Lovers of Yesterday

Chapter 36 • Pain

It was definitely a good thing that Lynch came with me. I froze at the front door when I saw the spot where I had been thrown yesterday. He had to guide me to the couch, telling me that he wasn't here to hurt me anymore.

He became my safe space as we walked back to my room to grab the books I wanted. In the end, I was too terrified to go near the closet. He had to grab the books for me which had been strewn out in front of it.

He passed the books off to me before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and walked me out of the apartment. I locked the door behind us before letting go him lead us back to his apartment. He released me so I could go put the books back in the guest room. It was awkward carrying them but I made it work.

I set the books on the nightstand and sat down on the bed to shimmy put of my jeans. I switched them out for a pair of sweatpants which were easier to move around in.

I trailed out to the living room and found Lynch relaxed back on the couch with the TV on. He looked over when he heard me walk in and gestured for me to join him. I moved around the coffee table and took a seat next to him.

"How's your arm feeling?" He asked, now looking at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fine for the most part. I get little twinges of pain but it's not bad."

"Alright. You wanna find somethin' to eat? I doubt that hospital food was any good," he suggested, moving his arm to the back of the couch behind me.

"Um, I guess. What do you want?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that. Are you craving anything?"

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I stared down at my lap. "Eggs and sausage, maybe?"

"If that's what you want, then I'll make it." His hand brushed my back as he stood up to go make dinner.

I heard him move around in the kitchen pulling out pans to use and I had to restrain myself from getting up and helping. I'd just get in the way since I can't do much with my disabled arm. I sat back and watched what he put on; it was Law and Order.

He came back out with two plates of steaming sausage and egg and handed me one while setting the other on the coffee table. He ran back and grabbed two drinks before settling on the couch next to me and grabbing his plate.

I practically scarfed down my eggs while he took slower bites. I guess I was hungrier than I thought. That hospital food only quelled a small portion of my hunger. I was finished with my plate by the time Lynch was mostly done with his.

He finished his and took both of our plates before I could protest. I sat back and fiddled with the edge of the sling. I was ready to take it off but I had to keep it on for at least two days. It's coming off the moment it can, though.

Lynch walked back out and took his seat next to me. I wasn't really paying attention to the TV anymore. There was a twinge of pain in my shoulder that was slowly increasing. I spaced out on the remote sitting on the coffee table. I felt the cushion behind me sink as he moved his arm behind me.

His hand brushed against my shoulder and my arm throbbed. I grit my teeth together but didn't say anything. Everything else was slightly blurred around the remote. I could still hear the show but I didn't pay any attention to what was being sasaid.

"Ryder?" I blinked and my focus on the remote was gone. "You ok? You blanked out."

I resumed picking at the sling and replied, "I'm ok. I guess I'm just tired."

He nodded slowly. "Does your arm hurt any? They didn't prescribe any medicine but they said you could take a couple ibuprofen if your arm starts to hurt."

"A little," I lied. "It'll be fine though. It'll probably go away in a little while."

"Are you lying?"

My eyes widened and I slumped. I nodded and he stood up, moving toward the kitchen. He came back with two little pills in his hand which he passed to me as he sat down. He handed me my drink and I swallowed both.

"I think I'm gonna move apartments," I blurted.

Seemingly unfazed by my random statement, he asked, "Where d'you think you wanna move?"

"I don't know. But I don't think I can live in that apartment anymore. It's never really been home anyway."

"You know you're free to stay here as long as you want while you figure it out. You don't need to go back if you don't want to," he offered.

"Are you sure? I don't-"

"Don't say you don't want to impose. I swear, Ryder, if I'm offering, you aren't imposing. I like you're company."

"Ok," I whispered.

Lynch grabbed his phone and powered it on, checking the time. It was only eight fifty-three but I was ready to go to bed. I dropped my head back onto the couch cushion and closed my eyes. I felt the other side of the cushion dip and opened my eyes to look over at Lynch.

"You tired, sweetheart?" I hummed and closed my eyes again.

"I can stay up a little longer. It's not even that late."

• • •

I opened my eyes to the dark guest bedroom. A light sheen of cold sweat covered my skin and the blankets were kicked off of me. I was still in my clothes from- was it yesterday or earlier? I raised my head to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand; it was one oh five. So I'm in the same clothes from yesterday.

My arm throbbed and reminded me why I had woken up in the first place. Groaning, I sat up and climbed out of bed. I changed first which was an awkwardly massive struggle. The jeans were relatively easy to pull off so long as I was leaning against the wall. The shirt, on the other hand, hurt and was a bitch to pull over my head.

I had to take the sling off and even then I couldn't use my arm so I had to find a way to pull my good arm out first and get it over my head before I could gently slide it over my bad shoulder and arm. In the end, I didn't bother to try to pull on a different shirt.

I managed to get the sling back on before sneaking out to the kitchen to find some pain medicine. I stopped in the hall when I began to wonder if Lynch would be ok with me going through his medicine cabinet. Keeping my pain level in mind, I hoped it was ok and continued into the kitchen. As quietly as I could, I opened the cabinet and found the ibuprofen bottle.

I pulled two out and returned it to its spot on the shelf. Leaving the two tablets on the counter, I found my drink from yesterday in the fridge and opened it so I could swallow the medicine. I placed the drink back in the fridge before tiptoeing back to the guest room.