Love I Can No Longer Touch Chapter 09
The orthopedic rehabilitation for my hands was brutal.
No matter how Susan tried to distract me, the pain still tore through me until I felt like I was being split apart.
She pulled out every trick she could think of to soothe me and even resorted to bribing me with candy like I was a .
kid.
At first, I assumed she treated everyone this way. However, when I happened to see her with other patients-all business, professional, and distant-I realized those absurd little gestures of comfort were reserved for me alone.
Her attitude toward me had clearly crossed the line between doctor and patient.
I started thinking about putting some distance between us.
I began showing up at the hospital when I knew she wouldn’t be there, letting her assistant handle my rehabilitation sessions instead.
I only managed it once before she caught on.
She saw right through my avoidance and, with no hesitation whatsoever, she called me out directly.
“Are you avoiding me?”
She was so straightforward about it that I couldn’t bring myself to deflect or change the subject.
“You’re too kind to me. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
“Is that so?” Ashley tilted her head and smiled. “I think it’s perfectly appropriate. When I meet someone I like, I tend to make the first move.”
I hadn’t expected her to just come out and say it like that.
In that moment, I couldn’t find a single word to refuse her.
Susan let out a bright laugh. “Besides, Norman was trying to set us up from the very beginning. I think you’re a good match for me, so what’s wrong with treating you well?”
I froze.
What was she talking about?
The confusion must have been written all over my face, because Susan’s smile froze in place.
“You didn’t know? Our meeting was actually a blind date.”
No wonder there had hardly been anyone waiting outside her consultation room that morning.
Later, when I went back for follow-ups, there was always a long line stretching from her door.
So, she’d actually been off duty that morning and had come in for an early consultation specifically to meet me.
That was why she’d been able to accompany me through the entire process without needing to see other patients.
That bastard Norman actually set me up!
I gave him a thorough scolding. He just grinned and took it, completely unrepentant, no matter what I said.
All he asked was what I thought of Susan.
1 didn’t have much to say.
I thought highly of her, of course. She had been meticulous in her care for me.
It was just that my divorce from Ashley wasn’t finalized yet, so it wouldn’t be fair to Susan if I were to start anything with her now.
I told Susan about the situation, but she didn’t seem particularly bothered by it. Instead, she simply continued to interact with me the same way she always had.
I didn’t understand what she was thinking, and it made me want to pull back even more.
I admit that I was afraid. I didn’t dare throw myself into another passionate love affair, because I was terrified that
it would end the same way it had with Ashley. We burned so hot we used up all the air and just suffocated.
I didn’t respond to Susan’s advances, and she never pushed. Instead, she just steadily carried on with my rehabilitation plan.
One week blurred into a month, and a month turned into two.
Every day, there would be some new surprise waiting for me. She never seemed to grow tired of it, and not once did she show even a flicker of impatience.
My hands had improved significantly, and Susan recommended me for a job in the rehabilitation department.
Since my massage technique was quite good, I was able to work as a rehabilitation therapist.
We started commuting to and from work together. After night shifts, we’d collapse into bed and sleep like the dead. On regular days, we’d hit the night market after our shifts ended.
Somewhere along the way, without my noticing, I had stopped thinking about Ashley.
Half a month ago, she sent me the divorce papers. I’d never given her my address. However, for someone like her, finding out where a person lived was hardly difficult.
The fact that she didn’t show up to harass me was probably the greatest respect she could have offered.
In any case, I’d already received the divorce certificate, so I wasn’t particularly concerned with where she went.
