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“Any pain now?”
Casey shook her head and Amira continued.
“The psychologist, you were intimate with her?”
Casey nodded again. Amira was very perceptive.
Amira screwed up her face. “Unprofessional of her. How old were you?”
“Yeah, I know. Very unprofessional of her. I was 22. But, obviously I wasn’t complaining. She was beautiful, smart, older, fascinating, submissive. She taught me a lot in so many ways. And then she broke my heart.” Casey laughed awkwardly. “Anyway. She doesn’t matter anymore. She may have brought me to this point, she may have awoken certain things in me and shown me another world, but things were over between us such a long time ago now. I’ve fought the rest of the way by myself.”
Amira returned Casey’s leg gently to the table top. She looked intensely at Casey.
“And, what a woman you’ve become. You should be so proud of everything you have achieved, Casey, as a doctor and as a woman. You athlete’s drive and determination has brought you a long way.”
Casey swung her legs around so she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Amira was studying Casey’s MRI scans and her X rays.
“So, Dr. Alvarez, what’s the verdict?”
It was a minute before Amira answered, but when she did, it was professional and extensive. “I want to put you in intensive physio. I think you have a lot of scar tissue that has built up over the years that is limiting your movement, which I think we can help with. I also think we can put together a rehab programme in the gym and strengthen everything around the knee which I think can really change things for you. I’m scheduling you in with Maria and Harmony to work with you. I know they both have spaces on Thursday mornings, so let’s get them working on you. You’ll be a new woman in 6 weeks.”
“You are beautiful when you are all Doctor-y. You know that, right?”
Amira blushed.
“How did you end up specialising in sport?” Casey asked the question she had always wondered. A lot of the professionals in women’s sport were sporty like herself, but Amira looked like she had never set foot in a gym for any reason other than work. Amira was effortlessly glamorous and feminine in a completely un-sporty way.
Amira laughed. “Why? Because I look like the least sporty woman you’ve ever seen?”
Casey nodded. “Basically, yes!”
“Well, I loved orthopedics when I first started my training, I found it fascinating so that was my first specialty, I was an ortho surgeon. But, in time, it wasn’t enough. Ortho surgeons patch up the war zones, they are the immediate fix in trauma cases, but I wanted something more long term. I wanted to work with patients long term and see progress and make real change. Of course, the average person with an injury just wants patching up by an ortho surgeon so they can get back to their life. They want a quick fix, they aren’t interested in the work needed by both patient and specialists to completely rehab the injury. Athletes are entirely different. So, I studied under Dr. Ramirez, who I’m sure you have heard of. I knew he was the best sports specialist in the state and most likely in the whole of the US. As soon as I had had a taste of working with athletes, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I loved and still do love the challenge of working to fix someone to a level that they can perform again on the national or international stage. For me, the area which is under researched and under funded is female athletes. For so many years, female athletes have just been treated as ‘small men’. All the research is done on male bodies. Men have always been the priority, so I became passionate about changing that. I worked with the WNBA on studying the difference in injury prevalence in female athletes and I worked with the sports scientists to develop female targeted strength and conditioning programmes. It honestly has shocked me in my career how many medical professionals are so unaware of the differences. We must be more aware of the differences, so that we can treat athletes equally. So, an opportunity to work here on a specialist female athlete unit, was such a gift for me.”
Casey looked at the woman before her. Incredible as a doctor. Incredible as a woman. “You are incredible, you know.”
“Stop it.” Amira blushed again.
“You are such an inspiration, honestly. I read your research papers, I’ve learnt so much already from working with you. I’ve always worked on female athletes. I think in general female athletes overthink more and question things more than male athletes, but I really haven’t worked with men since university. I also think male athletes, particularly high level ones, live in a world of fame and wealth that isn’t applicable to most female athletes.”
“Yes, very true.” Amira nodded. “Coaches always say that too. It is different coaching women. The cutting edge research now is into how to best coach women in team sport environment. Because, there is also the lesbian aspect to consider.”
“The lesbian aspect?” Casey looked up questioningly.
“Well, within men’s team sports, there is a very low occurrence of intimate relationships between the players. (Those that we know of anyway, it is entirely likely there are a lot of male athletes that choose not to come out.) Within women’s team sports there is a very high occurrence of intimate relationships between the players. Both players on the same team and players on opposing teams. This brings a dynamic into the team that just isn’t seen in mens teams. A team of women could have a number of couples within it and also a number of exes.”
Casey nodded in understanding. “This is so interesting. You know, I’ve always known this obviously. It was exactly like this when I was in football. I just never thought of the comparison to men’s team sports. There is indeed so much more to manage within a women’s team than there is in men’s. How did you get into looking at this?”
“Coaches in the WNBA. I had no idea beforehand.”
“You know, I always felt lucky. Coming out as gay as a female athlete was really no big deal. Plenty of my teammates were openly lesbian, bi or queer in some way. I can only imagine how hard it must be for gay male athletes.”
Amira nodded and Casey continued. “Are you out?” she looked at Amira realizing it was something they had never discussed.
“Well, I guess it depends how you defineout.” Amira responded. “I never hide or lie about my sexuality. But, as a femme, I am often presumed straight. I’m sure you never have that problem looking like you do.”
Amira’s eyes ran over Casey’s body lustily and she blushed again.
