Feeling No Pain

I looked over and saw a large man whose back was being prodded by another therapist. Even from that distance, I could see that the suffering patient was quite good-looking and had a muscular build...

“Does that hurt?”

Leslie, my physical therapist, was probing a spot on my back that had been hurting for a while.

“Only a little,” I said, trying to sound casual but nearly jumping off the table. She’d applied heat for ten minutes before massaging the tender spot. She then led me through a succession of exercises to strengthen its surrounding muscles, then scheduled me for five more treatments.

On my second visit, I was enjoying the heat pad when I heard a loud groan from a few tables down. I looked over and saw a large man whose back was being prodded by another therapist. Even from that distance, I could see that the suffering patient was quite good-looking and had a muscular build.

* * * * * *

On my third visit, I was lying under the heating pad, when I heard a deep male voice coming from the next table. “This is the fun part, don’t you agree?”

I turned my head and stared sideways at the bluest eyes and the most charming grin I’d ever seen.

“Hi,” the man said, doing a lopsided solute. “Do you come here often?”

I laughed. “I’m new to this scene.”

“I saw you here last week,” he said. “I wanted to say hi, but we were three tables apart.”

I was thinking that he was even more handsome close up, when Leslie appeared and noticed us talking. “Mandy, meet Paul.”

I had just said, “Nice to meet you,” when his therapist returned and removed his heating pad. The charming grin turned into a grimace, as her skilled fingers pushed and probed his back.

“Whatcha in for?” he managed to grunt between jabs in an endearing James Cagney delivery.

“Just some lower back pain. I’m going to have six treatments.”

“I have a lulu of a pain in my back, too,” he said, “but I’ve been promised that twelve of these torture sessions will make me good as new.” His therapist laughed.

Just then Leslie led me to an exercise bike and set it for ten minutes. I’d pedaled for five when Paul appeared on the bike next to mine. His therapist set his timer and told him to keep his shoulders straight and his tummy tucked in.

“Easy for her to say,” he said when she left. We exchanged small talk and were beginning to get acquainted when my time ran out and Leslie returned. As we headed for the exercise area, she filled me in on Paul. “He’s very athletic.

He’s been coming here for a long time for various sprains and injuries.”

“Is he always this jovial?”

“He was pretty sad after his wife died of cancer a few years ago,” she explained, “but he seems to have rallied. He organizes marathons to raise money for research and has invited our therapists to participate. We all like him a lot.”

I was beginning to like him a lot myself.

* * * * * *

As I performed my prescribed exercises at home, I thought of Paul and his appealing smile and cheerful disposition. During my next two appointments, I found myself looking around for him and was disappointed that we apparently hadn’t been scheduled at the same times. I hoped that the day I met him hadn’t been his twelfth treatment, because I had only one left.

On my final visit, I was almost too preoccupied with my search for Paul to concentrate on my form. “You’re a little off-balance today,” Leslie said, watching me struggle to execute my airplane leg lift. I had just steadied myself, when I noticed him across the room, stretched out over an exercise ball with one arm extended. He managed a wave, and I nearly toppled.

Leslie smiled knowingly. I think she declared my treatment over when she noticed Paul heading toward the door. He stopped and watched me as I gathered my purse and walked toward him. His smile was as warm as Leslie’s heating pad, his invitation as uplifting as the slant board.

“I treat myself to a coffee and a muffin after these workouts. I wonder if you’d like to join me today. Maybe we can talk about something other than our aching backs.”

“I’d love to,” I replied, suddenly feeling no pain at all.

♥♥♥