If Only Tonight

Into The Storm

Chapter Four: Backwards Day

"So how's living with Rossi?"

Mia sighed, leaning in to her chair. Her food spread out on her desk. It was the only time she had to talk to her best friend.

"He still hates me. So much so that he still hasn't come to get his foot checked, and I live right there in the same apartment as him." Mia vented her frustration. She took a bite from her chicken sandwich.

Stacie laughed on the other end of the line. Mia rolled her eyes. It wasn't funny. What had she done to earn his ire?

"You can laugh all you want, but it's not funny."

"Yes it is! You're his doctor and you both live together. Yet he hates you enough not to come and ask for your help. Are you kidding me? That's hilarious."

"Whatever. I don't think it'll be funny when he makes his injury worse than it was." Mia told her seriously.

"His fault."

That was a good point. Can't argue with that, Mia thought.

"So how's your life going?" Mia asked, deciding to change the subject. She had heard enough jokes about the current situation of her life.

"It's fine. Work is alright. We're starting a new research project...so that should be interesting. I'm almost done the paper Dr. Garland asked for. Hopefully it'll be published in next month's journal. If not...I will kill him." Stacie sounded a little bored.

"You know...you could always come and work in the field...like here!" Mia suggested.

"Uh huh...and have my head chewed off by some primadonna football player? Some how that doesn't sound any better than having a firing squad shoot at me. I much prefer Dr. Garland's methods of torture." Stacie replied smugly.

"Which are?" Mia asked, in between bites of her sandwich.

"Research, write paper, reject paper, write paper again, reject paper, write paper again-"

"Alright, alright, I get it. You love working at the university."

"That I do, Mia. That I do."

"I'm so glad I don't have to write research papers anymore." Mia couldn't help herself from saying.

"Yea? Well I'm glad I'm not hated."

"Thanks for reminding me..."

"Anytime. Well I have to go...so will I see you this weekend?"

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you later."

"Alright. Bye."

"Yea. Bye." Mia said, as she hung up. She couldn't help but feel a little glum. She had yet to make any other friends. She usually just went back to her room and talked to Oliver. Sometimes Nathaniel would visit, he lived on the second level of the North West Wing, but that was pretty much it.

Putting away her lunch, she checked her schedule. She only had one more appointment. Then she would be done for the day.

He's probably not going to come, Mia thought. Matthew had not come to the last three appointments she had scheduled for him. She didn't think he'd come to this one.

When fifteen minutes had passed without any sign of him, Mia decided to pack her stuff. She shut down her laptop, and started to collect her things and put them in to her bag.

"Going somewhere?" Came a snide voice.

Mia turned on her heel in shock. Matthew stood leaning on the door frame.

"No...well I didn't know if you were coming...No I wasn't going anywhere." Mia stammered.

-----

Surprise was written all over her face. Matthew could tell she hadn't been expecting him to come to any appointment.

The pain in his foot had worsened. He feared he had done more damage to it, since he hadn't let her check the injury right away.

Nathaniel had been raving about what an awesome doctor they had gotten. It's like she's memorized all these textbooks, you list symptoms she figures out what could possibly cause them in like a minute, he had told Matthew. That doesn't make her special, Matthew had thought. Felix had already told him about her top marks for theory and practical.

"Look, I just came to have my foot checked." Matthew told her.

It was partly because of her that he had decided to come. Her telling him to have it checked before it became worse was motivating. Living with her for the last few days, Matthew had kept out of her way. He had decided that if he wasn't around her too much, then maybe it would be easier to face her. Wrong again, he thought to himself. He was already regretting showing up.

He watched as Mia picked up his file from her desk. She flipped through the papers, finding the x-rays she placed them on the light board.

"Umm...so why don't you tell me what happened." He heard her ask.

Matthew walked in to the office and sat on the examination table. His foot was killing him. He decided to tone down his cold demeanor.

"I was playing last week, and during the practice, Jason stepped on my foot." Matthew kept it short.

"You make it sound like he did it on purpose."

The statement surprised Matthew. He had tried to keep the blame out of his voice.

Clearly she was more observant than he gave her credit for.

"Who asked you?" He responded coldly.

