“You’ll get delirious but trust me, you’ll need it. You guys were gonna have a movie marathon, right?” Sean turned on the tv while I grabbed the bag of snacks.
“Can we start with that one?” I pointed to my favorite cartoon movie as he scrolled through options.“I need cheering up. This has not been a good day.”
“Sure. I’ve never seen it.” He selected the movie and sat beside Ari on the floor.
“I have, but not since I was little.” Mateo was seated on the other couch without having walked back in.
I decided the popping up wasn’t worth complaining about and snuggled against the couch.“Try not to worry so much. I’ll be fine.” I placed a hand atop Ari’s head. She nodded but I could tell my words hadn’t helped much. We were a few minutes into the movie whenDennisstrode inside. I waved as he shut the door.
“You look happy.”
“I think her medicine’s kicking in,” Sean said.
“Already?”Denniswatched me as Sean nodded.“That’s good. It’ll make things easier.”
“Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Better than hard pard lemon shard,” I said. Ari giggled as I patted her hair.“Your head is soft.”
“Thank you?” She smiled up at me.“What’d you get from the store, Dennis?”
“Some bandages and stuff.” The bag rustled as he began pulling things out.“And this.”
“Ice cream!” I nearly died of happiness when he held up the same kind the ground had stolen.
“Just for you.” He smiled.“But you can’t have it yet. Not until we bandage your ankle.” He stashed it in the freezer and grabbed the other supplies before coming to my side.
“Do you know how to bandage this kind of injury properly?” Ari asked.
“Yeah, do you know how to do the thing?I think we should leave it. I’ll survive. It barely hurts anymore.”
“Because you’re drugged,” he said. “We still have to clean and bandage it. And I know how because my mom was a doctor. I’ve seen her do this kind of thing a million times.”
I prodded at the pile of gauze, three bandage wraps, and two metal contraptions Dennis had set down. This did not seem fun.
“Are yousureyou know what you’re doing?” Ari was eyeing the supplies, too.
Dennis nodded and waved for her and Sean to move. They moved to the other couch on either side of Mateo while Dennis sat on the table facingme.
“Can someone grab me a towel?” He carefully pulled the ice pack off my ankle, which was swollen to twice its normal size.
“Here you go.”Mateoappeared with one.
“Thanks.” Dennis set it aside. “I’m gonna push your bone in before I clean and bandage this. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it needs to be somewhat positioned before it heals tomorrow.”
“You’re not gonna wanna see this,” Sean warned Ari. She started to protest but reluctantly agreed at the sight of my bone peeking through.“I’ll give you a tour of the condo while they’re doing that.”
“Can you put these in the guest bathroom while you’re there?” Dennis tossed Sean the collection of supplies as he passed.
“Good luck.” Ari gave me a sympathetic smile before following.
“I don’t like this plan.” I tensed when Dennis placed my injured leg in his lap.
“You don’t trust me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Probably?”
“Good enough. Put this in your mouth.” He gave me the towel.“We don’t need neighbors calling the police.”
I did as I was told, even though I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to help. He lightly pressed my ankle and I bit down on the towel, which barely muffled my cries. My eyes squeezed shut to curb the nausea.
