Hidden Trauma

Chapter 7

Kate

"KATEEE!" I hear a brief pause. Am I dreaming?

KATEEE!" aaaaand I'm awake. Oh no, did someone break into our apartment?!

Sprinting to Rose's room with my bat in hand, I open her door.

"I've got a bat and I'm not afraid to use it!" I quickly scan the room looking for any indication of an intruder only to find Rose sitting on the floor. Well, that's a relief. I drop the bat and rush to her side.

"Kate... what were you doing with a bat? You can't swing to save your life. You have better luck hitting yourself than hitting the person breaking in.

"Oh hush!" I roll my eyes. "What happened?"

"My leg, I can't move it. I tried getting up and I kinda just fell."

I look at her tear stained face and it's a dead give away that she is in a lot of pain. Rose has a fairly high pain tolerance and she doesn't like to cry in front of other people. Especially me.

I gently took Rose's leg into my hand and unwrapped the bandage. One look at her leg and I could see that it had gotten considerably more swollen with black and purple patches scattered in a rather unnatural pattern, with dried blood smeared across her knee.

"Ok." Don't faint. Don't faint.

I clear my throat. "Rose, this doesn't look too good. I think we should go see a doctor and find out if your knee is ok."

"Kate! My knee has to be ok! My ballet recital is in a few weeks and I've been working so hard!" The tears begin to pool in her eyes and I take her face into my hands.

"Rose, you are going to be fine, I promise. The recital is still weeks away so you have plenty of time to get your knee healed. You'll be as good as new in no time!"

"I guess you're right."

"Alright, let's get you up and dressed." I say hooking my arms under her underarms.

Considering the fact that I woke up less than ten minutes ago, I still have morning jello arms. I can barely squeeze my toothpaste in the morning to brush my teeth much less pick up a 70 pound little girl, but I muster all the strength I can find to pull Rose up off the floor.

I get her dressed in her favorite yellow sweatshirt and leave her sitting on her bed with her leg elevated while I go to my own room to get ready.

Oh shit. I almost forgot. I have to call Andrew and tell him I'm going to be late to work. I walk swiftly to my nightside table and unplug my phone from the charger. After finding his number I press the call icon and wait.

"Hello?" I hear his deep, raspy morning voice say into my ear. Dang his voice is so hot, has it always been like this?

"Helloooo?" He repeats.

"Oh sorry, it's Kate. I was just calling to let you know that I'm going to be a little late to work this morning."

"Oh really?" He says and I can feel his smirk through the phone. "So you are actually going to be here on time today?"

"Ha, Ha. Very funny. I might be a little longer. Rose woke up this morning in a lot of pain. I'm taking her to the doctor to get her leg checked out. It's not looking too good."

"Shit, is she ok?"

"Yeah she's fine, her leg is just really bothering her."

"Ok, I'm going to pick you guys up. I'll be there in five minutes."