“Wait, Jude,” I said, attempting to get up, but it was hard to get my leg off the stool.
“I’ll see you later, Forest,” he said, turning around and leaving.
What the hell just happened? That’s when I realized what name he called the man. He was Theo’s new ranch hand.
“Fuck, so you’re Forest,” I sighed.
“Yeah, and you're the best friend.” He glanced over his shoulder before looking back at me. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again after that night.”
“Same, it seems fate had other plans for us,” I said, waving down Mindy ready for another shot.
“Fucked up plans.” He shook his head, walking away from me.
This was not how I had imagined my night going.
Going to PT hungover was not how I had imagined my day unfolding. I was an idiot who thought I could keep drinking like I was still in my twenties. I still felt like garbage, and it was almost evening. My impulsiveness was kicking my ass.
I needed to eat and sleep off this nasty feeling. It didn’t help that my physical therapist was pissed at me, putting me through hell as punishment for drinking. My entire body hurt, getting off the couch sounded awful, but I needed to eat and sleep, maybe even call Jude.
Lifting my leg off the table, I set it on the floor. I pushed myself up with the table and when I stood up, I lost my balance. I was falling forward and before I could hurt myself more, I turned to fall on my good side. The ricochet of the fall made my knee hurt and I shouted out in pain.
“Fuck!”
I knew I hadn’t hit it against anything, but with PT today and my injury, my knee still hurt. Rolling onto my back, I took a moment to let my leg chill out before I tried to get up. Thankfully, I didn’t fall on the coffee table. I didn’t need to explain to Michelle that I fell on her table and now I needed to buy her a new one.
Maybe I could just take a nap here on the floor. I was nauseated, tired and moving felt like climbing Mount Everest. This floor was already hurting my back, I needed to get my ass up. I tried to sit up, everything ached as I did and when I finally sat up I realized I didn’t know if I could get up. My knee couldn’tbend, my body hurt and not working out regularly had made me a bit soft.
Twenty minutes later, I was sweaty, more out of breath than I should have been, and I still couldn’t get up. My arms ached, my stomach was in knots along with the throbbing pain in my knee. I felt like a fucking failure. This was embarrassing, but I needed some help to get up.
I grabbed my phone out of my front pocket, dialing the one person that wasn’t mad at me. The phone rang a couple of times before she answered.
“Hey, I’ve been thinking about you,” Nova said.
“Well, it might be because I’ve fallen and I need help getting up,” I sighed.
“Shit, are you ok? Did you hurt your knee?”
“I’m ok and no, my knee is fine,” I said laying back down. “Do you think you could swing by and help me?”
“Webber, there is no way in hell I’m gonna be able to lift you up, sweetheart,” Nova said. “Maybe you should call Jude.”
“I can’t,” I said, my voice cracking.
“Webber, you guys need to eventually see each other,” she sighed. “You’re best friends and?—”
“I saw him last night.” I ran my hand over my face as my eyes stung. “It wasn’t a good meeting. I honestly don't know what the hell happened. One minute I thought we were going to be fine and then it all went to shit.”
“Damn, Webber, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “The guys are in Malone right now so I can’t even call them.”
“Fuck.”
“Oh! Forest is still here!” She yelled. “Oh, he can help us and he is the —”
“No,” I snapped, flinching at the forceful way I said it. “Sorry, but not Forest.”
“Why not?”
“Just not him, please,” I pleaded.
