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“Cody, oh no. You’re all wet. Did you fall overboard? I knew this would happen. It was my biggest fear about you working on a boat,” I shouted over the blare of the alarm, still covering my ears.
Then I remembered my manners, but not enough to stop shouting, unfortunately. “Thank you for haunting me, though!”
Decidedly un-ghostlike hands rolled me into a sitting position and braced me against the toppled table. I dramatically brought my hand up to trace ghost Cody’s face, but he batted it away before I made contact.
“Jesus Christ, I cannot with you right now.” He leaned in closer to my now uncovered ear. “Is the key still hidden out front? What’s the alarm code?”
Key? Code?
Cody gave me a well-deserved, if not medically advisable, shake.
“Oh. Yes. Same spot as before. Code’s 0-4-1-6.”
Eons later, the back porch lights flicked on, and the alarm stopped.
I didn’t slump in relief, not at the glorious silence or the even more glorious fact of my best friend’s unexpected return. I couldn’t. The reverberations of the alarm still pounded my skull, and the sudden harsh floodlights pierced through my eyes and directly into my brain like a knife.
All of which distracted me from feeling any of my actual injuries.
The pound of Cody’s boots on the porch signaled his arrival, but I didn’t dare open my eyes again, the headache already too keen.
A hand patted my shoulder lightly, and Cody sighed. “You’ve really messed up my plan, Lady Cher.” Layydee Shaaa.
There it was. Relief. Just enough for me to finally get in a deep breath and squint open my eyes.
Cody smiled when our gazes met. “There she is. Took a little tumble, huh?”
I huffed. “Witty comeback.”
He patted my shoulder in a “there, there” gesture without even mustering a pity laugh. “Ya know, I had a whole speech practiced and ready to go for when I got here, but you seem to have done a good job beating yourself up tonight, so let’s just call it mostly even and save it for later.” He scanned me from head to toe. “How bad is it?”
“I’m afraid to find out,” I answered hoarsely—and honestly.
He nodded, wincing in sympathy. “Well, first things first. Let’s get you up.”
I patted the sides of my wet leggings and then remembered. “Oh, can you find my phone? I threw it….” I gestured vaguely to the other side of the porch. “Over that way. I think.”
Cody found it quickly, pocketing it before putting his hands under my arms and carefully hoisting me up with an offensive grunt. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and I leaned heavily against him once I was in a semi-standing position.
He looked down with concern at my rain-boot-clad foot. “Do you think you can walk?”
I took a cautious step forward with Cody, who was as soaked as I was by this point. My right foot was fine, but my left was a no-go. Literally. And now that I had enough presence of mind to focus on my injuries, I thought that might be the worst of it. I could already feel it swelling inside the boot.
“I think that’s going to be a problem,” I admitted.
He blew out a breath and pushed his wet, shoulder-length hair behind his ears, one side at a time. “Wellll, my truck is out front. I drove it over here after I dropped off my bags at Dad’s.” He blew out a breath, nodding to himself before he turned and crouched. “Hop on, spider monkey.”
I groaned loudly but did as he asked.
We forded the yard, which was basically a river now, all the way to Cody’s truck. He deposited me in the passenger seat before hurrying around the hood to the driver’s side. He slammed the door shut and asked, “Gulf Memorial?”
“Ugh. I’d really rather not, but I think I’ll need X-rays. Urgent care is closed by now too.” I looked down at my boot, moving my foot gingerly. “It’s feeling tighter by the minute.”
Cody eyed my foot with concern before patting the stretch of bench seat beside him. “Here, prop it up while we drive.”
I hoisted my foot up, and we started the drive inland to the hospital.
The silence of the ride was broken when a realization struck me, and I jolted upright. “I don’t have my wallet.”
