Treadmill Read Online Free PDF

exhibited. Cooper decided to be indifferent to him, concentrating with renewed vigor on his workout, pushing himself to a level he might not have been ready for.
    The Doctor was there, with trusty Blake by his side. Only the blonde with the ponytail seemed to notice Cooper’s increased burst in activity. Cooper noticed that she was looking at him with more interest than ever before, and unlike previously, he did not acknowledge her whatsoever.
    A muffled grunt from Parrish shattered their concentration. He had punctured a finger from a sharp object imbedded in the rubber handle of the bicep machine. Parrish sucked the wound and Blake came over and looked at it.
    “I’ve got a first aid kit in my office,” he told Parrish, who followed him into the office. As an afterthought Blake turned toward Cooper.
    “Hold up on that machine ‘til I take care of it.”
    Cooper nodded. Parrish was out in a few minutes with a Band-Aid wrapped around the index finger of his left hand.
    “No big deal,” Blake said. He came out with a pair of pliers and pulled out the sharp object. “How the fuck did this get here?” He turned to Cooper. “Okay. It’s safe now.”
    Cooper began to work his sets on the machine. Parrish did his, and said nothing.
    “You okay?” Cooper called over.
    Parrish barely acknowledging the question. Cooper was immediately sorry he had asked it.
    Cooper contemplated waiting to go into the sauna until after Parrish had left, but became fearful that another break in his routine would add to his stress. He was determined to reunite himself with the present and avoid any temptations that would risk his peace of mind intact.
    In the sauna, Cooper found Parrish sprawled on the top bench. He felt himself becoming resentful of Parrish. Why had he become so involved? Clearly, the man was incapable of any kind of a civilized relationship, no matter how fleeting. Cooper speculated that Parrish’s pillar to post upbringing had obviously left him scarred, unable to muster the insight and ability to relate to people. He thought of Margo, her insensitivity, her cruelty. The pain of it all, which he had held at bay thus far, seemed to be striving to break through.
    Couldn’t Parrish see how badly he was treating Cooper? Had Cooper told him that he had lost sleep over their conversations, Parrish would undoubtedly find that incomprehensible. Even Cooper had found it incomprehensible. Why had this man taken such a hold on his imagination? Parrish was dominating his thoughts. It was becoming an obsession.
    “You look a little piqued, brother,” Parrish suddenly said, turning to face him dead on, something he had never done before. His intense stare intimidated Cooper, and he looked away. It was the first time that Parrish had expressed any interest or concern for Cooper.
    “I’m okay,” Cooper muttered, determined to remain disinterested. He was pouting, no doubt about that. It had been Margo’s frequent ploy during their relationship and he hated it.
    “You can survive anything if you put your mind to it,” Parrish said.
    Cooper shrugged.
    “I helped Granny with her Alzheimer’s when I was thirteen years old,” Parrish said, picking up his narrative exactly where he had left off. “Gramps had already bought the farm. Then Granny died, and I was on my own. I arranged for the house and its contents to be sold, put together a stake, and headed back to Philadelphia.”
    “Why?”
    “I got it into my head to find the woman who had stolen me. I wanted to know who I was.”
    “And did you find out?”
    “Nope. She was so far off the deep end that she couldn’t remember anything.” He suddenly looked down at his dog tag and picked it off his chest. “When I find out, I’ll put it on this. So far I’m just blank piece of sterling silver,” he said.
    “So she took your identity too,” Cooper said. It was a fact that had troubled him from the beginning. Parrish was in limbo. He would always be in limbo.
    Suddenly