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I actually don’t remember and I’m pretty sure I am unaware of all the details, but I don’t ask because then it means I might have to get involved and honestly, Damien was a good friend even with his quirks.
Sighing, “When are you going to stop doing tit for tat to each other?” I had to give Damien credit. My sister was a huge pain in the ass most of the time. A loveable one, but still a pain in the ass.
“When he stops dating girls who have misspelled tattoos and uneven clit piercings.”
“Ahh, enough. I don’t want to know anything!” And that right there was why I never ever asked my sister for details about anything. If there was a line in the sand for appropriateness, my sister was a dust storm.
“Sheena totally showed it to me. That dude botched the whole thing and the hood—”
Good golly make her stop.
“Enough! Jesus Christmas, Kristen! I’ll go, but I’m bringing a date. You, dear sister, are navigating Mom and her interning court clerks on your own. I am not going to be the sacrificial lamb.” I was going to have to go through my phone contacts, and fast, to find a victim. I mean, a date for this fiasco. I wondered why I didn’t move far away after finishing vet school. I could doctor pets anywhere; what I needed was a nice town that didn’t have my entire immediate family residing in it.
“Oooh…so I get to meet her? Like an actual woman and not a blow up doll sitting in your car?” Yet another teasing memory from my lovely sister and her friends I would much rather forget.
“Yeah, that day. Now leave me alone so I can finish these charts, hit rehab, and get home sometime tonight before I’m forced to order take-out again.” I rubbed the sore spot of my knee hating that this would likely always bother me.
“Fine, spoil sport. Remember to jerk off before you pick her up so your woody doesn’t scare the poor girl away!” The dial tone resonated peace in my ear when Kristen hung up the phone. Finally, just me and my charts. I didn’t know how Mom raised two completely different kids under her ruling judicial thumb. She still worked as lawyer with her own law firm in town and was recently appointed as a municipal court circuit judge. Mom had high standards for everything, including her kids, and yet we both veered wildly off the path. Kristen with her desire to not go to law school like Mom, and me with my failed football career.
What a pair we made doing everything, but what our parents envisioned for us. It was a good thing Dad was there to balance all this out, even if he still wasn’t speaking to me. It was hard being the high school football coach’s son with a career ending injury. He acted as if my life had been over before it even began when I was the one hobbling on crutches for almost nine months between surgeries. The final straw for him was when I turned down medical school for a degree in veterinarian medicine. Thank God for good friends and an annoying sister.
After work I drove to the rehab center parking in the rear and making my way inside. Years later and the smells of medical facilities still hit me the same with the antiseptic tang. After my surgery and return from vet school I kept regular appointments to make sure my knee stayed limber.
“Hey Doc!”
I turned at the familiar voice and hugged my rehab partner Kiara Roberts tightly.
“How goes it Coach?” She laughed at the nickname.
“My girls’ track team might actually capture a sectional title this year.” I couldn’t see the blush on her dark skin, but her eyes told me she was nervously excited for her team. She did an amazing job coaching and our high school was lucky to have her.
“That’s awesome!” I said proud of her. Kiara was a track star herself until childhood cancer forced her leg to be amputated below the knee. Nothing stopped her tenacity and she continued to compete winning several medals in the Para Olympic Games.
“I really hope they stick with the training. I’m taking a few of them this weekend on a nine mile trail run around Lake Awosting.”
“Ah, the lake run.” I definitely didn’t miss those and my knee ached thinking about it. Kiara herself was training for a fifty mile race in the area raising money for a local charity. I’d stick with something that was more my speed
wearing a tuxedo and going on a date with a woman twice my age with more money than sense.
“It’ll be fun and good bonding for the team.”
“You have anyone else going with you?” I knew the trail was wide and well-marked but Kiara was my friend and I still worried. There was a time I might have asked her out if I thought she might be interested in me but we made way better friends than a romantic entanglement. That was one reason I wouldn’t be begging her to be my date at my mother’s picnic. Mom would know I wasn’t serious about Kiara and still push one of her flirty interns on me.
“Actually, the junior track coach is coming and the girls’ middle school soccer coach. It’ll be a weekend of women in the woods.”
“God help us all.”
“Yeah, and the bruising on my leg.” Kiara sat down and took off her prosthetic limb rolling the sock down to show me. It’s nothing I hadn’t seen before; heck the scar on my knee looked pretty gruesome.
“Whoa, Kiara! Have you had that checked out?” I reach down and gently touch the outer sides of her knee examining the bruise.
“I did. I’m having new socks and a fitting for a new lightweight prosthetic. I’m walking on it differently and I think that’s making it bruise and tender in spots.”
“Not going to lie, it looks painful.”
“Thanks, Doc. Nothing like reassurance.” Kiara teased me and I helped her stand up after she lined up her prosthetic to put it back on wincing.
“How about some stretches and weights?”
