Read Online Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton - Free Book Online

of his truck. He’s wearing a T-shirt today that says STUBBY , and he flails his arms and legs comically as he turns his terrible accident into a hilarious story. I let myself join in laughing with the rest of the group.
    Next Rita gives what she calls her “testimony,” which consists of her describing her fall while skiing, but with extra details that make the whole experience sound like a huge blessing from Jesus. When she gets around to “Amen” we all go inside for physical therapy.
    I do a few stretches and foot rolls on the mat before climbing on the exercycle and knocking the tension down to the lowest setting. Slowly, I churn Frankenfoot around as I pick at my thumbnail.
    Frank is test-driving a prosthetic arm so Workout Barbie gives him extra attention while making her rounds. I picture her closet looking like the inside of a cotton-candy machine.
    The cycle beside me whirs to life. I look over to see Pierce pedaling briskly with his good leg, a determined expression on his face. Like he’s still searching for some war to win. Glancing at his screen, I see he’s already climbing past 60 RPMs. I’m ashamed to note my machine’s display is still blinking with the big red words “Begin Workout Now.”
    I awkwardly churn Frankenfoot a little faster until my exercycle finally registers that my workout has, in fact, begun. Beside me Pierce continues to pedal faster and punches his resistance up to six. Annoyed, I give my tension button two jabs and immediately feel burning in my good leg since it’s the one doing most of the work. My speed drops again and the blinking machine mocks: “Begin Workout Now.” With a grunt I push faster and finally get the taunting message to go away. Struggling to keep my pace above 33 RPMs, I notice Pierce is zipping along at over 80. Droplets of sweat start to form at his temples.
    I push myself to 45 RPMs, which is still pretty slow, but a shot of pain prods my ankle. “Oh!” I wince, and Pierce breaks his concentration to look over.
    â€œYou okay?” he asks, which is sort of hilarious. I mean, there he is cycling with one leg and all I can think about is how much I want to stop pedaling and go home.
    â€œSure.” I press on.
    I glance over and see the slightest smile haunting the corner of Pierce’s mouth. He catches me looking, raises an eyebrow, and begins to pedal even faster. I give an involuntary gasp as he punches his tension up to nine, but I’m too afraid of reinjuring my ankle to bump up my speed or tension any more.
    But I don’t slow down either.
    By the time I open the door to Jay’s Subaru I’ve regained my breath but feel weak from the neck down.
    â€œGood workout today?”
    I sink into the passenger seat with a groan. “They pushed me really hard.” As I say the words I realize Workout Barbie actually didn’t speak to me at all. She only smiled when she came by and noted my numbers on the exercycle.
    Pierce is walking unevenly across the parking lot and our eyes meet through the windshield.
    â€œOh wow, is that him?” Jay reaches up and presses the control to open the sunroof.
    Pierce moves right past my window, and our eyes stay locked until the last moment when he gives a long slow blink and then looks away. “Um, yeah. That’s him.” Turning my head, I watch him step onto a worn path leading into the woods.
    Jay puts his arm around my seat and twists to back up the car. “No rush, but it will be so great if you can get that interview for me.” I nod, wondering how far Pierce has to walk home each day.
    â€œWant to go for a stroll later?” I ask as Jay pulls away from Ulysses. The sun has finally made an appearance through the clouds.
    â€œSure, Dyna-girl.” He smiles. “But first there’s an orange couch that has our names on it. I’m going to make sure you rest and recover before releasing you back into the