Lord, You’re right. I’m sorry for throwing myself a pity party. Idohave a lot to be thankful for. Thank You for all those things I begrudgingly thought of at first. I can see the true blessing of each and every one. You took away my loneliness by bringing Erykah and her nieces into my life. And now You’re with me and have ensured I’m not going through this by myself.
Tuck and Lamont continued to text and check on him. Even Piper and Nevaeh had sent him care packages. Nevaeh sent an ice pack made specifically for legs, along with an elevation pillow. Piper had sent a lavender candle to soothe his nerves. Of course the guys threw in gag gifts. Tuck had sent anOh snapgingerbread shirt while Lamont had gifted a shirt that had an image of a man kicking a bear with the wordsI was fighting a bear.
All the gifts had moved him in some way. The biggest blessing of all was Lamont paying for his hospital bill. You know, the part the insurancewouldn’tpay. He’d tried to offer to pay his friend back, but Lamont had been adamant about not wanting Chris’s money. Apparently he’d done the same thing when Tuck had broken a shoulder earlier last year.
You have much to be thankful for, Gamble. Get out of this bed and walk around. The doctor wants you to do so a little each day anyway.
If he didn’t use both of his legs, the possibility of atrophying and losing muscle mass increased. Apparently that would only delay healing.
“Charlie, want to go outside?”
The dog barked, his ears moving forward.
“Let’s go, boy.”
The little dog jumped off the bed and ran to the doorway, turning back to watch Chris reach for his crutches and maneuver them under his arms. He stood, then hobbled after the dog, who moved quickly through the living room to the kitchen area and sat by the back door.
Chris twisted the lock, and the dog ran outside, barking at the sunshine. Charlie rolled around in the grass that had just been cleared of snow, thanks to the abundant sunshine and slightly warmer temps. Would he find the first mud patch?
Chris waited out there until the pain begged him to head back inside. He whistled for Charlie, and the dog came trotting toward the house.
“Wipe your paws.” A quick peek told him the dog had stayed out of any mud patches.Good.If he could avoid the extra work of bathing a dog, Chris would.
Charlie did as asked, then ran inside, straight to his doggy bowl, lapping up water. Chris grabbed a tube of crackers, holding the bag in between his teeth, then crutched his way to the living room. By the time he got his leg situated just right on the couch and YouTube running Michael Jordan highlight reels, his phone rang.
Momflashed on the caller ID.
Since his accident, Chris’s mom had called every day to check on him. In the early days following the surgery, he hadn’t been surprised. After all, breaking a bone and getting screws inserted was considered major surgery. That phrase probably concerned her on some level, but then she kept calling. She’d even started texting Erykah. For the first time in ...ever, his mom appeared to be interested in what was happening to him.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, son, how are you feeling?”
Sad. Morose. Discouraged. “Fine.”
“Areyou in a lot of pain?”
How was he supposed to answer that? There was a constant ache that had failed to go away. When it rained a couple of days ago, he’d wanted to curl into the fetal position. He didn’t want to take narcotics any longer than necessary, so he was left with your basic OTC pain reliever. But he could watch TV without lamenting the pain so...
“No.” But he was counting down the two hours left until his next round of pain meds.
“Have you started rehab?”
“Not until next week, like I told youyesterday.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.Didn’t that sound curt?“Mom, what’s going on? Areyouokay?”
“I’m not the one with the broken leg.”
“But you’re the one who visited me for Thanksgiving and have called consistently for the past couple of weeks.” He paused, his brain trying to make sense of it all. Every time she called, he was floored, then he tried to figure out why. Experience told him she didn’t care about the intricacies of his life. Her part ended when he’d turned eighteen.
His gaze narrowed. “Are you sick? Are you ...dying?”
“What! No. Why on earth would you think that?”
“Tell me when’s the last time we talked so much before I got injured?”
Silence greeted his ears.Exactly.She couldn’t tell him when they last communicated so much because thatneverhappened. Not when he went off to college. Not when he’d gotten a job out of state. Not when he returned to Colorado. With every major event in his life, his mom had given him radio silence unless it was his birthday or a major holiday.
“Chris...” She sighed. “I’m trying to do better.Bebetter.”
