Page 24 of Home Game

She didn’t seem to care. She stared out the window. It felt like she had withdrawn into herself. Her fight, her feisty spirit had disappeared.

When we walkedinto my apartment, she wavered on her feet.

“Okay,” I said, “You need to sleep.”

She started towards the couch.

“Why don’t you take a nap in my bedroom.”

She was no longer on guard. She had given up. She followed me into the bedroom. I stood there and watched as she kicked off her boots and shrugged off her jacket.

“The nurse said you had a prescription?”

She crawled into my bed and curled up into a tiny little ball. “I don’t have money for it.”

I picked up her jacket. I found the script in the front pocket. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

She didn’t respond.

I shut the blinds and walked out.

I droppedthe prescription off at the pharmacy and then stocked up at the grocery store next door. It dawned on me that she had nothing, so I bought her a new toothbrush.

But she had no clothes. No clean underwear. No socks. I was in over my head. I pulled out my phone, and dialed the one number I had on speed dial.

“Ryan.”

“Krista. I need your help.”

“Anything, darling.”

“I need you to buy some women’s clothing for me.”

A long pause. “Is this for a special friend?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I love complicated,” she purred. “Is she hot?”

“It’s not like that. This is just a friend who lost everything in an accident. She is staying with me for a couple days, but she doesn’t even have socks.”

Krista moved from teasing to all business. “How tall is she?”

“Short.”

“Waist size?”

“No clue. She's tiny.”

“Breast size?”

“I don’t know. She wears baggy clothes.”

“What is her style? Does she like heels? Dresses? Saturday in the Hamptons?”

I rubbed my face. “Her arm is in a sling, so she needs stuff she doesn’t have to pull over her head. She likes plaid. Goth or punk rock?”

“Seriously?”

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