Kiss List (Book I of the List Series)

Chapter 8 - The Aftermath

A sudden burst of adrenaline hit me and I jumped into action. I ran to David and pulled one of his arms around my shoulders. He moaned. I clasped him around the waist and heaved as hard as I could. He finally managed to get to his feet, though his knees wobbled like they were going to cave in.

"We need to go!" I whispered urgently. David didn't respond verbally but he nodded his head in agreement. I stayed as low as I could without falling over and shuffled off through the crowd with David's arm around my neck. David half walked and half clung to me.

I wound through the hallways. Excited students were running around, shouting, and pressing against each other to get closer to the lunch room. No one noticed us as we quietly escaped. I finally got us away to the area by the west gym. There I led David down a flight of stairs leading to the locker rooms and physical therapy room. The physical therapist only came in after school hours when the sports were going on but my soccer coach had given me a key to the room so I could ice during my open period. I flicked on the lights and dragged David to one of the examination tables. His moaning grew louder as I rolled him onto the table but then subsided when I let go of him and he was able to curl up into a fetal position.

I rushed to the ice machine and pulled open the drawer. Luckily whoever had used it last had left it on and it was full of ice. I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it. Then I rushed back to David. "Here, you... you need to use this," I said in a shaky voice. "Aaron said you need to ice your... you know."

David just moaned in response and shook his head.

"Come on. Please," I said. "You need to. Please, for me. I need you to feel better."

I gently brushed the hair out of his eyes and rested an arm on his shoulder. I didn't know what else to do.

David kept his eyes clenched shut but finally he held out his hand. I sighed in relief and handed him the bag. He tried to slip it under his shorts but his belt was too tight.

"You need to take those off," I said. "I'm sorry, I'll look away."

"It's fine," David grunted. His voice was very strained. He slowly unbuckled his belt and pushed down his shorts, revealing a pair of black boxer briefs underneath. Then he took a deep breath and wedged the bag of ice between his legs. He suddenly gasped and his eyes shot open as a high-pitched little squeal escaped his lips. Then he moaned and rocked back and forth as he forced himself to endure the discomfort.

Seeing that he had things under control for the moment, I rushed over to the ice tub and began running cold water into it. Ice packs were good but I knew from personal experience that nothing could match an ice tub full of ice. I took the ice scooper and began shoveling the ice from the ice maker into the ice tub as it filled up. I continued until I had emptied all the ice into the ice tub. I put my hand in and it instantly went seized with a frozen-burning pain. It was the coldest ice bath I had ever made. Good. I wasn't taking any chances. Not with David's... "boys" as Aaron had put it.

I went back over to David. "Come on," I said. "Let's get you into the tub."

He opened one eye and to glance at the tub. Then he squeezed it shut and shook his head. "No," he said. "I'm feeling quite a bit better now."

I let out another sigh of relief. David's voice sounded almost normal and it seemed like his shyness and possibly even his sense of humor was returning. That was good, it meant the pain had subsided to the point that he could think clearly. Well, the ice bath would have him crying for his mommy for a while, but then he might even be back to normal.

"I know a big brave wrestler like you isn't afraid of an ice bath." I said. "Come on, let's go."

I pulled him off the table. He let out a little whimper but did as I said. He kicked off his shorts and hobbled over to the ice bath with my help. He looked nervously down into the water.