Breaking the Cycle (11 page)

“Uh-huh.”

He led her to the living room, holding her hand until she sat on the sofa. He met her awestruck gaze as he ascended the steps to his room.

Chloe started on her medication just as Chad had ordered. The process was an adjustment for sure. She nearly forgot to take her medication every day for the first week. Between Max and Liz, however, she managed to get it down.

Max noticed the changes in her. As each day passed, her energy level increased. She had a little more life every morning. She grew more mischievous. She was genuinely happy to be alive, and Max loved every second of it. She no longer ate like a bird, terrified she would lose what she ate as quickly as she ate it. She ate well. Her stick-like figure developed a curve or two.

He watched her scrutinize herself in the mirror, noticing the subtle weight gain. He groaned as his eyes raked over her. He loved her. Nothing would change that. But those curves set his blood on fire.

When she turned and found him standing there, he grew hot in embarrassment. She smiled as she sashayed by, then winked at him over her shoulder. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He could only stare. This new Chloe was learning how to flirt. But she had no idea he was putty in her hands.

Max and Chloe took turns driving Liz to physical therapy. Soon, she was able to stand on her own two feet and take a step or two. Liz was proud of her accomplishment. She should have been. The fact that she had survived the accident was a miracle. Being able to return to normal was an epic feat.

Days of working at Hard Drive and nights at home watching television drove them closer to Chloe’s typical sick day. Max tugged on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt as the day of reckoning arrived. Would the medication work? Or would he be holding Chloe in his arms, comforting her as she vomited?

He jogged down the steps to find Liz and Chloe sitting in the living room. Liz was watching the morning news as she popped bits of blueberry muffin in her mouth. Chloe had a scowl plastered on her face.

Max kissed her cheek. “Good morning. What’s up?”

Liz frowned. “Chloe is doubting the meds.”

“Are you feeling all right?” Max asked, concerned.

“I feel fine,” Chloe huffed. “I just don’t think it will work. Nothing else has.”

“You need to have faith. I’m going to get a bowl of cereal. Can I get you one?

“So I can throw it back up?”

Max shook his head as he straightened himself and walked into the kitchen. He came back out with his bowl, settled into the couch, and began to eat.

The day wore on. The passage of time was marked by the next program on the television. Max worked new training schedules on his laptop in the morning then made sandwiches for the afternoon Cubs game. Liz did crossword puzzles from one of the many books she had received while in the hospital. Chloe still wanted nothing to do with food. She sat perched in her chair, a frown firmly etched on her face.

Max stood as the game ended. He stretched his cramped muscles then tugged his shoes on for a run. “Chloe, do you want to come with me?”

“No,” she grumbled.

He sighed as he stepped outside. He felt a knot in his stomach. If luck served them as it normally did, he would find Chloe retching when he got back. He stared at the front door and exhaled. The first step of freeing Chloe from the grasp of this disease was not allowing it to have a hold on him. Teach her by example not to let it take control of her. He slipped his ear buds in and started his run.

Afterward, he held his breath as he reached for the knob on the front door and pushed it open. He smiled as he found Chloe still in her chair. However, her demeanor had changed. She was no longer mad. She seemed confused.

“If you ladies let me take a shower, I’ll grill up some chicken,” he volunteered.

“I don’t—” Chloe began.

“Oh, come off it,” Liz interrupted.

Max kneeled before Chloe then took her hands in his. “Have you ever gone this long before an episode started?”

“No. It should have started by now.”

“Do you have any stomach pain? Any headaches? Do you feel bad at all?”

“No. I feel fine.”

Max smiled. “The meds are working. I’ve noticed you feeling better. I know you’ve gone your whole life being sick. Being well will take some adjusting. Enjoy it. I know I am. And I haven’t been doing this near as long.”

Chloe carefully smiled. She flung her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in the curve of his neck. He returned the embrace. “Thank you, Max. Thank you so much,” she breathed.

“What for, baby?”

“For talking to Mark. For hunting for an answer. For not giving up on me.”

Max looked deep in her eyes. “I would never give up on you. Now, I’m starving. I know you have to be. I’m going to go take my shower so I can start the chicken. All right?”

“Sure.”

Max rose to his feet and jogged up the steps. He smiled to himself as he heard Chloe say to her mother, “He’s my hero.”

