Allure

36| In Due Time

Truthfully, Bradley didn't think he could do it, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Rashad just endured three bullets, surgery, and an injury to his leg—he wouldn't be able to do a lot of things, but that was okay. Rashad was just so use to taking care of everything on his own, that when he truly needed to depend on someone he started to feel bad. He didn't see himself getting angry by it, nor was his pride affected; however, he did want to loosen up on Bradley before she stretched herself thin.

Bradley sighed as she watched him trudge to the threshold of the bedroom door through the darkness. He flicked the switch, lighting up the room so he could find the switch to the light up the hall way. So far, he was doing good, but he seemed tired and winded already. "Baby, your crutches are down stairs, how about I just help you down," Bradley once again rushed to his side.

What was Rashad thinking? Evidently, he couldn't make it down those steps alone, and he damn sure wouldn't be able to make it back up. From the few minutes of sitting in bed while Bradley slept, he had encouraged himself that he could do it, and came up with a full proof plan of how he would it. He envisioned Bradley waking up the next morning, confused at the sight of two bottles of water, instead of just one bottle she gave him prior to going to bed.

Rashad took in a deep breath and ignored Bradley's offers to help him. He continued towards the stairs, hopping on one stable leg and dragging his other as he desperately tried to keep his breathing steady.

Bradley followed behind him. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he just looked down. He was chickening out. He knew, one small misstep would send him tumbling down with the wind knocked out of him and he would be admitted back into the hospital. He feared that too much.

Looking over his shoulder, Bradley was behind him with a concerned look on her face. She knew he really wanted to do this on his own, but he just couldn't. "Alright how about we try going down a different way," Bradley suggested.

"How?"

"I'll be in front of you, just incase anything bad happens, God forbid," Bradley told him. "Feel free to take a break whenever you need to,"

Rashad nodded his head. Although Bradley was still helping him, this could be a stepping stone to him being more independent. The more practice he got, the better he'll be to go down on his own without interrupting whatever Bradley was doing.

Just like Bradley suggested, the two slowly went down the steps. Rashad supported himself as painful as it was and Bradley simply kept in front of him just Incase he lost his balance. After ten minutes, they made it down the stairs and Rashad felt as if he were going to collapse. In need of a seat, he took one on the last few steps.

Bradley knew that Rashad no longer wanted her catering to his every need or jumping in a panic whenever he did something that alerted her. He wanted to be treated normally. Instead of panicking at him trying to catch his breath, she simply just stood aside calmly and waited until he was ready to make his trek to the kitchen.

Rashad appreciated this so much. She was allowing him to be a tad bit more independent and that's all he really wanted and needed. Rashad got up from the stairs without any help from Bradley once his breathing mellowed out. He grasped onto his crutches that were propped against the wall at the bottom of the steps. Anchoring them underneath his arms, he was fit to make his way to the kitchen in a more stable and quicker pace.

Bradley was proud to say the least. He didn't get angry with himself, nor did he get frustrated. She was glad that the patience he had for everyone else, applied to himself when he was in this condition.