracing his hands on his hips as he stood in front of her. Liv slowly rose to her feet, her gaze locked on his. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is what I can do with some willpower and determination.”
“You’ll destroy the joint.”
“And then what? I’ll never rope again? According to you guys, that’s where I am right now, so what do I have to lose?”
“Matt...you could end up with a permanent limp—at least until you get a knee replacement—and you want to hold off on that as long as possible, so you don’t have to do it twice in your lifetime.”
He nodded in a way that made her think he’d heard all this before. “Noted.”
He spoke sharply, then tightened one corner of his mouth as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, squeezing the tight muscles there. “I know you believe what you’re saying and I asked for your opinion. Sorry to snap.”
“It’s understandable,” Liv said. “I mean, an injury like this is life-changing.”
“If you allow it to be.”
Talk about