“Can you wait until I’ve had a second to look at it and tape it if possible?”
“Do we really need to delay? It’s a quick trip.”
“Yes, but any time with your foot down it’s going to start swelling again.”
And she’d made enough of a deal about it earlier that he didn’t want to test her patience with him. Funny, he usually had a harder time letting go of his way than that.
“All right. If you can do it fast. Like in five minutes.”
“I’ve taped on the sidelines. I can tape an ankle in under two minutes, but I need a couple more minutes to see your ankle once we’ve got the wrap off.”
A minute later, she’d moved her supplies over and offered him a hand from the floor. “I thought you didn’t want me to put it down.”
“I want you to stand up and sit in the chair so I can tape it easier. You know, so I can get the tape under it without you having to strain to keep it off my lap and I don’t have to give myself backache bending and twisting to get in past the seat back.”
Liam shrugged and bypassed her hand. He could still stand up.
He sat up and flipped to one hip to push up off the floor without assistance, keeping what was left of his macho intact—or as much as it could be while hopping on one foot.
Sitting back down, he held his leg up and waited for her to make with the unwrapping, though really it was loose enough that she could probably slide it off like a sock at this point. He could only consider that a win.
When the skin was exposed, he prompted, “So?”
“So, this is not an instant decision. I’m going to need to move your foot around. I’m sorry, it’s going to hurt, but I will try to be gentle. I need to make sure that what I diagnosed earlier was correct. Inversion sprains usually involve certain ligaments, and the method of taping is slightly different depending on whether it’s the top one or the bottom one. I won’t bore you with the names.”
“So it can be taped? When you know the right taping procedure...”
She didn’t answer yet, just gently moved his foot in the joint—pointed up, pointed down, side to side. It was the side motion that had him hissing loudest.
“Anterior talofibular ligament. And possibly the calcaneofibular.”
“I thought you weren’t going to bore me with the names.”
“I’m just showing off.” The tiny smile she gave came with a wave of relief in its wake. Almost normal. Her twisting his foot around might hurt enough that his jaw ached from clenching it, but physical pain could be borne much easier than what they’d been sidestepping since the second she’d pulled herself out of that pool.
“There’s so much bruising I’m still not sure that there isn’t actually a tear and not just too much stretching.”
“Grace.” He said her name a little louder, forcing her to stop what she was doing and look at him. “Can it be taped?”
“We’re going to find out. I’m going to tape it, you’re going to have people help you shave or whatever here in this chair, and keep it elevated until you absolutely need to stand up to get dressed. It might also be a good idea for you to—at the last minute—gently walk around the suite to try and get the motion down. When you’ve got your ankle locked, it changes the method of locomotion. Hip and knee flexing becomes more important. And it will also probably make your back hurt before too long, so don’t walk any more than you absolutely have to.”
Once more she went into that bag, this time coming out with an electric razor and some other supplies.
“I’ll use my own razor when you’re done.”
“This isn’t for your face. I’m shaving your leg.”
“You are?”
“You want me to tape it?”
“Yes.” He sighed and leaned back, letting her have her way again. “Just don’t shave anything else.”
“I’m not here for manscaping. I’m here to save your skin from the tape.”
“Couldn’t you just put something under it?”
“I am. But I use a light adhesive spray too so it doesn’t slide and cause blisters.”
“Fine, fine.”
A moment later she had his foot cradled between her knees and was shaving halfway up his calf, all around.
Seconds only, and while it wasn’t exactly a close shave, it got the job done. Then she hit it with the spray and grabbed a thin, blue stretchy wrap. It went on next, covering his leg from just below the toes, around the heel, and just over halfway up to his knee.
* * *
Grace hadn’t been lying when she’d said she could do one in under two minutes, a wrap that would be tight and functional but maybe a little bulkier than she wanted. She’d take her time and do it in three or four minutes this time. After a couple of strips to anchor it, she flexed his foot up at a good right angle and laid down the stirrup strips. And then heel locks and figure eights of tape around the foot and ankle.
“How much tape are you going to use?”
“I’m going to make sure that none of the pre-wrap is showing except where the ends poke out a bit. No holes. It needs to be closed up completely or it might start to come off. So maybe the whole roll of tape. And maybe some other tape on top of it. I want to see you walk on it first. Then if we need the stretchy tape, we’ll slap another layer on, just to add that little bit extra support.”
He made some noise of affirmation, but stopped asking questions. Which gave her an opening. “I know you don’t want anyone to find me out, but if I just go to the theater and lurk in the crowds by the carpet, that should be all right. I don’t want to be up here sitting, waiting, when you might need me on the ground. I’ll stand out of the way somewhere.”
“I guess that’s okay. I mean, you’ll try to stand out of the way somewhere, but there’s a lot of jostling that happens along the carpet. Not just from the cameras but also the fans lining up to snap pictures and shake hands. It’s a big deal for them. If that happens, just go back to the limo and sit. I really don’t want to have you helping me in public either. If I fall over, I fall over. Better that it looks like a fresh accident than something that I had to bring health professionals with me to manage.”
“You really want to fall on camera?” she asked, hand fumbling in the bag beside her for the wide athletic tape.
Liam made a noise and shook his head. “But we’re not talking about what I’d like, we’re talking about what might provide the best public reaction. If I fall and limp off to the limo, I can just claim the doctor said I need to stay off it a couple days and that it will be fine, but if I am there with a physical therapist...”
“This is ridiculous. A fall is a fall, everyone will react to it the same way. They might even be happy that you’re bringing someone like me with you in order to try and minimize the damage. Though I dare say that they’d strangle you if they found out that you’re planning on walking on it unassisted in this condition. That might make them think you’re out of your mind and incapable of the part. I know that’s what would push me over the edge.”
“You’re a medical professional. And this is your job. Regular people, and especially people in the industry, want me to be a superhero.”
“Is that what the part is for? A superhero?”
“No.” He denied it too quickly, and for a man used to acting—basically lying for a living—he didn’t pull the denial off at all.
“Your left eye just twitched.” She stopped what she was doing, though she hadn’t really gotten