Ryn called out, “I’m going to get out of these clothes.”
My dick jumped and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from doing what I wanted to do.
Filling up the glass container, I poured it into the coffee maker. Four cups should be plenty. Hearing a loud crash, I turned and ran toward the sound.
Ryn was sitting at the bottom of the stairs holding her ankle. “Ryn! What happened?”
Running to her, I dropped to my knees. Ryn’s ankle was swelling already. Looking up, my heart dropped and I wanted to hit something. Ryn was crying. “I think . . . I broke it.”
Lifting her up, I carried her to the couch. Ryn’s cries echoed through my brain as I gently placed her down. “Baby, let me go get some ice.”
Slowly nodding her head, she whispered, “Okay.” I turned and headed into the kitchen. Finding a hand towel, I took some ice cubes out of the freezer and wrapped the towel around them. I quickly unplugged the coffee pot and headed back to the living room. Setting the ice down on her ankle, Ryn whimpered. “Oh God. Tristan, it hurts so bad.”
“Shit, Ryn. I think we need to go to the ER.”
Leaning her head back, she moaned. “Double damn it! I never was a good drunk!”
Stifling my laughter, I reached down and scooped her up into my arms and headed back out to my truck. “Tristan, it hurts so bad.” Ryn buried her face into my shoulder and cried. I hated that she was in pain. I’d give anything to take it away.
Opening the passenger side door, I gently placed her down in the seat of my truck. “Baby, please don’t cry. Please, please, don’t cry.”
“Hurts so bad.” Ryn whimpered. Leaning down, I kissed her forehead then wiped her tears away.
“I’m going to fix it, baby.”
Grabbing onto my shirt, Ryn looked into my eyes. “Tristan, please don’t leave me.”
Swallowing hard, I whispered, “Never, Ryn. Never.”
The nurse was pushing Ryn out of the hospital in a wheelchair as I pushed off my truck and walked over to them. “She’s more than ready to leave. I’m afraid she is a bit loopy from the pain pills and the alcohol that was in her system. She can’t be left alone tonight.”
Nodding my head, I leaned down and picked up Ryn. She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered against my chest. “It hurts, Tristan. I’m such a baby.”
Laughing, I said, “No, baby. You have a grade-two sprained ankle and a zero pain tolerance.”
Ryn started crying. “I know. I’m never drinking again!”
The nurse opened the door to my truck and waited as I put Ryn in. I buckled her in and looked into her eyes. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Ryn stared at me with a dazed look. “Why are you sorry, Tristan? You weren’t the one who got drunk.”
Hunching my shoulders, I said, “I’m pretty sure I’m the reason you got drunk though.”
Glancing back up, Ryn was staring at me. Tears began to fill her eyes as she started chewing on her bottom lip. “Yeah. Yeah you were.”
The nurse behind me giggled.
The ache in my chest grew more as I stared into her eyes. “I promise to make it up to you, baby.” Giving Ryn a small smile, I kissed her quickly on the lips, stepped away and shut the door.
“You understood all the discharge instructions?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure she follows through with all of it.”
Giving me a wink, she said, “Good luck. We all got an earful about you from Ryn.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned and headed to the driver’s side of my truck. My heart was breaking for Ryn, but at the same time, I was overjoyed that I would get to take care of her for a few days and there was nothing she could do about it. If there was one thing I knew about Ryn, she didn’t do well with pain. Any kind of pain.
I had hardly slept at all last night. After getting back to my house, I carried Ryn to the master bedroom that was downstairs. I stripped her of her clothes and put one of my T-shirts on her. Tucking her in, I made my way back to the living room to sleep on one of the sofas.
I heard something fall in the kitchen. Then I heard, “Shit,” coming from Ryn, and quickly sat up. Reaching for my shirt, I slipped it over my head and walked toward the kitchen. Ryn was attempting to make breakfast. When she turned and saw me, I had to suck in a breath. Tears were rolling down her face.
I quickly walked up to her and placed my hands on the sides of her face. “Ryn, did you hurt yourself?”
She slowly shook her head. “No.”