“Flights are booked,” he said gently. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and the intimacy of the gesture made me feel like I was intruding. “We have an hour before we need to be at the airport. I told your parents we’d meet them there, and told mine I won’t be here for Thanksgiving.”
“Thank you,” replied Jade. Her lip trembled, and then she turned her head in my direction. “Will you be okay on Thanksgiving?”
I’d completely forgotten about that, despite mentioning it to my grandmother on the phone a little while earlier.
“Of course,” I replied, squeezing her hand. “You don’t have to worry about me. Worry about you, and I’ll see you when you get back.”
“I’m sorry.” Jade cried, and I battled tears of my own from seeing her like that.
“Don’t apologize. You have no control over things like this. I don’t want you to worry about me.” I gave her a small smile, hoping it would ease her somewhat.
Reid stood up, and helped Jade stand. “C’mon. Let’s get you packed, and showered before we have to leave for the airport.”
He walked her into her bedroom, and shut the door. I sagged back into the sofa, feeling deflated. I was going to be alone on Thanksgiving, and I didn’t blame Jade for that, but the thought wasn’t appealing at all.
JADE AND REID had left last night, and it was my first official day on break. I hadn’t seen Dane last night, and being alone in our apartment was a little scary. I called Lucy to ask her if I could collect my brother’s belongings, and she told me she had a spare key under the pot plant next to her front door. She was spending a few days with her children and her grandchildren, and I was relieved when she mentioned that my father and his wife had already left for their vacation.
I hired a U-Haul trailer, and after hooking it up to my Jeep, I drove the hour to Brighton, and loaded it full of what was left of my brother. I didn’t have the courage to open the boxes yet, but I had the U-Haul for a few more days before I put Charlie’s belongings in storage. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of anything. It felt like I was betraying him somehow, and I didn’t want to lose the things that were important to him. That, by default, made them important to me, whether it was a Simple Plan poster or an MVP trophy for one of his many sports. It mattered to him, so it mattered to me.
I found a box full of his old sweatshirts that still smelled like him, and decided I could handle taking this one box with me upstairs. The elevator was broken, and had been since before break, so I had to climb the stairs.
Fantastic.
I was going to look like a sweaty mess by the time I reached our floor.
I’d just reached the landing between the two stairwells it took to reach each floor, when my foot slipped. I fell backwards, sending the box into the air, and screamed as I rolled down the stairs to the floor below me. My ankle twisted, and I cried out in pain. My head hit the floor with a thud, but luckily I didn’t black out.
I tried to move my foot, but I sharp pain shot out through my leg, and my eyes grew wet from the intensity.
“Shit,” I muttered, using my arms to lift myself up into a seated position. Leaning against the wall, I searched frantically for my phone, and let out a string of curse words when I realized that I’d forgotten it in my Jeep.
I knew no one was around. The majority of the students had all left campus for break, and my chances of getting help now were minimal. But I had no choice.
By the time I heard the ground floor door open, it had been over an hour, and I’d had remove my shoe because my ankle was so swollen. It had started turning blue too, and the pain was excruciating. I held my breath, listening as the footsteps drew closer.
“Hello?” I called out.
“Kennedy?”
Dane’s head appeared, and I couldn’t hide how grateful I was to see him. He was making a habit of rescuing me.
“Jesus,” he climbed the stairs two at a time, and crouched next to me, “what the hell happened? Your ankle. Shit.”
“I fell,” – I hissed when he tried moving my ankle – “I think it’s broken.” I’d never broken a bone in my life, but it sure as hell hurt like I’d broken it.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Asked Dane. He made it sound as if calling him would have been the most obvious choice. “How long have you been waiting here?”
“My phone is in my car. I’ve been here for about an hour, but you’re the first person who’s come up or down the stairwell.”
“Can you stand on it?”
I shook my head. “No, I can barely move it without it hurting.”
“Okay, let’s get you up. I’ll take you to the hospital, but I don’t think it’s broken, which is good. The fact that you’ve been sitting here for so long hasn’t helped though.”
He lifted my legs from under my knees, and wrapped an arm around my back. He picked me up, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying out again.
Dane seemed to be on a mission, so I clung to him until he had me in his truck, and on the way to the hospital.
After a quick call, no doubt to someone who could pull some strings, a nurse took me for x-rays, and led us to a room where we waited for a doctor.
An elderly man stepped in, and smiled at Dane first.
“Mr. Winters.” He took Dane’s hand, and shook it. “I would say it’s nice to see you, but I’d hate to insult Ms. Monroe.” Warm, sympathetic brown eyes greeted me. “It looks like you’ve landed yourself in quite the pickle young lady. You’re very lucky though because your x-rays didn’t show any breaks, or fractures. But your ankle is quiet badly sprained.”
“She has two left feet, Doc,” said Dane. “It wasn’t her fault.”
I gaped at him, and he had the nerve to wink at me. The ass.
“I tripped,” I replied, looking at the doctor. His kind face, and greying hair reminded me of my grandfather.
Dane chuckled. “Exactly. Two left feet.”
He was being playful now, and I was having a hard time keeping up with changes in his demeanor.
“I’m going to have to elevate your foot, so that we can tape it. I want to put it in a moon boot for two weeks, just as a precaution to help keep your weight off the ankle.” The doctor – whose name I had yet to learn - moved my foot, and I clutched the bed to keep from letting out a string of curse words. Curse words seemed to be the only words in my vocabulary today. He started taping it, all the while firing off instructions on after-care.
“I want you to elevate it as soon as you get home,” he said. “And if you have to go anywhere, you wear the boot. When you shower, try not to get it too wet, and keep it rested as often as you can.”
I nodded, trying to remember it all. It was going to be difficult to stay off my foot for the next few days though. I didn’t have anyone at the apartment that could help me. Dane must’ve seen the worry on my face because he loosened my grip on the edge of the hospital bed, and held my hand. He was doing it again, making me feel like a yo-yo.
“Anything else, Doc?” That came from Dane.
“No, but I want you to keep an eye on it, and call me if the pain doesn’t subside in the next twenty four hours. Will you be helping Ms. Monroe at all?”