Scarlet Rose

Chapter 15

East Harlem, New York

He groaned when he managed to get up from lying down on the pavement. The layers of fog, floating thick on the streets of New York that night, dimmed the light diffusing from the lamp posts giving an eerie edge in the atmosphere around him. He was ruffled up and probably he would be bruised by the next day but the shooting pulse of pain he felt coming from his left ankle when he stood up on his feet made him hiss and swear through his clenched teeth.

"Bugger!!", he bended over and grabbed his left knee, staring at his pained ankle below.

He took a deep breath and relaxed for a few seconds before he straightened back up again. Conscious about his injury this time, he tried to put most of his weight on his right foot before he started limping on the pavement, hoping for a cab to show up. The streets around him were empty.  He had a metallic salty taste in his mouth that made him pass his fingers over his lips. The sight of blood on them caused him to curse some more.  He took a handkerchief out from his pocket to wipe the blood off while his eyes kept scanning for any passing car.

Luck at least was on his side. Ten minutes later, a pair of faint car lights were approaching through the fog. The "Taxi" sign on top of the car made him smile. He placed two fingers in his mouth, whistled as loud as he could and pulled his arm up. He was eager to leave the hell out of where he was. The pain on his ankle had turned into a constant throbbing one.

"Washington Square", he said to the taxi driver once he came in.

Robert would have a major surprise in front of his door in a little while and probably a heart attack but Terry could do nothing about it. He was certain that he would be subjected to a lot of angered frustration from his boss and the all necessary lecture about his ways but what was done was done. It wouldn't be a pleasurable experience but in the state he was he preferred Rob's anger over the hysterics from Eleonor if he chose to show up in front of his mother's door late at night.

*********************

"So Graham, what is your verdict?", Robert asked Dr. Lewis once he had finished his physical examination over Terry's injury, giving angry glances to him lying on the bed, resting his bandaged foot on a pillow, waiting to hear the same thing.

His old pal took his glasses out, wiping them with a cloth and turned for a brief moment his eyes to Terry.

"Hmm...let's see", he said with an authoritative voice, "He'll be bruised and in pain at places by tomorrow, that's for sure...a cut on his upper lip...and there is swelling and tenderness over the subcutaneous bones on his left ankle.", he continued his diagnosis while Robert was perspiring hearing the bad news.

"The injury on the ankle looks more likely to be a fracture, though I will need to confirm that with an X-Ray tomorrow at my practise", he added.

Terry left his head fall back, leaving a loud sigh in response to the doctor's last words. This was not what he wanted to hear. A disaster by all measures. He felt a headache coming and not only that but a complete rearrangement of the whole summer. London was getting nearer,  and this stupid injury was the last thing he wanted right now. Not to mention, he would miss the last two weeks of this season's play. Rob would pull his hair out in frustration, Eleonor would find the opportunity to mother him incessantly, his fellow thespians would be disappointed to say the least with his sudden absence from the stage right at the end of the season. Anyway he looked at it, it was one lose-lose situation he had landed himself in and that made him groan impatiently on the bed. Robert gave a shooting glance that spelled trouble.

"No to worry Graham, I'll make sure he'll be at your practise first thing in the morning..."

"Yes...I'll need to place his foot in plaster cast if my diagnosis is correct...so I'm afraid it's no stage for you young man", he said, having turned his eyes back to Terry, putting his glasses back on his face.