Page 6 of Finding a Melody

I sighed. “Small amount. Barely noticeable.”

“Uh huh, and knowing you, that means mid-range pain.”

I shrugged, not willing to give him a concrete answer. There was no telling what he’d make me do if I did.

Niko sighed as he pulled up a rolly chair and sat down. “I’m aware you have a higher pain tolerance than most people, but you need to be more open about how your body is feeling. You fell off a rooftop. And while I’m sure you think your body was fine from that kind of impact, I’m telling you now, it wasn’t.”

“Dr. Hadaway said there was no change in my injury.”

“Not what scans can pick up. But in terms of your mobility, I’d say you went back a month. Don’t think I didn’t notice the stiffness when you walked in or how certain motions made you grimace. And frankly, while you have nearly full mobility, it’s not as much as it was the last time you were in. Are you keeping up with the exercises I taught you? Are you doing your hot and cold treatments?”

I looked down at my hands, giving my fingernails some attention. I needed to cut them.

“That’s what I thought.” Nico sighed. “I can’t force you to do your treatments or to do the exercises I give. What I can do is remind you why they are important, but sometimes, I don’t think you take me seriously enough. The fact of the matter is, if you wish to find your normal again, you need to do those things. You need to help your body heal. Give your body the best chance you can to recover.”

Shame flooded through me, and I looked down at my hands. Nico reached over and touched them gently, his movements slow. I stared at our hands as he squeezed mine.

“I will tell you this, you aren’t the most stubborn patient I ever treated. You aren’t even close. You’re a good girl, Cadence. You know what’s right and wrong. Now put that thinking to yourself. Do what is right for your body. I believe in you and you have come a long way. It’s tiring and frustrating, but you need to keep fighting for your body. Otherwise, who will?”

I blinked through the blurriness in my eyes as my nose burned. I was about to cry. I totally was.

“And I know you won’t listen when I say this, but I need to say it. Consider talking with a therapist. Healing isn’t just about the body, it’s the mind too. If your mind is in chaos, how are you going to be able to help your body? Plus stress and depression have been scientifically proven to affect the state of your body.”

Nico finally pulled away, moving over to the desk set up in the room. He wrote something down and came back to me.

“Next appointment,” he said, holding out the reminder card to me. “Two weeks. But if you feel something is wrong, feel free to call and we’ll get you in sooner.”

I nodded, taking the card and slipping it into my pocket without looking at it. I took that as a sign that we were done so I jumped down from the squeaky table.

“Thank you,” I said.

“See you next time. Take care of yourself. I mean it.”

I gave Nico a sharp nod before leaving, unable to look back at him as shame still ran through me. Everything he said was right. I did need to take better care of myself.

His words kept running through my head as I walked through the parking lot to my car. I almost missed my phone ringing, barely answering it in time.

“Hello?”

“Cadence, dinner. Now.”

“Amy?”

“Who else? Did you forget my voice already? I’m at Goldie’s, are you going to make me eat alone?”

I sighed. Amy could be extreme when she wanted to be. And she had a way to be definite, refusing to even give people an option. It helped make her a hard-headed lawyer and also the very reason I hired her. “On my way. I’m at the hospital, so it’ll take me about twenty minutes.”

“That’s fine. I’ll order your food for you.” She hung up.

Great. I stared at the phone.

After sending a message to the guys to let them know I wasn’t going to be able to hang out with them until after dinner, I headed her way.

Goldie’s was a family-owned diner outside of town with the best milkshakes and grilled cheese sandwiches. They also had really good cookies that were larger than my hand. Which was why Amy knew exactly what to order for me.

Spotting my lawyer at the diner was easy. She was beautiful, with long, curly, dark brown hair that fell to the middle of her back in soft layers. Her skin was a light, smooth brown, and everything screamed mature adult. She scanned me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable as I approached the booth she took over, food already waiting for me.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I said.