"Sorry..." She retreated. Matthew watched as she quietly examined the x-ray.

"Did Jon send you that?" He asked, the answer was obvious.

"Yes. He told me you had gotten hurt." She said, as she turned to face him, she averted her eyes.

"Can you show me your foot, please?" She asked as she came over to him.

Matthew did as he was told. He took off his shoe and sock. His foot was still swollen, there was a large blue bruise on one side of it. He moved his foot on to the table, wincing in pain.

Mia looked at it carefully. He watched as she tentatively touched his foot. Her delicate fingers were like ice. They sent a shiver running down him. He tried to keep himself from making a sound but failed. She heard his teeth chatter.

"Sorry!" She told him, she must have known she was as cold as ice.

Matthew didn't respond. Instead he watched as she examined his foot.

"Tell me if it hurts."

She carried on touching his foot, putting pressure on various areas until...

"That hurt." Matthew said, trying to keep his voice leveled. Pain had shot up his foot as she had touched the center of the blue bruise.

"Okay." Mia walked over to the sink.

"So...what's wrong with it?" He asked out of curiosity.

"It's just a bruise. You're really lucky Jason didn't step any harder. Your x-ray doesn't show any crack or fracture. But you shouldn't be playing like this. It's swollen because you haven't given it rest." She told him, as she washed her hands.

Great...I came here to be told nothing's broken...that was a waste of time, Matthew thought with irritation.

-----

"So you should go and put your feet up. I can give you some topical cream to help with the pain and reduce the swelling."

Mia couldn't believe he hadn't said anything snide to her yet. Five minutes, that has got to be a record, she thought. She watched as he put on his sock. He was about to put on his shoe, when she stopped him.

"You shouldn't be wearing that."

"Why not? I can't walk around barefoot." Matthew voiced his displeasure.

"It confines your swollen foot. Causing you more pain." Mia went to open a drawer under the sink. Always be prepared. The words had been drilled in to her thanks to Dr. Phillips.

"Here. You can wear these." She said, pulling out a pair of large black flip flops.

She watched as Matthew eyed the flip flops in her hands. There was look of disgust on his face.

"It's not that bad. You're just going to walk back to your room in them." Convincing him was going to be another chore, Mia sighed. Matthew didn't respond.

"It's either you wear these and walk to your room, or I send you with crutches. It's up to you." Moving quickly, before he could say anything, she took the running shoe from out of his hand. Mia walked back to the sink, she looked at him.

The look of revolt registered on his face. Score one for me, Mia thought. She watched him carefully. He looked as though he was calculating something.

"...I suppose I'll take the hideous shoes..." He was conceding to her! She couldn't believe it.

Mia left his shoe on the counter and hesitantly handed him the flip flops. He looked unhappy at the outcome, but didn't say a word as he put them on.

She returned to her desk to fill out the appropriate forms on her computer. Mia was grateful she had only shut down the lap top. As she started working on a new document for Matthew's file, she heard him get off the table.

"Mia..." She heard him say her name. Masking the surprise that he knew her name, Mia turned to look at him.

Matthew stood by the door way, she looked at his feet. Sure enough he was wearing the flip flops.

"Well played..." He told her, a glimmer of a smile appeared on his face. It was so brief that Mia thought she imagined it. He quickly turned and stalked out of her office.

As soon as Mia thought he was out of earshot, she couldn't help but let out a small cheer. He knew her name! Maybe now he would stop acting so brutish towards her.

Once Mia had sent the file, she checked to see if there was anything else she had to bring with her. There on the counter was one shoe, and on the examination table was the other and a pair of socks. Great...I'm his maid now? She couldn't help but think.

She moved to put the shoes in a bag. Grabbing her bag, and keys, she locked her office and walked towards her apartment.

London FC had one of the best facilities she had seen. The building was a large square, the center was hollow. The offices and dormitories were all separated in to the different wings. In the center was a field and the fitness center. The main field, where the games were hosted, was located next to the building.

As Mia walked down the halls to where her room was located, she heard someone whistle.

Mia tensed, as she turned around. It was Jason. I'm on the same floor as him? Mia thought with dismay. The possibility was unnerving.

