Page 119 of Hollywood Undercover
Chapter 46
SEBASTIAN had been on a high.After almost a week with Alexandra—as her sweet, sexy as hell self—he felt he could handle anything. Today, it appeared the universe wasn’t ready or willing to keep him in such lofty spirits. The ugly truth had just come out during the post-op consult with hisorthopedist.
The doctor peered at the x-rays. “I’ll be frank with you, Mr. Sullivan. Your injury is likely to make it next to impossible for you to get back to work, even now after thesurgery.”
“Wow,” he said, clenching his jaw. “That’s a tough pill to swallow, doc. Being a firefighter is mylife.”
“Of course, you know we set a projected return to work date, but things are subject to change. We won’t really know until after a few weeks of healing. It will also depend on your ability to follow your physical therapistsinstructions.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes after the surgery to get back tonormal.”
“We’ll just have to see how it goes,son.”
Hours later, Sebastian got home and sat on a chair on the front porch, sulking about his doctor’s dismal projections. It was one thing hearing it from the Chief, but quite another for his orthopedic specialist to tell him he had littlehope.
What in the hell am I supposed to do if I can’t be a firefighteranymore?
As far back as he could remember, Sebastian wanted to be a firefighter. It was in his blood. His father, grandfather and great grandfather had been firefighters. There were even stories of a few more Sullivan generations who worked on bucket brigades in the early days back when firefighters were hired by insurance companies to protect building assets in small frontier towns aroundTucson.
When Sebastian landed the job with the fire department, he had his life mapped out. He had aspirations of becoming a chief one day. It was tough and sometimes frightening work, and lives depended on him on the job, but it was rewarding, and there was nothing else he could imaginedoing.
All of the guys he worked with would say being a firefighter gets in the blood. Now, with the possibility of not going back to work, Sebastian thought he had absolutely no direction, no idea what to do next. There wasn’t even a starting point. Compounded by the isolation since his injury, the whole situation was almost toomuch.
As he sat there, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Alexandra’s limo pull up next door. Right now, she was in character as Lexxi Rock, and Sebastian had agreed it was best he kept his distance. It was too early for anyone to know what they had only begun to explore. Having the media meddling in their affairs would have been a nuisance atbest.
Lexxi Rock stepped out of the car, followed by Maxwell Storme and Rosa. She nodded over at him, their silent acknowledgement of the growing closeness between them. He would give anything right now to have some time with her, if even to talk through this dismalprognosis.
He gave his friend Clint a call, but it went through tovoicemail.
“Clint, buddy, give me a call when you get a chance,” he said in his message. His knee still hurt after the surgery, and he needed to wait a few more days before starting physio. At the moment, he wondered if the pain was more pronounced because his hope was waning. Lexxi reappeared out front and walked to her limo. She nodded over at him again before she got in the back and left. After that, Sebastian limped inside and left a voice message for his brother, Sam, in LosAngeles.
It took a few hours for Clint to return hiscall.
“What’s going on with you, man?” Clintasked.
Sebastian told him the news, and mentioned both the Chief’s call and the orthopedist’s opinion. “Do you think they’re blowing it out of proportion to scare me into working my ass off to prepare for thephysical?”
“It’s hard to tell,bud.”
“Damn. I can’t give it up just like that. What am I supposed todo?”
“Maybe you should focus on getting your mind and body ready to fight hard. You sound like you’re giving up already. Worrying isn’t going to do you any good, Bash. When your physical therapy starts, give it a hundred and ten percent. Push yourself, focus and don’t give up until you pass that physical. On the flip side, I could also tell you there are so many different types of work you can do that won’t take the same kind of physical toll on you as firefighting. Don’t you have a collegedegree?”
“Yeah. Sowhat?”
“You have some options. I could say it’s not the end of the world, Bash. Trust me, I know how you feel right now. That’s why I won’t encourage your whining. For now, your world should consist of eating well, disciplining your mind and preparing your body for what may be the toughest fight of your life. End ofstory.”
Sebastian inhaled deeply. “This is why I knew I needed to talk to you, Clint. Thanks. I’ll be living and breathing recovery from nowon.”
“Damnstraight.”
“Can I still ask yousomething?”
“Shoot.”
“How did you manage giving it up after theaccident?”
“You realize that you’re more than what you do for a living, that’show.”
