Nothing Lasts Forever

Nikki sat in the chair in the corner of the room at Genevieve’s physical therapy appointment. Since Adam hadn’t been much of a help to her as far as her physical therapy was concerned, Genevieve had decided to go back to Gary Barry to finish up her rehab. Adam and the team were on a road trip, so Nikki had decided to come with Genevieve this time, though. This was Nikki’s first time ever experiencing Gary firsthand, and she had to agree with Adam, he was a complete asshole.

“Surprisingly enough, it appears that you have your strength and range of motion back,” Gary told Genevieve. “Hmmm, that boyfriend of yours must have finally cracked down on you and made you do your rehab at home,” he continued, and Genevieve blushed at the thought of what actually had happened when Adam had tried to help her.

“Yeah, he helped me,” Genevieve replied quietly.

“Well, you can finally get rid of these crutches,” Gary told her. “Why don’t you get up and walk around a bit to see how it feels.” Genevieve slowly hopped off of the table, putting just a little bit of pressure on her left leg. “Okay, you’re going to actually have to put weight on it,” he told her, and then added under his breath, “Are you stupid or something?”

Genevieve glared at him, while she distributed her weight evenly over both feet. “Now walk!” Gary ordered, and Genevieve took small steps across the floor.

She reached Nikki, who looked up at her, asking, “How does it feel?”

“Okay,” Genevieve said with a small smile. “It’s weird, you know, not having put any weight on it for so long.”

“Yeah,” Nikki said understandingly, nodding her head.

“Get back down here,” Gary barked, and both Nikki and Genevieve rolled their eyes at him. He looked down at Genevieve’s chart before speaking again. “So, when you first got here, you said that your ultimate goal was to ice skate again, correct?” he questioned.

“Yes,” Genevieve replied, nodding her head.

“Well, the miracle worker that I am, you can now skate again,” Gary told her arrogantly.

“I can?” Genevieve asked, shocked. This was what she had wanted from the beginning, and now that it was actually happening, she didn’t know how to feel.

“Yes you can,” Gary told her. “And, if you want to thank me, I love chocolate,” he said. “And, now, you’re finished coming to physical therapy. If you ever get injured again, I hope to see you here.”

“Sure,” Genevieve said, widening her eyes as she looked at Nikki, and mouthing ‘never again’ to her. Nikki laughed, as she and Genevieve walked out to her car.

“So, how does it feel to walk again?” Nikki asked as she unlocked the car doors.

“Liberating,” Genevieve laughed. “I mean, it’s been so long since I’ve walked.”

“So, do you want to head to the rink now that you can skate again? I’m sure you can’t wait to get back onto that ice,” Nikki smiled as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Um, no, we can go home,” Genevieve said, and Nikki glanced over at her, wondering what was wrong. She knew that Genevieve couldn’t wait to get back onto the ice, and she couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t be rushing to the ice to put her skates on.

“Are you sure?” Nikki asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Genevieve said with a nod of her head.

***

Genevieve was on the phone with Adam, waiting on him to get back home from the road trip. She was happy that the guys had done well on the road, winning all but one game, but she was looking forward to Adam being back home.

“So, I hear you didn’t go to the rink as soon as you found out that you could skate,” Adam told her.

“No, I didn’t,” she agreed.

“Are you going to tell me why?” Adam asked. “I mean, I know how excited you were to get back to skating. So, why didn’t you go?”

“I don’t know,” Genevieve said as the doorbell rang. “Hold on a second,” she told Adam. “There’s someone at the door.” She walked over, opening it up, seeing Adam standing on the other side. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, dropping her phone, and wrapping her arms around him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back? I thought you weren’t going to be here until later on tonight or tomorrow.”

“I thought I’d surprise you,” Adam smiled, kissing her. “But, let’s talk about you not skating.”

“Adam,” Genevieve groaned.

“Genevieve,” Adam mocked. “Come on, it’s me. You can tell me.”

“I’m scared,” she blurted out, turning around so she wasn’t facing him, embarrassed by her confession.

“Genevieve,” Adam said, turning her back around. “I get it,” he told her. “I was scared when I first got back out on the ice after my accident.”

“You were?” Genevieve asked, unable to believe him.

“Yeah,” he smiled. “But, don’t you remember what I told you all those months ago when you first got injured?” he asked, and she gave him a confused look. “I told you that I’ll be there every step of the way, and this is the next step. So, let’s go,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the door.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were at the rink, and Genevieve sat on the bench, having just laced up her skates. Adam grabbed her hand, looking over at her. “Gen, I promise, I’m going to be there for you if you fall. But, I know you’re going to be brilliant out there. Come on,” he said pulling her up.

She placed her first skate onto the ice, and she gripped Adam’s hand tighter, as he put his other hand around her waist, so they were facing each other. “Show me what you’ve got, Gen,” he smiled.

She started skating forward, with Adam staying in front of her, skating backwards. “You’ve got it!” Adam exclaimed, as he let go of her waist, moving to her side, not letting go of her hand.

Genevieve had a full smile on her face as she let go of his hand, skating on her own. Adam cheered her on, as she skated her way around the rink, finishing where she had started, right in front of Adam. She tackled him with a hug, causing the two of them to fall backwards onto the ice, with Genevieve falling down on top of Adam, both of them laughing.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” she told him, giving him a kiss before rolling off of him and standing back up.

“You did it all on your own,” he told her, returning her smile.

“I love you,” she said, closing the gap between them.

“I love you, too,” he stated before kissing her sweetly.