»»•««

Max kneeled next to the mat as he analyzed Rico and Mark sparring. He squinted his eyes as he studied them. “Mark, you’re still not keeping your hands up to defend yourself. You’re leaving your face wide open,” he critiqued.

“Rico wouldn’t hit such a work of art.” Mark preened as he proudly propped his chin on his gloved hand. Rico playfully shot his fist across Mark’s cheek. “Hey, man. Would you punch a Michelangelo?” Mark protested.

Rico laughed. “Dude, you’re not a Michelangelo.”

Max laughed at them. “Guys, seriously. Can we get back to work?”

“Max!” He looked up to the walkway above. Jack motioned to him. “A word, please?”

Max slowly climbed the steps to Jack’s office. He shut the door behind him.

“You need to speed up Mark’s training. Turn it up a few notches. I need him at Rico’s level now,” Jack ordered.

“I can spend some more time with him. But to improve him that much that fast will injure him. I won’t risk that.”

Jack rubbed his fist with his other hand. “I brought Rico in to win us a championship. He can’t do that without the proper training.”

“Then recruit someone of his caliber.”

“Train me one. That’s why I hired you. Maybe I made a mistake when I did that.”

Max snarled as he threw open the door. He stormed back down the steps. “Mark, off the mat.”

“What? Why?” Mark protested.

Max grabbed a spare pair of gloves off the rack and tugged them on. He faced off with Rico, crouching into attack stance.

“Max, what are you doing?” Rico demanded.

Max’s voice was low and dangerous. “Jack wants someone of your level to work with you. Welcome to your new sparring partner.”

“Max, what about…?”

“Just attack me.”

Rico answered him with a series of punches followed by a low kick. Max avoided it all, responding with a volley of his own. The gym faded away. All Max felt, saw, breathed was this fight. Nothing else came into focus until he stood over Rico, who groaned from the final kick Max had delivered to his head.

“Holy crap,” he heard Mark mutter.

Max scanned the room. Every set of eyes in the gym were locked tight on him in disbelief. He noticed one pair of eyes missing. Chloe’s.
Where is she?
He reached his gloved hand down to help Rico to his feet. “You all right, man?”

“Yeah,” Rico answered. “Not the first kick I’ve taken to the head. How are you going to explain this to Chloe?”

Max clenched his hands to his hips. “I don’t have to worry about it. She asked for the afternoon off but wouldn’t tell me what she was doing. We drove separately. She asked to have all Tuesday afternoons off from here on. Right after Jack promoted her to a full time trainer.”

Both men turned as Jack clapped them on the shoulders. “That, gentlemen, was impressive. Now show me more.”

Max snorted as he followed Rico to the mat. He didn’t need to worry about his secret being blown. Chloe wasn’t here to see it. However, he was going to find out where she went on Tuesday afternoons.

That night, Max watched Chloe bustle around the kitchen as she cooked. Liz was gone with Al, testing her new freedom now that Chloe’s episodes were under control. It was Liz’s first date since her divorce. She had been nearly a nervous wreck when she had left.

His eyes drew to slits as he studied Chloe. “So, where did you go this afternoon?”

Chloe stopped and looked at him, startled. “Oh. I just had an appointment.”

“Two weeks in a row?”

“Umm…yeah.”

“With who?”

“The doctor.”

“Two weeks in a row? Are you all right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Max sat back in his chair. “You’re keeping something from me. Haven’t I proved you can trust me?”

Chloe set a full plate of roast beef before him. “It’s nothing to worry about. Really. Eat up before it gets cold.”

He stared at her then picked up his fork. He would stop dwelling on it and focus on her and the meal she made him. For now.

The week crawled by. Max kept Chloe close to him, rarely letting her out of his sight. It was really no change, and she never noticed. They always spent time together.

Max fought the way he felt. There was something about her that she wasn’t telling him, something that drove a wedge between them. He wouldn’t rest until he found out what it was. He wasn’t going to give her up easily.

He watched her like a hawk on Tuesday, having spent all week plotting this very day. He carried his keys with him. The minute she left, he would follow. He would bust her with her secret and then he would demand the reason she kept him in the dark.

