Mina

Me, Myself & I

I was listening to Sarah explain my role in helping patients with the leg press machine. We'd already gone through it before but Sarah liked to explain things multiple times. I wasn't complaining though because so far my ability to retain the information was high. Probably because I heard it all a million times.

I was straddling the end of the machine, Owen's feet in front of me.

"The goal is to only help as much as he needs." Sarah said.

I nodded my head, physical therapy was all about balance on the therapists end, I'd come to learn. Help too much and you enable, help too little and they give up.

Sarah was standing by Owen's head, her hand on his shoulder. I'd noticed that something had changed between them. Owen didn't seem as distant and cold toward her anymore, like she was fighting for the other side. Whatever it was I was thankful for it, he'd been much more cooperative.

"Alright, go ahead and start when you're ready." Sarah told him.

He was definitely getting stronger. When I first started working with Owen and Sarah, he couldn't even push himself up on the leg press. Now he flew through the first few reps like it was a piece of cake. 

That was probably the thing I loved most about working here. Watching someone work their butt off to achieve something and seeing it all pay off. Watching the triumph build in their eyes and happiness spread through them. I'd gone so long watching Penny never try. Never care if she made changes. That all I wanted to do was help the people that actually wanted it.

"So right now you need to be doing most of the work for him." Sarah told me.

I looked up at Owen, his face contorted as he tried to push his body away from his feet. His legs shook with fatigue as I helped him out.

I was still learning the balance between helping too much or not enough and I tended to air on the side of not enough. I'd spent years helping too much. And I was done.

I heard Owen mutter "thank god". It was like a reflex to roll my eyes at the sound of his voice. I hadn't let him struggle for that long. Well Sarah hadn't anyway.

"We want Owen to build strength yes, but it's also about trying to build back some muscle memory." Sarah explained, watching him as he continued to do reps. "Good job, do a few more, I'll be right back."

I was hoping to finish the exercise in silence but I should have known better. Owen didn't stay quiet for long.

"Why'd you run out of school last week?" He asked.

I looked up at him, not surprised in the least. Owen always used therapy as a time to corner me. It was annoying but it wasn't going to work today.

"Listen, Mina. I know you think I don't care but I do. You're alright?"

He sounded genuine but I knew better. Guys like Owen Savas were nothing but trouble.

"Come on. You can't blame me, you looked scared. I just want know that you're okay."

He was exasperating. "Because I believe that."

"You should."

I looked up at him, studying his brown eyes. Guys like Owen always insisted they were trustworthy, they were genuine. And maybe they were for a few minutes. But they always left in the end. And I was not going to be a broken, miserable, shell of a human like Penny.

He was still making his way through reps, they were becoming slower and slower, the muscles in his arms and neck straining as he pushed. I was still helping, but I hadn't put in any more effort, pleased with the fact that he was still trying.

"I don't. Why would I believe anything that came out of your mouth?"

There wasn't an ounce of me that trusted him. Honestly I didn't trust anyone really, with the exception of Max, Chelsea and Mrs. Rae. But even them, I kept some things to myself. Never really showing my full hand. You just never knew. The people that you were supposed to trust were often the ones that hurt you the most.

"Why do you hate me?" He asked.

I hated when he asked me that. It wasn't as simple as a time and date of an event. Not like with his "perfect" girlfriend that everyone loved, popular and unpopular. Max couldn't shut up about her, how pretty she was, how nice. She wasn't that great.

"Why do you care?" I said on a sigh, annoyed.

"Did I do something to you? At school?"

I didn't understand why he was so desperate to know. Why did he care what I thought of him? I had gone years without Owen ever noticing me. Sitting just a few feet away from each other our entire grade school career. But now that we'd been forced together he couldn't leave me alone.

I let out a frustrated groan, his legs were shaking, the leg press slowly moving up even as I increased my help. He was fatiguing but he'd made it farther than the last time.

"Do you hate Jaelyn too?" He asked.

We apparently weren't done talking. I glanced behind me wondering if Sarah was ever coming back or if she had clocked out and gone home.

"Do you ever shut up?"

His hands slapped against the side of the machine, head tilted back, eyes shut as he said, "I need a break."

His chest was rising and falling fast, he'd clearly been struggling more than he had let on. But it was good. I wondered not for the first time if he realized that if he kept putting in that much effort all the time that he'd accomplish much more than he probably thought possible.

Owen let the machine sink back to its resting position, that annoying smirk falling across his face. "I do shut up, when I get answers."

I shook my head, he was obnoxious and full of himself and I couldn't stand it.

"Your girlfriend is just like every other popular girl in high school." I accused but I had the evidence to back it up also.

"Did she do something to you?" He asked.

I couldn't wrap my mind around why Owen cared. I wasn't even remotely nice to him. I wanted to keep him at a distance, a very far distance. In my opinion that was where everyone belonged but especially him.

"And if she had, why would that matter to you?" I snapped.

If he thought he was going to ride in on a white horse and be my knight in shining armor he had another thing coming. I was long past believing in fairytales and happily ever afters. People only cared about one person, themselves. No couple stayed together forever. People were too selfish, too uncaring. And I wasn't going to get caught up in that. I wasn't going to risk my heart, my health, my mental health on something as finicky as another human being.

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I forgot how brutal Mina was 🤣.