The night that I spent at the Kings was awful. Not because of Emily or Gerald, they were a delight as always. Jasper though, was annoying the shit out of me. Every little thing he did bothered the heck out of me, like when he breathed.
When morning came around, I was just itching to go home. I still haven't heard from my mom yet, but that's probably because she was either jet lagged and was exhausted or she just ignored the messages on her phone. Normally when my mom is gone, I rarely ever hear from her. Maybe like, once a week and that's it.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" Emily asked as she helped me to the front door. It was still early, and we were the only two up. The house was peaceful at the time. Quiet, but full. Unlike my house that was still quiet but empty.
"I'm sure," I say as I keep my focus on my feet. One wrong move and I'm screwed. "Besides, I got to get used to this on my own, right?"
"Well, when Jasper gets up I'm going to have him run to the store to pick you up some things for you," Emily says as she places a hand on my cheek. "If you need me I'm only a call away."
"I'll keep that in mind," I smile as I open the door. The warm air hit my face and I couldn't help but smile. It was a nice change from all the rainy weather.
Walking down the porch steps was tricky, but there were only two steps so if I fell it wouldn't be so bad. When it's time to walk down the stairs at my house, well, I better invest in a stair lift.
Emily kept her eyes on me as I walked just in case I fell. My house only had one step so it was easy to walk up. When I got to the front door, I waved to Emily before walking in.
I was greeted by the silence of an empty house. It wasn't like I was expecting my mom to suddenly be here with arms outstretched to me and to make everything better, but that would've been nice.
I walk into the kitchen and go to the fridge. Nothing was better than two day old lasagna, I guessed. After I place it in the microwave I pull out a bottle of pills I stuffed in the pocket of the hoodie I was wearing. Unfortunately, when I had gone to the hospital, they had to cut my leggings off of me and the shirt I had been wearing was covered in blood so it was deemed hazardous waste. Which was stupid because I liked that shirt and there is a thing called a washing machine. So now I was wearing a pair of Emily's pajamas pants and one of Jasper's old hoodies from middle school. Normally, I would refuse if I had to wear something of Jasper's, but the inside of the hoodie was fuzzy, and I was weak.
The microwave beeped, signaling that the food was ready. Now the next challenge was trying to carry it into the living room, which was a lot harder than I thought. I thought I had a good grip on it, but two steps later the plate slips out of my hand and crashes to the floor.
"No," I called out, but it was too late. The sound of ceramic breaking echoed throughout the house, and the lasagna sauce splattered all over the wall.
I let out a groan as I go get the broom, but as I was about to sweep it up, I realized something. I couldn't bend over. If I tried, I would end up falling flat on my face. This was something I couldn't do myself. Emily was right, I was going to need help, and Jasper was the one who was supposed to do it.
I walk around the mess and grab the bag of pretzels off the counter. This was something I could carry easily, and if I dropped it, it wouldn't break.
When I got into the living room, I plopped down on the couch and grabbed the house phone. There were three missed calls, and they were all spam. I don't know if I was hoping that Evan would call, but I knew it was never gonna happen. He was just being nice that day. Evan was probably only being nice to me because he saw what happened that night with my mom.
I sigh and put the phone down as I turn on the television. Since it was only ten in the morning, there wasn't anything good on.
After flipping through all the channels, I gave up and just turned the TV off. I wasn't going to waste my time this. I sigh as I lean back on the couch.
Normally, at this time I would be in class hating my life. Now since it's summer, I got nothing to do. And with this broken leg, I'm limited to what I can do. I can't go walking through the park or swimming. Heck, I don't even do those things even if my leg was fine.
I get my crutches and hoist myself onto my good foot. It was getting easier to move around, but I was still talking it slow. As I walk around the house, I stop at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. Stairs we're the one thing I was scared to do, but I really wanted to get out of these clothes and into my own.
I slowly ease myself down and sit on the stairs and place my hands on the steps. With a grunt, I manage to pull myself up one step. I was breathing heavily, but I didn't stop. Sooner or later, I would be doing this again tonight so I could sleep in my bed.
Twenty minutes later, I was sweating more than I wanted to admit. My arms were on fire and were screaming in protest by the time I got to the last step. When I reached the top, I just scooted into my room since I couldn't stand.
As I sat on the floor, I opened the drawer to my dresser and pulled out clothes that were easy to move in. Which were a pair of baggy drawstring shorts and a tank top that hugged my body. I toss the dirty clothes in the hamper and told myself that I'll have to do laundry soon, but I mentally swore to myself. If I couldn't carry a small plate with food on it, how was I going to carry a bulky hamper down the stairs?
I lean against my bed and sigh. I couldn't do anything for myself. Heck, it took my half an hour to climb fourteen steps. Getting a shower is virtually impossible since I have nothing to keep my cast dry unless I wrapped it in plastic wrap like leftover Christmas ham. And even if I did, I don't have a shower chair. Carrying a stool from the kitchen counter up the stairs was never going to happen.
