"Just bring the bottle," he pleaded. "Please. I can't sleep. I can't think."
"I can't give you more oxy, Ryder. You've hit the daily max. If I give you more, I risk respiratory depression. Especially with your lung history."
"I don't care about my lungs! I care about my leg being sawed off with a rusty knife!"
"Ryder, listen to me. Deep breath."
"Don't tell me to breathe!" he shouted. He slammed his hand against the dresser. The empty bottle rattled. "I need help, Elena! Isn't that your job? Or are you enjoying this? Is this payback for leaving?"
The line went silent.
Ryder stood there, panting, gripping the phone. He heard his own words echoing in the room. Cruel. Unfair. The words of an addict.
"I'm coming over," she said quietly.
"Bring the pills," he demanded.
"No pills," she said. "But I'm coming."
Click.
Ryder dropped the phone. He sank onto the edge of the bed, burying his face in his hands. He was shaking.
He hated the pain. But more than that, he hated that she was right. He had pushed the pain away for six years with adrenaline and eight-second rides. Now that he was still, the bill was due.
Thirty minutes later, headlights swept across the ceiling.
The front door opened. Soft footsteps in the hall.
Elena appeared in the doorway.
She was wearing sweatpants and a heavy wool sweater. Her hair was loose, falling around her shoulders in dark waves. She wasn't carrying her medical bag. She was carrying a jar of something that looked like green salve.
She didn't look angry. She looked... resigned.
She walked to the bed. Ryder couldn't look at her. He stared at his cast.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "About what I said."
"I know," she said. "Pain makes people say stupid things."
She set the jar on the nightstand. It smelled of peppermint, arnica, and eucalyptus.
"Lay back," she ordered.
"Did you bring the oxy?"
"No."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I'm going to release the muscle manually," she said. "The spasm is caused by the trauma to the fascia. Chemicals mask it. Pressure fixes it."
She rolled up her sleeves.
"Lie back, Ryder. Or I leave."
Ryder lay back.
