Capricorn Christmas

Black Beauty

The doctor was sitting on a low stool at the end of the hospital bed. I was propped up on both elbows so I could watch as she survey my foot and ankle. I was worried that she was judging my cracked heals. Seriously I've always had the worst feet. Not having socks in in front of this lady might have been worse than breaking my ankle in the first place. She touched the bottom, the sides and the top of my foot before I realized I was holding my breath.

She looked at the X-ray and pointed, "See here." I squinted like I was trying to look at one of those magic eye pictures with the hidden pictures but I couldn't quite see what she was getting at. "Broken," she said before turning into the cabinet to pull out the casting supplies. I wanted to say "No shit Sherlock," but I decided to keep it to myself.

The actual casting was shorter than the waiting room. When she was finished she stepped back to admire her work, "Good work," she said praising herself, "you'll be back in six weeks then." She had barely said a word the entire time so I wasn't even sure if we were done, "So I'm all good then?" I held on to the last word to make sure she knew I was asking. "No not good, broken ankle." At this she promptly walked out.

It was four in the morning by the time I got home and the house was fast asleep. I didn't have the energy to explain anything so went straight to bed. It wasn't until at least eleven the next morning that I heard any noise at all from my roommates. Dishes, murmurs, footsteps in the hall. I was lying flat on my back with a pillow under my foot. The cast seemed to have gotten heavier overnight. My ankle throbbed inside and I was struggling to get a second eye open.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but I was able to swing my legs off the side of my bed and reach my crutches. Opening my bedroom door, I noticed a deliberate hushing of my roommates from the kitchen and wondered what they were talking about. "We didn't think you made it home," Amy yelled from the kitchen. Her tone made me question if her question was genuine or joking. Was she mad? "Where'd you guys go anyway?"

She was mad. She thought we'd ditched her. I didn't say anything. Five more feet and she'd see for herself. "What the actual fu...," Amy's mouth hung open on the last vowel as she watched me crutch to a stool at the island.  For some reason I felt a bit smug and shrugged it off, "Oh ya this old thing.  I broke my ankle last night. Total gong show!"  I smiled even though I could feel my pulse in my ankle. 

"I didn't get home until like 4 am so I might end up going back to bed.  I kinda just need some water and some Advil."
"Where's Les?" Amy asked. "We actually thought you guys ditched us," she added sheepishly.
"Well the ER was pretty rocking, so I mean it was basically a party." It was then I remember my witchy woman friend who knew I was a Capricorn... guessed I was a Capricorn. 

"Oh ya Les, I think he just went home." I popped an aspirin and took a swig of water.   "So you broke it ... when?" My other roommate Amanda was trying to put the timeline together.  "After Les barfed, right after I came back in for our coats.  We cabbed it to the hospital and I hopped out and he went home." The casualness in my voice made them shake their heads.  "That's crazy! You didn't want him to stay?" She was incredulous in her questioning.  "For what? I got what I needed and he was drunk and don't forget we needed to go in the first place because he barfed."

This seemed to satisfy Amy and Amanda.  "Head back to bed if you want," Amanda urged, "we'll be quiet."  "Ya, I don't know if I'll sleep, but it hurts too much to have my leg hanging down like this right now. Cheers to this Advil kicking in sooner than later." I hoisted my glass in a mock toast and drank the last sip.  As I was adjusting my crutches under my arms to crutch back to my room Andrea asked, "Did you get to pick the colour of your cast?" I looked down at it admiringly, "Ya I did.  I'm gonna name her Black Beauty." And with that I hobbled back to my room filled with the glow of sympathy and concern from my roommates and the knowledge that my black cast would match all my outfits.