before he cheats | a.cole

forty one

I wake up early in the morning despite being up until five in the morning. It's nine now. I've only been asleep for about four hours. I sit up and I feel a dull ache in my leg as I move. I look to my left and see Marina still asleep.

My stomach growls lightly, signaling that I am hungry. That's when I realize that I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I get up slowly, careful not to wake Marina. My brace squeaks a bit as I move. I limp over to my crutches, grabbing them and walking out of the room, using them to help me walk.

I get into the kitchen and make toast. I reach for the peanut butter, using my one good leg to get on my tiptoes. My crutches rest against the counter. I lose my balance and fall onto the tile floor. I cry out in pain as I land on my back. My leg hits my crutches and those make a loud crashing noise.

"Angelina?" I hear from my bedroom. I slowly begin to sit up as I hear Marina walk down the hallway. She crouches next to me.

Marina asks, "What happened? Are you okay?"

I nod and say, "Yeah, I'm good. Just help me up, please."

Marina stands in front of me and she holds her hands out for me. I take them, bringing my one good leg up. I use the good leg to get up, trying not to put pressure on my injured leg. I lean against the counter as Marina grabs my crutches. I sigh softly.

She hands them to me and asks, "What were you trying to reach?"

"The peanut butter," I say, rubbing my back. Marina reaches up and grabs it, handing the jar to me. I take it from her.

Marina looks at the running toaster and she says, "You're making toast, why do you need the peanut butter?"

I say, "I put peanut butter on my toast. It's really good."

The toast pops up and I put it on the plate that I grabbed before I fell. I grab a knife and I spread peanut butter on the two pieces of toast I made.

She says, "I'll have to try it. Can I make some toast?"

I nod and finish putting the peanut butter on. I hop on my good leg to the coffee machine and I ask, "Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure," she says.

I begin to make the coffee as Marina puts bread in the toaster. I grab coffee mugs from the cabinet above the machine. I say, "Oh, I told Roderick we'd be there by two today. I don't think I ever told you that."

Marina says, "Sounds good. We'll leave here at 1:30. Um, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to stay with Roddy and I while you recover. We can help you out since you're down a leg."

I look over at her and I ask, "This isn't because I fell reaching for the peanut butter, is it?"

She shakes her head as the toast pops up. She grabs the toast and puts some peanut butter on the two pieces she also made. "Roddy and I were talking about it while waiting for you to get your MRI," she says. "We thought that you might need help. We can also come here but we'd have to toddler-proof your apartment."

The coffee is finished and I said, "Whatever is easiest for you guys. I don't mind the extra help but I also don't want to be burden."

Marina says, "You'd never be a burden to us. We have an extra bedroom in our house that you can use. It's downstairs too so you don't even have to walk up the stairs every night. You'd have your own bathroom and you don't have to pay rent."

I laugh and pour two cups of coffee. "I'd love to stay with you and Roderick," I say. "I hope Troy won't mind having me around."

"He'd probably think your brace is cool because it looks part robot," she says. "You'd just have to explain what happened in a way that a three-year-old would understand."