"A little birdie told me you'll be leaving us soon."

  Not even the ravishing Penelope, with her intoxicating aroma of hand soap, latex, and Lady Speed Stick could divert his attention the next day in rehab. Mikey was on cloud nine.

  "If all goes according to plan." He looked down, concentrating on his footwork. "Not that I don't thoroughly enjoy your company."

  "Save your sweet talk for the groupies, okay? You don't need to explain. Who wouldn't want to be in his own bed every night? It certainly would account for all your extra pep today."

  An exaggeration, at best. All he had to do was go up two wooden stairs, then down the other side without using the handrail. But to him, it might as well have been the hundred yard dash.

  "Guess I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning," he said, getting his breath.

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  "That's funny. I thought you preferred the left side." She smirked. Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Usually you're so much more responsive."

  For a moment he almost felt guilty. Perhaps he was acting differently towards her. For two and half months she had been the only woman in his life - who did not make his balls crawl back up inside his scrotum. To his surprise, she seemed hurt by his preoccupation. But he just couldn't be bothered to come onto her with the same shamelessless she had clearly become used to.

  "Figure if I'm ever gonna get back behind the wheel, I need to keep it in neutral for as long as I can."

  Again, he took on that first stair, a Herculean task, then tackled the second, basking at the top in triumph.

  "Makes sense. Too much too soon and you're libel to spin out again."

  His legs buckled before he steadied himself.

  She could see she'd miscalculated, changing tacts. "I hope you'll at least have someone to take care of you."

  Getting used to his balance, he answered, "Actually, I do..." hesitating "... have someone in mind. Though I'm not so sure she'll go for it."

  Penelope tried not to seem too intrigued. "Old girlfriend?"

  Still assessing the extreme long shot in his mind, he turned to her, half-heartedly. "No, not exactly."

  At last, she seemed to clue in enough not to pry. Steadying his twitchy forceps with a smile: "Just so long as you know you're not finished with me yet."

  Mikey stepped down.

  "I sure hope not. I can't imagine where I'd be right now without you. You and your staff."

  Perhaps she was fishing for more of an apology. For something he'd said - or hadn't said - But that was still far too bitter a pill for him to swallow––and he'd swallowed his fair share of godawful medicine for one lifetime.

  "I said two more, remember, that's only one, mister, now let's go again..."

  Mikey exhaled––and braced for the next step.