The Law of Attraction [Chris Beck]

Chapter 12

Johanssen helped carry Alice to the medical wing; she had already contacted Beck to make sure that he was there when they got there. Despite Johanssen's protests, Alice said she wanted to go there, as opposed to having Beck come to the gym. The big open windows sometimes allowed anyone doing an EVA to see inside the gym and Alice knew that something might bubble up when she faced Beck. She felt an incredible weight lifted off of her shoulders when she spilled everything to Johanssen, but nothing was actually sorted out. She worried that when she was alone with Beck, she might burst into tears or some other pitiful excuse for bottling up her emotions.

They were close to the wing, Alice limping as she leaned on Johanssen who was smaller than her. Beck popped his head out of the examination room when he heard their clumsy walking, and his eyes widened when he saw the condition Alice was in. Her ankle was still twice the normal size, and it was black as the space around the Hermes. He quickly ran over and wrapped his arm around Alice's ribs, and then he told Johanssen, "I got her."

Lifting her up so that she wasn't walking, Johanssen had wide eyes, and a hint of a smirk on her face as she watched Beck carry Alice towards the examination room. "I'll let Lewis know."

"Thank you, Johanssen," Beck called. As they disappeared into the room, Beck sighed, shaking his head. "Are you okay?"

"This brings back memories." She grinned, but Beck didn't grin back. Perhaps her joked was ill timed, she had been harsh to him the last time they had been alone together. Now there was a distrust towards Patrick, she was more willing to joke with Beck, but he did not return the humour as he put her on the seat; the paper on top of the seat crinkled underneath her.

"Put your foot up here." He tapped the end of the seat, and Alice spun to bring her left foot up. It throbbed, but it was bearable now. Grabbing the ice pack that had melted into a semi-warm state, Beck tossed it and grabbed a new one. Placing it on her ankle, he looked into her eyes. "What happened?"

She wanted to tell him everything that had happened in the last two hours, but knew what he was really asking. "I was running too fast, tripped myself."

"You have to be more careful," he said. "You might need crutches for this."

"Beck..." She didn't need his sternness, not now. But how was he to know that she was feeling the emotional blow of discovering her boyfriend might have been cheating on her. "I didn't intend to do this."

He sighed, placing his hand over his head. Squeezing his temples slightly, he shook his head. "I know, I'm sorry. Wait, have you been crying?"

Alice tensed. "Yeah, I practically just broke my ankle."

"You didn't break it." His shoulders dropped. "Let me take a look. Can I touch your ankle?"