"Hello, Dr. Brooklyn. I was just thinking about you."

Mia couldn't be bothered to mask the look of disdain on her face. I wasn't thinking about you, she shot back silently.

"So why are you in the male dormitory? Are you here to make a house call? Did little Matty break something?" Jason sneered.

Mia gave a small laugh.

"No...He's fine. I just need to talk to Oliver." She didn't want him to know where she was living, especially if there was a possibility of him being on the same floor as her. Jason, for some strange reason, gave her the creeps. He always tried to flirt with her when he came for his appointments.

"Maybe you could come over and talk to me sometime? I'm on the third floor." He offered with a wink.

Mia wanted to let out a huge sigh of relief. He wasn't on the same floor as her after all!

"We'll see..." She told him, cringing inside, not knowing how to let him down gently.

She knocked on the door, trying to keep the facade that she was just visiting.

"What? Oh...it's you." Matthew was the one who answered the door.

"Did you forget your key?" He asked her, sounding rather condescending, unaware of the fact Jason was watching intently.

Mia wanted to disappear. From the corner of her eye, she saw the grin grow on Jason's face. Her cover was blown.

"What are you smiling about, Roberts?" Mia could hear the irritation in Matthew's voice.

"Nothing. How's the foot, Rossi?" Jason asked, the grin had become more pronounced.

Mia looked up in time to see Matthew scowl.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get in!" Matthew suddenly barked at her. Mia hurried inside, without saying anything more to Jason. She heard the door shut loudly behind her.

Mia put her things besides the couch. Clearly, now was not the time to point out he had left his shoes in her office.

"What are you doing talking to him?" Matthew rounded on her.

What does he care? He told me he'd make my life hell! Mia was confused. He hated her and now all of a sudden he was talking to her? He sounded like he was concerned. What was going on today? First he had come to the appointment, then he had listened to her, there had been minimal snide comments over the last few days, and now he was talking to her with concern?

What's going on? It's backwards day, isn't it? Mia wondered.

"Why does it matter?" Mia asked, having not been able to come up with a proper response.

"Roberts is nothing but trouble."

"So are you! Besides why do you care?"

-----

"So are you! Besides why do you care?" Mia glared at him.

Good point...why do I care? Matthew asked himself. Where is Oliver when you need him! He found himself thinking.

"I don't care." Matthew shot back.

"Then don't ask me why I was talking to him." She stood across from him, her hands crossed over her chest. Her curious gaze watching him for some sign of weakness.

"Actually...let me rephrase myself. As much as I don't care, I know Oliver does. So if you don't want Oliver worrying over what scumbags you're talking to...then I would advise you not to talk to Jason." Matthew hoped he had achieved his goal. Although it wasn't true that he didn't care, Matthew knew how Mia might have reacted to that, she wouldn't believe him. It was better to appeal to her through Oliver, since Matthew knew Oliver would have reacted the same had it been him catching Jason talking to her. Probably worse, Matthew thought.

Jason was the resident womanizer. How many times had Matthew seen the guy chatting up the girls on the staff? I can't believe I used to be friends with that piece of- His thoughts were interrupted by Mia asking him something.

"Why would it bother Oliver? I'm old enough to take care of myself." She sounded like a child complaining.

Doesn't she know better than to bite the hand that's protecting her, Matthew sighed in exasperation. He walked over to the kitchen, getting himself a drink.

"Firstly, Oliver knows all about Jason. If you have a problem just ask him. You might think you can take care of yourself, but don't fool yourself. You're way out of your league." He was back to his condescending self.

"A fact that you remind me of everyday." Matthew was caught off guard by her comment, she had said it in such a quiet voice. Matthew glanced at her. She was staring at the ground, she hadn't moved from standing beside the couch. Another wave of guilt washed over him. He looked over at her, meeting her gaze. Maybe he had taken his icy demeanor too far, he could see the hurt in her eyes.

He chewed on his lip. What could he possibly say?

"Look, Oliver is older than both of us...he's protective. It's in his nature. He's always been there for me and Nathaniel, and now you too...so don't screw up."

With that said, Matthew turned and walked into his room. At least he could say he warned her.