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“No, not that. Not yet at least,” Dr. Roberts said.
“Your talus and calcaneus bones are bruised,” Dr. Green said, sitting forward to put his elbows on his knees. “Your heel and the bone right below your ankle.”
“They must have made contact when you touched down,” Kota said.
“If it’s a bruise, why hasn’t it healed yet?” I asked. Normal bruises didn’t take two weeks to get better.
“Bone bruises are more severe. You’re looking at maybe a month longer before it goes away,” Dr. Roberts said.
I sighed, twisting my lips. “And there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m so sorry. It was a waste of money.”
“Hey now,” Dr. Roberts frowned, but his eyes betrayed his playful nature. “Don’t give me that tone.” He raised a hand and waved it back to the room they had come from. “That was a perfectly brand new MRI machine we needed to test out and you, girl, just gave the training radiologist someone to practice on.”
I felt my lips curling up. “Thank you,” I said softly.
Dr. Roberts beamed.
Nathan cupped his palm over my knee. “Now you’ll have to listen to us when we say stay off your feet.”
“I know, and I am trying,” I said. “Unless I’m walking to class or going home. I can’t do it forever.”
“You don’t have to go that far,” Dr. Roberts said. “You should be able to walk normally. Just no more jumping from balconies for a while.”
“How about ever?” Gabriel asked. “Let’s go with that. Never ever jump off the school balcony again. Or any balcony. Stay away from balconies.”
The others laughed.
“Thank you, Dr. Roberts,” Kota said. He held out a hand for the doctor to shake. “I’m glad the results are positive, but we should get Sang home.”
“In a hurry?” Dr. Roberts asked, an eyebrow shifting. He took Kota’s hand to shake, but his gaze fell on me. “Have a date?”
The question glued my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and a finger hovered over my lip. Me? He had to be kidding.
“Concerned parents,” Kota said.
That was putting it mildly, I thought. Concern wasn’t exactly the word I would have used.
Victor and the others stood, except for Nathan. They shook hands with the doctor, and fixed the chairs.
Nathan gathered me, lifting me off of the loveseat and held me in his arms.
“He said I can walk,” I said.
“I heard him,” Nathan said.
I grunted, but smirked, shaking my head. They never listened to me.
Dr. Roberts’ eyes sparkled and he winked at Dr. Green. “She’s cute. Keep an eye on that one.” He patted Dr. Green on the back and started down the hallway.
“I should go on to work,” Dr. Green said. “Who’s going where?”
“I’ve got Luke and Gabriel,” Victor said. “We’ve got some work to do as well.”
“Nathan and I will be taking Sang home,” Kota said.
Dr. Green nodded. “Sang, listen to the guys. Be careful.”
“Thank you,” I said.
His easy smile and dazzling eyes left me feeling lighter and he turned and walked in the direction Dr. Roberts had gone.
Now the only thing I had to worry about was getting home without getting caught. My mother couldn’t find out.
Kota seemed to read my worries on my face. “We’re going now,” he said, pulling keys out of his pocket.
There was nothing else to do. At least I didn’t have to wear a cast and try to explain that to my mother. Now I just had to handle a couple of bruised foot bones.
And prevent my mother from ever finding out about Kota, Nathan, and the others in the Academy.
Easier said…
F riday
It wasn’t as late as I’d been worried about. We arrived back on to Sunnyvale Court before the bus was scheduled to arrive. When the bus pulled onto our street, Kota, Nathan and I emerged from Kota’s garage. My sister, Marie, started talking to Danielle, the next door neighbor girl. Derrick, Danielle’s brother, was already heading up the road. I lingered with Kota and Nathan. No one seemed to have noticed we hadn’t gotten off the bus.
Only now when I knew I had to get going, I didn’t want to leave.
“So what are we doing?” Nathan asked. “It’s Friday. What’s the plan for the weekend?”
“Sang goes home and checks in,” Kota said. He put a palm on top of my head and rubbed. “We’ll get homework out of the way and figure things out from there. I’m thinking we’ll start with self-defense training. Something light though because of your ankle.”
I smiled, feeling better. I was welcome back. Hopefully I could get back. In the last couple of weeks, my mother had told me to get on my knees three times and to sit on the stool four times. Punishments lasted for hours and I was often so sore and tired and angry afterward that I couldn’t return for a while.
Kota and the others didn’t know about the latest punishments. When I was disciplined and they were expecting me, I would text to tell them my mother was hovering so I couldn’t escape. I knew they would be worried if they figured out the truth, but I didn’t see a way out of it and there were enough problems with school for the Academy guys. They didn’t need to worry about me.
It also didn’t matter to me. My mother would punish me. I would sit for hours and when it was over, I’d be out the door to Kota’s again. I did whatever I had to do to keep my secrets.
If a few hours of punishment was the cost of my friendship with the guys, I’d take every second of it.
“You want to spend the night again?” Nathan asked, looking at me.
I brightened more, nodding. “I’d like to. Can I?”
Kota smiled softly. “Only if...” he made a face, reaching into his back pocket for his phone. He checked the messages, frowning. “We might have to see,” he said. He looked at Nathan. “We’ve got to go.”
“Not another fight,” I complained. “Did Silas and North get into trouble with football tryouts?”
“Nothing so tragic,” Kota promised. “Academy.”
I pursed my lips to hold back the buzzing questions collecting at my tongue. Despite trying to keep out of trouble at school, Kota and the others still got called out on occasion for Academy business. “What do I do?”
“Check in,” he said, moving toward his car at the end of the driveway and pulling out his keys. “If you need anything, call Victor if it isn’t an emergency. Call me if it is.”
“Call me if it is,” Nathan echoed.
They waved to me and headed toward Kota’s old, clunky sedan parked at the corner of his driveway. Kota was still wearing the blue blazer with the faux school badge. Nathan was in his white t-shirt and uniform pants. No time to change. The Academy was calling.
I started down the road, disappointed that the weekend might be delayed. Kota and Nathan were off to work. North and Silas were probably still at football practice. Luke, Victor and Gabriel were busy. I was bummed, already lonely without them and without an idea of when I would next see them.
I heard Marie catching up with me. We walked alongside each other. It felt awkward. She and I rarely talked unless we had to and often times we avoided it as much as possible. It was completely different than how I felt about the boys. I knew it wasn’t normal. Sisters were supposed to be close, right?
