Phoenix

Pain From the Past

I slammed my fists against the cherry red punching bag. Pain ached in my hands as I kept punching. I had been hitting the bag for hours but I didn't plan on stopping. Part of me liked to push myself past my limits even though I knew it was a bad idea. I punched the bag for a few more minutes before I couldn't take the pain anymore. I took a step back and looked down at my hands, both of them were red and blistered. I took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off my brow.

I glanced over to the other side of the room at my husband who was lifting weights. A small smile formed on my face as I walked over to him. I leaned on the wall next to him and watched him for a few minutes. His face was red and dripping in sweat, and his arms shook when he lifted and lowered the bar that held weights. He carefully put the bar down and looked up at me. I could see that he was exhausted and was ready to call it a night.

I reached down, grabbed his water bottle and handed it to him. "Looks like someone's worn out."

He grabbed his water bottle and chugged what was left in the bottle. "Well we've been working out for the past two hours." He said between breaths.

A smile formed on my face as I sat down next to him. "Oh come on Jonathan." I said as I pretended to look at a watch on my arm. "It's only like nine thirty."

Jonathan chuckled and sat up. "Yeah nine thirty at night." He got up, grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his face.

"You don't have work tomorrow right?" I asked looking over at him.

He nodded and looked over at me. "I do, but I'll try to come home as soon as I can."

I groaned. "It's your birthday tomorrow. Why can't you just take the day off?" An annoyed look formed on my face.

Jonathan walked over to me and pulled me up to my feet. "You know that I can't miss work, people need my help."

I sighed. "Yeah I know, I just wish that you were home more often."

"Sweetheart, I'm a paramedic, I'm not gone everyday."

"Yeah I know, but it's always just me and the kids."

"You know that Skylar and Gabe love you to pieces."

I sighed and yawned. "Well you know that I love you."

He kissed my cheek and smiled. "Yes, I do know."

A small smile formed on my face. I enjoyed the conversations that we had even if they had no meaning behind them. I quickly grabbed Jonathan's hand and walked into the kitchen. I could feel him squeeze my hand as we walked. I forced Jonathan to sit down at the kitchen table then walked over to the old liquor cabinet. It had been a couple of months since anyone opened the thing, and there was a small layer of dust covering it. I brushed off some of the dust and opened the cabinet. I glanced at all the different alcohols that were stored inside. After a few seconds of looking at all the bottles, I grabbed a half filled bottle of whiskey and two whisky glasses.

I walked back over to the table and set the bottle and glasses down. Jonathan glanced down at the bottle of whiskey and looked up at me. I tried to ignore him while I filled our glasses and sat next to him. I grabbed my glass and looked over at my husband. He chuckled and picked up his glass.

I smiled and took a sip of the whisky. "Happy early birthday hun."

Jonathan grinned. "Is this really necessary?"

"Uh yeah it is. Since it's your birthday tomorrow" I said and took another sip from my glass.

He smiled, rolled his eyes and took a drink from his glass. "You really need to find something else to do other than workout and drink."