Taking One for the Team

Part 24

When I woke up in the morning I was alone. Becky must have got up earlier than me. I rolled over to look at the time and felt pain shoot through my side.

Thoughts from last night clouded my mind again and I rolled back over, moaning in pain.

I sat up carefully and looked down at myself. I hadn’t even seen face yet and I already knew looked a mess. My dress was completely crumpled and creased.

I stood up and looked out the window. Since I’d got in so late last night I hadn’t drawn my curtains so the light from outside was streaming through my windows. I glanced over at the clock by the side of my bed to read the time, it was nine thirty.

My immediate thought was school, but it was soon dissolved when I realized that even if I had woken up on time, there was no way I was going in.

My head was slightly pounding from all the drink last night, my face felt slightly numb and the side of my body was still throbbing.

Becky walked in my room behind me out of nowhere, making me jump slightly. She had a smile on her face and was holding a tray.

“Hey Lil! So I’ve called school as mom and got you the day off. I have breakfast here, pancakes! Just how you like them, oh and some ice packs. It might be a bit late but we need to get that swelling down. Oh and your excuse is you tripped down the last few stairs last night because you were drunk. Okay?”

I looked at her, slightly stunned and nodded my head. She laughed and came over to pull me down onto the bed.

“Sorry, I guess that’s a lot to take in. All you need to know is that we both have a day off for recovery. Now I advise you to shower before you look at your face.” She finished, teasingly.

I looked back at her and laughed slightly. “That bad?” I asked. She nodded and I chuckled.

“Okay I will leave you too it, keep ice on those bruises, and give me a shout when you’re out the shower.” She chirped, and then left the room with a skip.

I decided to take her advice and didn’t look in a single mirror. I sat and ate my pancakes for a bit, holding the ice to my face and side awkwardly.

I pushed all thought of Sam and Andy to the back of my mind. I tried to just focus on what I was doing, not letting myself think about anything else other than my pancakes and the ice.

When I was done I took a painkiller and walked down the landing to the bathroom to shower. I still hadn’t looked in a single mirror and I didn’t plan on it. Although the mirror in the bathroom was pretty big so it was going to be hard to avoid that one.

I slipped my dress off my body carefully and looked down at my stomach. I couldn’t help the gasped that escaped my lips when I saw the purple skin below me. It was only up the left side of my body, but from the top of my thigh up to my waist was completely purple.

It was swollen and the color made me a bit nauseous. The ice clearly hadn’t helped that much, although I dreaded the thought of what it looked like before the ice. I tried my best to ignore it, and prayed the bruise on my face didn’t look like that. I then slipped into the shower and let the water run over me.

It felt nice to have the cool water run down my burning body. When I stepped out the shower I wrapped my towel around me and hesitantly walked over to the mirror.

My face looked just as I had expected, maybe a bit better. It would be okay to cover with make-up, and it was only actually around my right eye and cheek so it wasn’t too bad.

Once I was changed I cleared up my room a bit and sat down on my bed. All thoughts of Sam were pushed to the back of my head until I thought about my phone.