fix you // liam payne

chapter thirty-two // fortune cookies.

ellie's pov

With nothing else to do for the afternoon - having only one patient certainly has its perks - I decide to observe Liam's physical therapy. Dr. Gerard had offered multiple times, knowing there isn't an aspect of medicine that I wouldn't like to dip my toes in. I always had been hesitant to join them, scared that Dr. Frenette would get annoyed, but when Dr. Gerard offered again today, I took him up on his offer.

You'd think with those photos of the two of us circulating, I'd be more careful. I think I'm starting to enjoy the rush of breaking the rules and pushing the boundaries.

Who knows? Maybe this is the beginning of a very rebellious lifestyle?

I can't help but to snort to myself as I try to imagine myself as anything else but a painfully awkward introvert with a knack for following the rules. I'll always be the definition of lame, and I'm actually quite okay with that.

"Dr. Vandergelt is going to join us today, if you don't mind, Liam?" Dr. Gerard smiles as I enter the PT room.

Liam's eyes had landed on me the moment I walked in and a smile grows across his face, much similar to the dopey grin he was wearing in the screenshots from the livestream.

The cute idiot is going to blow our cover with that adorable little smile of his.

"Not at all," He shakes his head as Dr. Gerard leads him over to the PT table.

I watch the two of them go through what seems to be their usual routine. Liam has been going to physical therapy regularly for about two weeks now. At our lunches he always talks about how frustrating it is because it's basically just an hour long reminder of all the things he can no longer do.

"Now don't let someone as cute as her distract you," Dr. Gerard jokes causing my face to turn bright red as Liam lets out a loud laugh.

"That might be my biggest problem today," Liam nods in return, causing Dr. Gerard and I to both laugh, but for very different reasons.

I take a seat on a chair beside Liam's table after helping Dr. Gerard lift him up on top of it. I pull out my clipboard and a blank notepad, ready to take notes, as if I were back in med school. I make myself quite and invisible, wanting to observe things as they normally go down.

Watching carefully, I can sense Liam tensing up. He lies on his back as Dr. Gerard grips his legs in his hand, rotating his ankles and his knees around, to be sure they aren't too stiff. Liam complains about an uncomfortable sensation that appears in his feet every so often. He describes it as needles poking the bottoms of his feet. Dr. Gerard wears a big smile as he lets him know that sensation is very regular in the healing process; it's a very, very good sign, he explains.

I hide my big grin behind my clipboard as I scribble that bit of information down.

prickly sensation = good!!

After Dr. Gerard finishes up stretching all of Liam's limbs, he explains to me that next up is the difficult part. I can sense Liam's anxiety rising as he stares at the ceiling taking deep breaths. I want to reach over to console him, but I grip my clipboard tightly to my chest as I watch carefully.

Dr. Gerard stands beside an outstretched Liam standing there with a serious expression cemented on his face.

"Alright, Liam," He begins, "I want you to try and wiggle any of your toes. Start by taking deep breaths and concentrate on just the muscles in your toes, ignore every other part of your body."

The silence in the room only adds to the tension as we wait patiently as Liam closes his eyes and takes a large, deep breath. I find myself taking a breath with him as if I had a large struggle to overcome.