AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reached out and grasped the sleeve of her shirt. “I'm sorry for being short. I've had a terrible day. It's almost impossible to get around this town in a wheelchair. I had to go to the pharmacy for a prescription. While I was there, this happened.” I held up my hand to show her the bandage I had wrapped around my palm, now soaked with blood. “I never did get the prescription. I'm tired and hungry, but that doesn't give me the right to take it out on you. I apologize.”
“It's absolutely no problem, Irving. You have opened our eyes to how inaccessible things are in Bells Pass. We hope the new community center and apartments will change some of that.”
“First, I'd have to get them open,” I said with a shake of my head. “I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. I've been working on this project for a year, and we still don't have any long-term tenants.”
“You'll get there,” she encouraged me. “Sometimes, when we're doing good work, the setbacks can make us feel like it's not worth it. I remember when we were trying to reopen the bakery. We had a lot of those moments, but here we are years later, the bakery is humming along, and it was worth all of the heartache and headache. I hope you'll feel the same way once the apartments are full of people looking to make Bells Pass their home.”
I finally managed a smile and I nodded once. “I hope you're right, Indigo. Right now, it feels like I'm wading through a never-ending sea of bureaucracy. You know what, I think I'll take something to go. I should probably go home and tend to my hand.”
“I agree with that assessment. Actually, you should probably go to the hospital.”
“Hard pass,” I said with a chuckle. “They’ll try to stitch it, and then how do I roll the chair.”
“Carefully?” she asked with a raised brow. “Seriously, Irving. At least have someone look at it and make sure it will heal. Does the pharmacy manager know what happened?”
“Lord, no. I hope no one saw my attempt to get into a place that didn’t want me there. It was embarrassing. Anyway, how about a club sandwich and fries?” I asked to change the subject.
“Sure, I’ll put that order in. Anything for Star?”
Laughter escaped, and it was the first time my heart felt lighter all day. Leave it to Star and Indigo. “Star would like one of everything on the menu,” I said with a wink, “but I think I'll feed him when I get home.”
She gave me a finger gun and returned to the counter to put in my order.
“Well, Star, not a stellar moment for me,” I said, resting my hand on the table. “And she might be right about this hand, but we’ll keep quiet about it.”
It was only two o’clock in the afternoon, but I wanted to go back to bed. I should have gone home after I cut my hand, but I hadn’t eaten yet today, and there was no food at home either. I added grocery shopping to my to-do list. At least that’s a store I can get in and out of without nearly dying.
“Irving?”
I turned and came face-to-face with Hazel. I quickly turned my left hand over and smiled. “Hey, Hazel. What brings you here?”
“I heard a rumor that you had an issue,” she said, sliding into the booth seat. “Thought I’d come see if it was true.”
“Where did you hear that from?” I asked. “Indigo?”
“Nope, the pharmacist called me. He thought he saw you fall, but when he got out to the street, you were gone.”
“I didn’t fall. All is well,” I promised. “Do you want to order something? I plan to take lunch to-go and head to the office to finish preparing my comments for tonight.”
“I already ate. Also, that doesn’t look well,” Hazel said, pointing at my hand.
“Eh, just sliced it a bit—no big deal. I’ll clean it up when I get home. I’m used to dinging up my hands.”
“Irving,” she said lowering a brow. “It’s dripping blood onto the table.”
I glanced down and was shocked to see she was correct. “Shoot. Grab me some napkins?”
Her eye roll was mighty when she stood from the table and went to the counter to talk to Indigo. She returned with a towel that she wrapped around my palm and secured at the back of my hand. “Now, you were saying about it not being a big deal? How about I take you to the clinic to have it looked at?”
“I think it will be fine once the bleeding stops.”
“Probably, until you use the hand and it starts bleeding again.”
“Listen, Hazel, you’re not hearing me. If this hand doesn’t work, I don’t roll.”
“And you’re not hearing me, Irving. If that hand gets infected, do you think you’ll be able to roll? At least have it looked at before you have a much bigger problem on your hands.” She winked and shoulder-bumped me. “See what I did there?”
“You’re hilarious,” I said dryly. My leg chose that moment to spasm and hit the table, jostling the water and splashing it across the top while my leg jiggled like I’d had four pots of coffee.
