Page 12 of Tart
“He knew my weakness and used it against me. He kicked me in the knee, and since I was wearing the brace, my knee just snapped—,” I stopped to swallow around the surge of pain and anxiety the memory gave me. “I fell to the ground screaming and writhing in pain. My dad heard me in the main house, but by the time he got to the apartment, Rex was gone.”
“Where is this asshole now? Brady and I are going to go have a chat with him.”
I snorted with laughter but grabbed her hand tightly. “I love you for always coming to my defense, but it was months ago. I haven’t seen Rex since.”
“You should have pressed charges,” she said, disapproval in her voice.
“He said, she said,” I insisted, holding out my palms.
“Except you have an injured leg that says otherwise.”
I rubbed my knee and swallowed back the bile that always rose in my throat when I thought about that night. “Honestly, I sent the cops to look for him, but he was gone. Good riddance.”
“But the leg keeps getting worse instead of better,” she said, her eyes taking in the mangled limb.
I shrugged casually as though what she said was wrong. “It’s been slow to heal, but the x-rays didn’t show any fracture of the bone. You know they can’t do an MRI with all the metal in there, so there’s little they can do with it anymore. The problem now seems to be more about sensation and pain. The doctors think I need a different kind of brace.”
“Why haven’t you gotten it yet?” she asked, one brow going down. “Show me the leg.”
I sighed heavily and shook my head. I love her, but she worries too much. “I can’t whip my pants down in the middle of the bakery, Hay-Hay. It just needs more time to heal.”
She stood up and closed the door to the office, then gave me a pointed stare. I sighed again and stood up, pulling my pants down and unstrapping the top half of the brace. Her eyes roved over it, and she inhaled, her hand to her lips.
“Honestly, Amber. How are you even walking on that?” she asked, falling to her knees to inspect the hip and knee. She ran her finger over the hot, red, mottled skin of my leg and glanced up at me. “I’ve seen this leg at its best and its worst, and this is worse than I’ve ever seen it. It looks like it might be infected.”
“It’s not,” I assured her. I yanked my pants up before she could freak out about it even more. “It just needs more time to heal. You know how that leg is.”
She nodded and leaned her butt against the desk. “I do know, and that’s why I’m worried. Does Phyllis know how bad it is?”
I made the so-so hand. “Mom can see I’ve been limping around, but let’s face it, that isn’t new. Also, you know—” I shrugged rather than finishing the thought.
“You know what?”
I folded my hands on my lap on a sigh. “I don’t bother them with my leg issues. I’m an adult now. They took care of me long enough. They deserve to enjoy their retirement without always worrying about the adult child they’re still forced to house.”
It was painful how accurate that statement was. I was injured when I was thirteen, and I’d been dealing with this ever since. When it came to my leg, nothing was unexpected because the damage to it was so unexpected. All the doctors could do was keep treating the problems as they arose. Granted, the setback in February didn’t help things, but regardless, I knew it was only going to get worse with age.
The face of Bishop Halla loomed in my vision for the thousandth time since last night. I held in a sigh as I thought about the way his strong arms wrapped around me and carried me to safety. The way he so lovingly cared for my hands when he didn’t have to. He was genuinely concerned for me, and on the surface, he was one of those genuinely nice guys. That didn’t mean he was a genuinely nice guy, but it was a shame I’d never find out. He’d be a friend and nothing more. Considering he’s a physical education teacher, dating someone like me was out of the question for someone like him.
Her hand was on my right leg, and her sigh brought me back to the conversation we were having. “I know things have been difficult for the last few years with your parents.”
“Difficult?” I asked, and she nodded. “That’s true, but it’s unfair to put any of the blame on them at this point.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Amber. They want to pretend as if none of it happened, but it did, and you’re the one dealing with the consequences. They let you live at the house, but they’d rather you moved out. They mention it in one way or another practically every time we’re together.”
I shrugged my shoulder, still staring at my hands. “I’m looking for a place, but there are very few places to rent that have a basement, and the ones that do, I can’t afford. I will find one. Hopefully, by fall. I just might have to move to a different community and commute to work.”
She squeezed my hand tightly. “No, that’s not going to happen. Brady and I will help any way we can, okay?”
I smiled at the woman I loved more than my biological sisters. They were both so much older than I was, but Hay-Hay and I had been joined at the hip since we were four.
She was speaking again, and I forced myself to listen and not cry on her shoulder. “You were status quo and completely functional with the leg up until February, and now you’re not. You have to do something. What kind of brace do the docs want for it?”
“Something expensive,” I said immediately and then grimaced when she glanced up sharply. “I’m giving it time.”
“You’ve given it since February. This is June. Get the brace.”
“That’s easier said than done, Haylee. It’s a microprocessor brace and well over seventy thousand dollars. I don’t have that kind of money.”