My stomach growled and I rolled my eyes at it. I only ate a handful of pretzels before going up stairs, and with all that exercise I probably burnt them off.
I begin to scoot out of my room and into the hallway. The hardwood floors were cool on my bare leg. That felt nice. When I got to the stairs, I decided to let my crutches slide down. They would only get in my way at this point.
The sound of metal crashing onto wood echoed throughout the house. I tightly grip the little columns on the railing and slowly eased myself down. My leg would occasionally hit the steps, and it would hurt like hell, but I just take a breath and kept going. The pills helped ease the pain, but it still hurt and bumping everything didn't help.
I get about halfway down the stairs before a loud knock shakes the house. My attention immediately went to the door and not to the railing. As I was reaching, my hand missed and I was already scooting down. Next thing I knew I was sliding down the stairs, and my leg hit every step.
I'm sprawled out on the hardwood floor when the door slowly opens. I look up to see Jasper staring at me with a frantic look as he looked down at me.
"Hattie," Jasper says as he dropped every thing he was holding as he rushed to my side. "Did you just...fall down the stairs? What the hell are you doing going up there for?"
"Can you not yell," I say as I place my forehead on the cool hardwood floors. My entire body was screaming in protest every time I moved. Even blinking hurt. My leg felt as if it were being stabbed in every spot. I closed my eyes and a tear slipped out.
Jasper was breathing heavily, as if he was holding back what he was trying to say, but he remained quiet. After a minute, my body calmed down and I was able to relax. I opened my eyes and saw Jasper staring at me.
"Let's get you up," he says as he holds out his hand to me.
"I don't need your help," I say as I ignore his hand. I placed both my hands on the floor and pushed myself up. It hurt like hell, but I didn't need his help.
I was already breathing heavily by the time I got into sitting position, but I was out of energy. I just that there and I could feel the sweat on my forehead.
"Are you done," Jasper asked as he stared at me with a blank expression. I knew I couldn't stand on my own. Hell, I couldn't even reach my crutches. I nodded and Jasper got to his feet. He stood behind me as he placed his hands under my arms and began to lift.
When I was on my feet, I stood on one foot and held onto the railing as Jasper went to grab my crutches. Once I had them, Jasper went and got the things he dropped by there door.
"What's that?" I asked as I got comfortable on my crutches.
"Some things my mom made me get for you," Jasper says as he puts the bag on the table. "The rest is in the trunk. I'll get it later."
Jasper starts walking to the kitchen, and I didn't have chance to stop him. I follow him after a minute and I saw him staring at the floor where the mess was.
"Is that lasagna?" Jasper asked as he turned towards me.
"Yep," I nod with a smile. "I didn't have enough hands."
Jasper nodded. "Is it from Bello's?"
"Yeah," I say. "I couldn't clean it up so...have fun."
Jasper didn't say anything as he bent over and picked up the plate that broke into three pieces and tossed them in the trash. In all honesty, I thought he would refuse and say that this was my problem, but he didn't.
"Was this your breakfast?" Jasper asked as he glanced at me as picks the pasta up with a paper towel.
"Yeah, but that didn't work out," I say with a smile.
"Go sit in the living room," Jasper says as he stands up. "I'll make us some food."
I didn't question Jasper, mainly because I was hungry and he offered to make breakfast. I take a seat on the couch and turned on the television. The news was the first thing to pop up, but I immediately started to flip through the channels.
From the living room, I could hear everything that was going on in the kitchen. I heard the microwave beep and things sizzling on the stove, but in all honesty I just hoped that Jasper didn't burn down the place.
Twenty minutes later, Jasper walks in with two plates and a places one on my lap. I look down to see a small stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a couple pieces of sausages.
"You know how to cook?" I asked in confusion.
"I'm not completely useless," he says as he puts a pillow on the cushion next to me and motioned me to put my leg on it. "Besides, I microwaved the pancakes."
"Well, thanks I guess," I say as I lifted my leg onto the pillow.
"Have you heard from your mom yet?" Jasper asked as he sat down and shoved a whole sausage in his mouth.
"No," I say as I swallow a piece of egg. "I won't be surprised if we don't hear from her at all."
"What do you mean?" Jasper asked as he looked at me weirdly.
I shook my head. The last thing I wanted Jasper to know was that when my mom goes on her business trips, she acts like I don't exist. One time I called her after not hearing from her for a few days, she acted like she didn't know me and that I had the wrong number.
"It's nothing," I say change the subject. "Are your friends pissed that you didn't go to the lake?"
Jasper shrugged. "A bit, but they got over it quickly when the party started last night."
"Do they know why you're not there?" I asked out of curiosity.
"I told them my grandma broke her leg and I had to take care of her," he said calmly.
I thought he would be acting bitter since he wasn't out with his friends, but the fact he was calm threw me off. He wasn't supposed to be relaxed like this. It was just weird.
"Well, just call me grandma Hattie then," I laugh as I focus on the TV, but weirdly, in the corner of my eye I swear I saw Jasper crack a smile.
Gross.