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TWENTY-ONE
Cole
Sunday wasn’tanything over the top or strenuous, so I was rather surprised when I woke up Monday morning with a stabbing pain in my leg.
“What the hell?” I muttered to myself. “What the fuck did I do?”
I felt over the cast, but I wasn’t able to really feel anything specific. The cast was too thick and rough on my leg for me to be able to really feel what was happening under, but I knew I wasn’t able to move very well with it hugging my leg so tightly, and I didn’t see how I was going to manage getting through work with it doing that.
I sat up on the bed and put my leg over the side, doing what I could to stretch out my leg in the cast without causing too much strain. It had been feeling better the last week, and I hoped to be able to convince the doctor to take off the cast and change it into a boot sooner rather than later.
But if I was dealing with more pain, I didn’t see that happening.
I rose, but the shooting pain that ran from the floor to my leg made me cry out and sit back on the bed with a heavy grunt. There was no way I would be working with any horses today. Not with my leg like this and not wanting to risk doing something more that would hurt myself worse.
I was sick of dealing with my leg as it was, and if I was now experiencing some sort of setback with it, I knew I should pull back now while I still had the chance.
I grabbed my phone, hating myself for doing the one thing I hated more than anything when it came to working with clients. I had to call in for the day. I didn’t want to talk directly to Raya. Not that I felt she would be mad or anything, but I didn’t want to hear her voice and torture myself more over the fact I wasn’t going to get to see her today.
I don’t know what I did to my leg, but it’s acting up and I’ve got some new pain meds. I’m going to see the doctor over it this afternoon, but that means I’m not going to make it in today. See you tomorrow
I sent the message, realizing as I did that I wasn’t asking her for the day off, I was telling her I wasn’t coming in. I hoped she wasn’t going to get sassy with me over it. It was true, and it was about my leg, and I didn’t want to argue with her about me coming in when I really did wish that was what I was doing today. I didn’t wait for the answer, however. I knew I wasn’t going to make it in, so I wasn’t going to waste time waiting for her to tell me how she felt about that decision.
Instead, I called the doctor’s office to ask if there was a way I could make it in that day to see the doctor about my leg.
“We would normally like for you to have an appointment, but I understand this is unexpected. We better get you in here and look at it before it turns into something worse,” the woman on the phone said. “Can you come in around two?”
“That’s perfect,” I told her. “I’ll be there.”
I hung up the phone as I rolled my eyes. I never cared for doctors, and I was annoyed with her telling me she would prefer I had an appointment. If I knew this was going to happen to me, I would have made one. But I woke up with my leg feeling this way, and I didn’t have the time to make an appointment beforehand to deal with it.
Raya sent a message in return, and while her words were positive, I swore I could hear disappointment in them as I read the message.
Oh no! I hope you didn’t do anything to it the other night when we were having fun. Take the day off and see if you can get into the doctor. You might want to get it looked at in case it’s something serious
I smiled at her reference to the other night and what we had done with each other. We hadn’t talked all weekend, and I wondered if she was going to be any different toward me when we did see each other again. I had looked forward to it this morning, but there was no arguing with my hurt leg.
There really could be something wrong with it, I knew that, and I didn’t want to risk it being something that turned even bigger than it already was. The fact that it hurt me bad enough I wasn’t going to work told me something. I wasn’t the kind of guy to call off work for a common cold. If I was able to get out and do something, I went out and did it.
With this hurting me badly enough I didn’t want to risk going to work, that meant something.
Don’t think it was from the other night, though if it was, it’s worth it. I’ve already got an appointment made for this afternoon to see how it’s doing. I’ll be in tomorrow
I sent her the message, but this time waited as I watched her type the reply. This one came right away.
Sounds good, but if you need another day or two to get back on your feet, it’s not a big deal. I don’t want you to hurt yourself moving more than you should with your leg still being hurt. Get better and be done with it.
I sent her a thumbs up to show I had read the message, then I put my phone on the bed next to me with another sigh. I hated I wasn’t going to get to see her today, and I wished there was a way around it. I already knew no matter how I felt the next day, I was going to find a way to see her. There were no doubts about that.
But today, I had to take care of my leg.
I didn’t do much throughout the morning. Ham showed up to check on Maveric, and he was surprised to find me still home. I quickly told him what was going on with my leg but refused to let him take me into the doctor. I didn’t want him to waste his day going with me to deal with that when I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a big deal.
Just because I had called in sick that day, I wasn’t going to make him do the same thing. I would pay him the same amount either way, but I knew Ham hated being behind at work just as much as I did, and being conscious of that, I was respectful of his time.
I left him to tend to Maveric, hoping we didn’t have to call in a vet to look at his leg. I was still concerned about it, but I didn’t want to deal with more bills and more medication.
I headed into the doctor’s office bracing myself for more arguing with the nurses and the doctor himself. I knew I had been a pain in the ass with my leg the first time I was brought into the doctor’s office to have it looked at. But, that didn’t change the fact I wanted to be up front and honest about the fact I had no interest in getting charged for more care.