Then, Max noticed her slip out the front door of the gym. He stood at the glass as she pulled from her spot and drove down the street. Max ran to his car to follow.

Chloe sped down the interstate toward the looming downtown Minneapolis skyline. Max kept close on her tail as she wove through the city streets until she pulled into the lot of a small office building dwarfed by the skyscrapers around it. Max found a parking space and turned off the engine.

He felt his heart pound as he watched her hurry inside. This was it—the moment he had been anticipating. He peeled himself from the seat and stormed after her.

He quickly scanned the frosted doors in the hallway. These weren’t apartments. They were indeed medical offices. But the two doors on the first floor belonged to a pediatrician and an optometrist. Certainly not doctors Chloe needed. He quickly jogged up the steps to the second floor.

He froze at the first door he came to. It was open a crack, as if the last person to enter hadn’t closed it all the way. Max growled.
This is the doctor she’s seeing? Why the holy hell does she need a sexual therapist?

Max stormed inside, startling the poor young receptionist sitting behind the desk. “Where is Chloe Davis?” he demanded.

“Sir, she’s in with the doctor…” the girl objected.

The office door opened. A tall, slender man in his sixties with salt and pepper hair stepped out. “Michelle, what is the problem?”

Michelle gestured toward Max. “This gentleman is looking for Chloe Davis.”

The man slowly studied Max from head to toe. He smiled. “Max Thomas, I presume?”

“And you are?” Max spat.

“Doctor Abraham Spencer. Why don’t you step into my office?”

Dr. Spencer ushered Max inside. Chloe half rose in surprise when she saw him. “Max! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to find out what doctor you’re sneaking off to see every Tuesday,” Max snarled. “You don’t trust me. I can’t accept that. And now I’m really confused. Why do you need a sexual therapist? Who are you doing this for? What are you doing here?”

Max hated the helpless, confused look in Chloe’s eyes. He hated even more that he had caused it. But he had to know the truth. Now.

“Max, maybe you should sit down, and we can all talk,” Dr. Spencer suggested.

“I don’t want to sit,” Max fumed. “I want an answer. Chloe?”

Chloe dropped back into her seat. “Chad told me to get rid of the stress in my life. I talked to him about this when I asked you to call my mom. I have problems being intimate with men. It sets off my CVS. This was never a problem before. I was never interested in a guy. But I am now. I really want to be with him. I really love him. Dr. Spencer is helping me get over my fear, so I can be with him.”

“Really?” Max sneered. “I’d love to meet the guy. Who is this guy you’re so madly in love with? I want his name.”

Chloe stared at him, looking dumbfounded. Max turned toward Dr. Spencer. The therapist was just as stunned. Max glanced from one to the other as a thought slowly penetrated the jealousy. “You mean me?”

“Yes, Max,” Chloe’s voice was soft as air. “I mean you.”

Max ran a strong hand through his dark hair as his bravado deflated like an old, worn balloon. “Chloe, baby, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” He sunk into the sofa beside her. “I just got so insanely jealous because I love you, and the idea of you with another man was eating me alive. Please, forgive me.”

Chloe smiled as she touched his cheek. “Of course.”

Doctor Spencer sat gingerly on the edge of his seat. “Chloe, maybe you should explain to Max what happened to you that makes you so nervous around men.”

Chloe suddenly went pale. Her eyes were full of terror. She shook her head. “I’d rather not.”

Max frowned as he took her hands in his. “Chloe, you can tell me. I can’t help you get past it if you don’t. I promise nothing you tell me will make me feel any different about you.”

Tears filled Chloe’s eyes. “This will.”

“No, it won’t.”

Chloe glanced from Dr. Spencer to Max. She let go a shuddering breath. “By the time I was a sophomore in high school, my Mom had to home school me. I had too many absences. But my high school did agree to let me do the senior things, like prom and graduation. One of the jocks asked me to prom. I was so excited. I, of course, had three episodes before it, but the night of prom, I was fine. It was a dream come true—to be beautiful and somewhat normal around other kids my own age.

“Then, we left the dance. But instead of driving me home, he drove me to some rural farm field. He started kissing me. Then, he undid my dress. I told him to stop. I slapped him. I kicked off my shoes, opened the door, and ran away as fast as I could. He caught me. And then…” Her voice trailed off to silence.