Tomas looked up and nodded. “Yeah, that.”
“We’ve all been hurt, Tomas,” Micah said, “but what made the difference is that we all three fought to have a life and not let the bad things that happened to us define who we are, and what our life would be.”
Tomas licked his lips. He wasn’t trying to be cool anymore, or angry. He had nothing to put up as a shield against all that truth and pain. “What do you want me to do?” he asked, finally.
“Do your PT,” Nathaniel said.
“Hit the gym when the doctors say you can,” Micah said.
“Work hard at both,” I said.
Tomas looked at me, and then back to the men. He licked his lips again, nodding more to himself than to us. “I will.”
“Promise,” I said.
He looked at me then, and there was a determination that hadn’t been there before; the anger was in there and would be for a while, but there were better things in his dark eyes now, things that would help him more than they hurt him. “I promise,” he said, and I believed him.
Nathaniel added, “And if the doctors think counseling will help, don’t just say no.”
Tomas scowled at him. “I’m fine, I don’t need counseling.”
“You’re not fine, but it’s okay not to be fine. If you don’t need counseling, then that’s great, but if you do need it, that’s okay, too. My therapist has helped me a lot.”
“I’ve had therapy,” Micah said.
“Me, too,” I said.
Tomas looked from one to the other of us. “I don’t need it.” His voice was very firm, and back to angry.
“We didn’t say you did, just that if you do, it can help,” Micah said.
The sullen look was back, so I said, “Work your physical therapy and leave the rest for later, or never. Body first, and sometimes the rest takes care of itself.”
Something flickered through his eyes; maybe it was doubt. “Really?” he asked, managing to sound both suspicious and a tiny bit scared, which let me know that he’d already wondered about the other kind of therapy even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“Really, a lot of people treat the mind and body like one is more important than the other, but they’re too interconnected to ignore one for the other. Physical stuff can help the rest a whole lot.”
He studied my face for a second, and again I saw that unease or small fear peeking out. “PT first, then.”
I nodded. “Yeah, PT first.”
I liked that he left it open for other things later, if he needed them. It made me hopeful.
Mercedes took Tomas back out to the wedding reception. The three of us took a moment to hold each other, and kiss enough that I had to redo my lipstick in the small mirror on the wall. Then a cooler energy slid over my skin, and I watched the two of them shiver at the touch of it, too. It was finally dark enough for the vampires to join us.