Destiny Road

~29~

He nodded. "I'm okay. Really. I was wearing my boots, so it's not as bad as it could have been."

You kneeled down in front of him, reaching for his foot without really thinking, pulling it into your lap, so you could see if he needed to go to the emergency room. He resisted briefly, his muscles stiffening as he tried to keep you from doing so, but he quickly, if not reluctantly, gave in.

~♡~

I was a bit taken aback as she was suddenly on the floor in front of me, her hands gently taking my foot and pulling it to her lap. I had tensed up for half a second, not having expected her to do such a thing, but as soon as the feel of her soft hands on my foot registered in my brain, my resistance melted and I chose to let her be the caretaker this once.

Her hand moved across the top of my foot, her fingers gently feeling around, and I flinched slightly as she touched where the chunk of wood had landed. She drew her hand back, looking up at me with concern. Her other hand still cradled the bottom of my foot, and her thumb was moving back and forth along the arch, though I didn't know if she even realized she was doing it.

But I was painfully aware of it, because it felt nice. I should pull my foot away, and make her stop. I didn't want her to stop though, so I did nothing. I sat there, and let her caress my foot, gazing at her small hand, her delicate fingers barely reaching around the bottom.

"It might be broken. Maybe we should go to the emergency room."

Her voice pulled me out of my trance, and my eyes caught hers. "I'm sure it's just going to bruise. It hurt like hell when it happened, but the pain has already subsided. I'll be fine."

She shook her head. "It's already bruising, and I know it hurts, you jumped when I touched it. Are you going to continue to be stubborn?"

I smirked, tilting my head to the side. "Stubbornness runs in my family. Don't expect me to be able to just stop being stubborn."

"Fine." She sighed. " I can't force you to go to the hospital. But at least put ice on it, so that hopefully it doesn't swell. It's going to hurt putting your boot back on as it is."

She gently placed my foot on the floor and stood, going to the freezer. She dug around, and pulled out a bag of frozen peas, then grabbed a dish towel from the drawer. She came back and pulled another chair out, putting it in front of me so I could lift my leg and set my foot on it.

It was at this point that I realized she was wearing some of the new clothes. They seemed to fit her perfectly, and I sighed in relief. I'd rather not have to interact with that lady at the store again any time soon.

I blinked as I tried not to wonder if she was wearing the bland, simply functional underwear and bra she'd picked, or the pretty, lacey ones I'd picked. But wonder I did. She was beside me, waiting, and my eyes inadvertently lifted, her chest at eye level. I swallowed hard and quickly looked at the chair in front of me, lifting my foot and placing it there a little harder than I'd intended, causing me to wince in pain, hoping she didn't notice.

She wrapped the bag of peas in the towel, and placed it on my foot. I looked at her, and her face held an expression of worry mixed with aggravation. I realized she was upset with me, presumably because I wouldn't go to the hospital.

She moved to walk away, and I reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Y/n...I'm fine. Honest. It'll be okay. It really doesn't hurt that much anymore, I promise."