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𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓 dripped down the back of Liz's neck, her heart rate slightly elevated and a slight pain coming from her knee with each step she took was more than bearable. She was pushing past her normal rate, wanting to beat her record for how many minutes she can last on the treadmill. She was reaching her limit, but she was so close that she persevered.
Her physical therapist was by her side with a stopwatch in hand and a clipboard of her chart tucked under his armpit. Antonio has been by her side since she came back from California. Her last PT in Santa Cruz was a young woman named Cynthia. She was nice, but kind of a pushover and didn't really have an authority tone when it came to instructing her patients. Physical therapists are supposed to push you to face your fears, help you through the healing process and make sure you don't overdo it.
Cynthia had been new to the job and Liz was one out of two of her patients so she was still getting the hang of it. Liz preferred Antonio. He was older, mid forties and was built almost as big as Emmett. Definitely a lot taller than Emmett though, just not as built in muscle. He was kind of attractive for his age, dark skin with making eyes. His voice was so deep that it screamed authority. When Liz first met him, she had to admit she was a little intimidated by him. But in her mind he was a total upgrade from Cynthia because he knew what he was doing.
Plus, he had a way of sympathizing with her about her knee without making her feel less about herself.
"Okay," his deep voice snapped the blonde out of her thoughts, hitting the button on his stopwatch and grinning up at her to show off his pearly white beautiful set of teeth. "Twenty-one minutes and fifty-six seconds. You've obviously beaten your record of twenty minutes and twelve seconds."
Liz let out a breathless laugh, looking over at the stopwatch. "Oh I know I can go for longer than that."
Antonio immediately shook his head and reached over to turn the treadmill down from the speed it was going in until it came to a steady stop. "Not today, little one. Your leg is starting to shake. Come with me to the table, I'll stretch it and then we are done for today."
Normally a stubborn Liz would argue, but she has learned that it doesn't work on Antonio. Cynthia, yes. She would have caved against her better judgment. Another reason why Liz liked Antonio better. She just hopes Cynthia gets some backbone in her soon before she lets a patient push themselves past their breaking point.
So she limped her way towards one of the stretching tables and took her time laying down flat on her back. She lifted her left leg and Antonio unstrapped the brace as he always does before starting and set it aside before slowly taking ahold of her leg and slowly bringing it up to her chest. Liz winced, the first stretch always the most painful after the exercise but soon adjusted very quickly.
