Page 62 of Stroked
“I am just so tired.”
“Well, you can rest now. I will stay on the sofa. I called your Papai. Just to be sure you are fine tomorrow. We will have to figure out where the car is and all. The girls said it was a nasty accident.”
“Girls?” I murmured, the feeling of the meds slowly coming back.
“Lucy and Amy. Remember? They brought your bag to us. Sweet girls. They said the other man was at fault, but that it was scary. I am just glad they were there.”
“No, it wasJasonand Lucy. Not Amy. Amy was still at her apartment.” I squirmed, digging myself into the soft mattress, and tried to close my eyes again. “Maybe if I had not left, I would not have had the accident.”
“What do you mean? You were at Amy’s? I thought she was with Lucy. And I did not know you were friends?”
Barely able to open my eyes, I chuckled, my words starting to slur again. “Friends, haha! But I don’t know if we still are anything now.” My eyes shot open. “That is right, I was so mad at her,” I rumbled. “Because of you.”
Her brows pinched together. “Me? Honey, I think you need to rest.” She pulled the blanket up over my chest.
I shook my head. “No, and I am sort of mad at you, too. The two of you should not have been talking about me at all!”
Recognition flashed in her eyes. “Amy told you about our lunch?” She squirmed on the edge of the bed. She licked her lips and moved her hand to the one I had outside the covers. “I should not have spoken to anyone but you, but I did not know you were friends and it was a few innocent questions.”
I laughed again at her calling her my friend. “You should not have spoken toanyoneabout me. Now it is allruinedand both of you are to blame.”
She squeezed my hand, but I pulled it away and squeezed my eyes closed as the ceiling started to feel lower and lower, my body going numb again.
I didn’t open my eyes again, but her weight left the bed and the click of the door let me know she was gone.
Sounds still coming from the kitchen sucked me back into the current reality that was hell. No, purgatory. At least in hell, you knew where you stood and what was happening. I knew nothing of what would happen once I walked on the other side of the bedroom door.
I adjusted my arm sling and tugged at the strap wrapped around my throat. The question of what I would face on the other side of the door soon dissolved when it flew open and Mãe floated in holding a cup of water.
“Good, you are up. Do you need a pain pill?” she asked as she held her hands out, one holding a huge white pill.
“No, it is sore, but I do not want to feel like that again. Did you make coffee?”
She smiled, went to the kitchen, and was back soon with a mug.
I took it and smelled the steam, wafting the magical aroma, before taking a sip. “You always made the best coffee, Mãe. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“I made breakfast; you should eat. You had nothing since I met you yesterday, and knowing you, nothing before that.”
She quickly left again, and I sipped some coffee, contemplating whether I imagined that, or maybe I dreamt that conversation. In either case, a ball of nerves swirled in my gut. At least my shoulder wasn’t the worst of my problems, I supposed.
“Val, it is getting cold,” she called from the kitchen.
I took a deep breath. It was a dream. She wouldn’t be so pleasant if it was real. I nodded, convinced that was what had happened. Walking to the kitchen, I sat at the table.
“This looks and smells wonderful. It has been a while since I had your cooking.” I eagerly grabbed my fork and started eating, thankful it wasn’t my dominant hand that was injured.
The meal filled my belly and my soul. No matter how old I got, nothing would compare to Mãe’s cooking. After a few bites, I looked up and she was staring at me as she held her coffee mug close to her mouth with both hands.
Looking back at my plate to hide any sign of pink filling my cheeks, I recalled that not only was I worried about what I said yesterday, but that I knew whatshesaid. But I couldn’t bring it up. If that had been in my mind, I needed to stay calm and pretend none of it happened, even though I wanted to confront her.
“Is it good?” she asked.
I nodded, still looking down, taking quick bites to have an excuse not to verbally answer.
“Are we going to talk about what happened?”
I swallowed my last bite of food, took a sip of the coffee, then answered. “Well, the other man slammed into me, even though I had the green light and–”
