A Silver Summer

Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen 

Ryleigh carefully reached for the office door after making sure Anika wouldn't slip off and fall. In all honesty, he was surprised that she had even let him touch her never mind believe that he had no interest in continuing on with their battles. 

"Maybe you should put me down so it doesn't seem that bad." Anika whispered by his ear. 

"And risk you collapsing to the floor. I don't think so. Anyway, with you up there it wouldn't make sense if I pushed you and then helped you out." Ryleigh stepped through the door and kicked it shut with his foot. 

"Ryleigh how are the flower beds coming-" Gelsey broke off as she looked up from the papers on her desk. "What happened?" 

"I was pushed off the bridge." Anika grumbled, feeling the lighter mood Ryleigh surprised her with quickly fade away. 

"By who?" the two delinquents didn't miss Gelsey hesitantly shifting her gaze to Ryleigh. A small frown creased his forehead. 

"Victoria. We had this system going on. I would plant the flowers and he would go back and forth with the cart and place them everywhere. He left to go get more and I finished the spot I was planting them in and went to go look for him. That's when she and two other girls pushed me over the railing." Anika explained. "Oh, and she thought you were my boyfriend and I was playing hard to get." she chuckled. To Gelsey's surprise, Ryleigh smiled with her. 

"So you two have turned a new leaf over?" 

"I guess so. It takes too much energy to come up with pranks." Anika sighed and unconsciously rested her chin on Ryleigh's shoulder, surprising them both. 

"Well that's good." Gelsey smiled proudly. 

"But what's not so good is the fact that she can't walk." Ryleigh spoke up. 

"I can walk," Anika caught Ryleigh's doubtful look and added quietly, hating the feeling of being helpless, "Just in a lot of pain." 

"You can't walk? How far did you fall?"

"You know the bridge on the way to the fields. Where the stream is less than a foot deep. There." Ryleigh explained with a certain anger in his voice that confused Anika. 

"Okay, thank you Ryleigh for bringing her here. The infirmary is down the hall on your left. I'll be back." Gelsey said with a frown as she grabbed her key ring and left the office. 

Ryleigh followed her directions and walked into a white walled and disinfectant smelling room.  

"I heard what happened. Just set her down on that bed right there." an older women said as she pulled the first aid kit out of the cabinet. Ryleigh slowly backed up against the bed in the corner of the small room and gently lowered Anika down. 

"Thanks Rye." Anika shivered at the loss of his warm back against her front. 

"Rye?" Ryleigh raised a brow at her and took a seat close by the bed. 

Anika shrugged. "It just kind of came out. Plus I think I've only called you Ryleigh when I'm annoyed at you... among other things."

"Good to know. Does this mean I can call you... Anne, no, Nick. Yeah, Nick fits well."

"That's a boy name." Anika crinkled her nose at his nickname for her. 

"Not my fault you said you were more manlier than me." Ryleigh raised his hands in a shrugging manner.

The nurse turned around with a square of gauze in one hand. She shook her head at the two teens but smiled nonetheless. Anika turned around on the bed so she could take her soaked tank top off. She didn't mind Ryleigh seeing her in her bikini top. A new sense of trust was forming between them and she hoped they would become closer. For some reason, Anika could see herself eventually telling Ryleigh things she had never intended to tell anybody.