See you Tomorrow

The Foot

"Honey, are you okay? Oh my goodness, what happened?" Mom ran to me and helped me up the stairs. Corey had dropped the bikes by the garage and had carried me all the way to the house. He gently put me down, letting Mom care for me while he put the bikes away. A tear rolled off my cheek.
"Corey was riding on the wrong side of the road. . . and this guy came. . . . I couldn't let Cor get hurt, Ma."
Her brows furrowed. "Oh honey. That was brave. I'm proud of you. Now, let's get some ice on this foot." She went into the kitchen and came out with a plastic bag of ice and a wash clothe. She sat down next to me and put the wash clothed ice bag on my foot. . . .
"Ooh!" I flinched. Just the weight of the ice bag hurt!
"You okay?"
"It hurts!"
"Well, you need ice to stop the swelling, honey."
I bit my tongue. "Okay." I was tearing up. I tried making jokes, even though I'm not very funny. Telling jokes and making people laugh helped take my mind off the pain. Finally, Corey came in. He saw me in tears and rushed toward me.
"Anna. . . ." Oh great. He had pain in his eyes. He thought he was responsible for this.
"Okay, sweetie. I'm going to have to see if it's broken. And mister Jarvis told me that it's going to hurt. . . ." Mom said.
I put my hands around the chair I was in and braced myself. "Okay." I turned Corey. "Cor, it's not your fault. I'll be FINE!" I shouted the last word because Mom was pushing her thumbs into the swollen bump, all the way to the bone. I clenched my jaw and gripped the chair as hard as I could. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the stinging tears from escaping. It hurt SO MUCH! When she was done, she looked relieved.
"Well, I didn't feel anything. So it's not broken. . . ."
What a relief! I did NOT want to walk around with a giant cast on summer! "Good. Can you sprain your foot?"
"It's possible. Can you move your toes?"
I wiggled them. "Yeah." The pinkie God hurt to wiggle.
"Okay. So, just get some rest, elevate it, and put some ice on it. Okay?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Corey, could you help me help her to the couch?"
"Sure thing, misses Lakso." He wrapped an arm around my waist, as did my mom. They lead me to the couch, practically carrying me. I sat down and put my leg up on the arm of the couch. My head was at an awkward position on the couch, so Corey gently lifted it up, sat down, then let my head fall back on his lap. I looked up at him.
"You're so sweet."
He smiled, still feeling guilty. "I'm just doing what any good boyfriend would do. . . ."
I lifted my hands and touched his cheeks. "It's okay. I'm gonna be fine."