Hopefully if I waited a minute, the anchors would be talking about something else.
The guyjust stared at me. Sometimes you didn’t need to actually say the word ‘bitch’ to get the message across. This guy had obviously mastered that talent.
IsensedKulti before he actually made it back. He purposely walked right in front of me, the side of his leg bumping into my knees, before taking his spot on the chair next to mine. It took him all of a second to catch onto the ugly vibes the other man was sending.
The German leaned forward, one elbow on his knee and half his body facing me, but his head was cocked at the stranger. Fortunately my hat was pulled down low on his forehead. “I’m sure there’s something else you can look at, friend.”
“I’d be lookingat the TV,friend, if your lady hadn’t turned it off,” the man explained.
Kulti didn’t askme why I turned it off or why I didn’t turn it back on. He stayed in the same position he was in, his free hand resting on his other knee. “Instead of worrying about the television, maybe you should be worrying about your cholesterol, no?”
Oh God.
“Miss Casillas, will you follow me?” A voice spoke from the door.
Istoodup and lightly punched Kulti in the shoulder as he stared across the room at the other man. He stood up after me, not giving the man another thought. Lowering my voice so only he could hear, I whispered, “You might want to call your publicist. They were talking about Kulti onSports Room,and it wasn’t about him playing soccer.” I tipped my chin down. “Do you know what I mean?”
His eyes movedfrom one of mine to the other before he nodded his understanding.
I’m notsure why I did it, but I reached over and gave his wrist a squeeze. “You didn’t steal anything or kill anyone. Whatever anyone else who doesn’t know you thinks, isn’t a big deal.”
“Miss Casillas?” the medical personnel called my name once more.
“I’m coming.” Making my eyes go wide at the German, I took a step back. “Let me go get this over with.”
The last thingI did before heading to the back for my appointment was drop the remote on the seat next to the man’s wife. The x-ray went by quickly, mostly because I was thinking about the situation with Kulti. He hadn’t confirmed or denied anything. So what did that mean?
Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in a room with my doctor as he showed me a great set of films. “Nothing is broken. See? Not even a hairline fracture,” he confirmed.
“That’swhat I wanted to hear.” I smiled at the doctor I’d been going to since I moved to Houston. His medical assistant stood in the corner of the room.
“You should lookinto doing some milk commercials. You’ve got some strong bones on you, Sal,” he joked around, scribbling something into my file. “I recommend you take a week off to be on the safe side—“
Ichoked.
“—but at least fourdays if you choose to be stubborn and get back.” He looked up with a smile.
Yeah, that wasn’t much better.
“I’ll getyou a note if you need one, or else just have someone shoot me a call or an email if they want to speak to me,” the doctor said. “You don’t want to make it any worse. Your body needs the rest.”
Four daysoff would really be five because I’d miss the game and have Sunday off by default.
Handingmy file to his assistant, the older man smiled. “My wife and I went to your season opener,” he noted. “You’ve got a real talent, kiddo. I haven’t seen anyone move like you sinceLa Culebra. You’ve heard of him, haven’t you?”
Ionly barely caught mysmile before it fell off my face. “Yes, I have. That’s very nice of you to say.” I cleared my throat and ignored the weirdness I felt at the mention of the Latin American star. “Thanks for going to the game, by the way. I can probably get you a set of comp tickets for another one if you’d like to go again.”
“That’d be great. Any game would be fine.”
Imadea mental note to see who I could con some tickets out of.
“So, ah, what’s it like working with Kulti?” The doctor’s cheeks were pink at the apples.
Iwas suddenly thankfulthe German hadn’t followed me into the exam room. I could only imagine how much the doctor would flip out if he knew Reiner ‘The King’ Kulti had been sitting in his waiting room. “It’s… great. He’s tough, but he knows what he’s talking about.”
The doctor gotthis dreamy look in his eyes. “I bet. I’ve always wanted to meet him. ”
So. Not. Obvious.