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I couldn’t afford to look at him again, my focus staying firmly on the road ahead, trying to shift that idea from my mind.
“Sure, sure,” he teased, still laughing.
“Oh my God, please stop.”But then a laugh bubbled out of my lips too.It was all I could do.It had been so long since I’d been around a man who wasn’t a colleague that I’d forgotten what it felt like to have an accidental slip of the tongue that caused blushing and laughter.
“Okay, we’ll move on.”He chuckled once more.“Really, though.Don’t worry about today.Hopefully, a few days of resting will sort it out.”
“Not sure June will thank me for bringing you home in this state.”I nodded towards his foot.
“She’ll love it.She’ll get to fuss over me and spoil me.”
“Ha!She might make you a cup of tea, but she’ll probably tell you to shake it off!”
I was kidding, mostly.June used to be a nurse, so there was nobody better to keep an eye on him.However, she was the more no-nonsense kind.So, while she would ensure his ankle was healing as it should, she wouldn’t be a slave to him either.
“Come inside with me.Lay it on thick.I’m in agony here!”Donovan said, with mock indignance.
All I could do was snigger, but when he winced, I said, “I’m sorry.I know it hurts.Sprained ankles are horrible.I once sprained mine after a few too many glasses of wine due to a pair of demon high heels.”
“I can’t imagine you drunk.”
“Nor do you want to,” I said.“It’s not pretty.”
“Which kind are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Which kind of drunk?You know, loud, sad, funny?People usually fall into one of those categories.”
“Ah, yes.I become honest.Like...disturbingly honest.”
“Noted.In that case, no alcohol around me.I can’t help thinking you’re honest enough with me.”
The now-familiar lip twitch caught my attention, and even though he was messing with me, I’d perhaps been a little harder on him than I would have been on anyone else I knew so little about.We’d gotten off to such a rubbish start, though, with him instantly bristling at the sight of me as if I was some scammer trying to get my hands on his grandmother’s prized possessions.Maybe, on realising he was someone I used to know, I’d been less lenient on him instead of more, hoping he would fit back into my memory of who he used to be.I hadn’t expected him to be a gigantic child, I just hopedsomethingI remembered about him would still be true.But that wasn’t really fair.While I’d been through pretty standard growing-up situations, I hadn’t experienced anything that turned my world upside down.He had continuously been moved from place to place, leaving behind friends, making new ones, then leaving them behind too.He’d seen things.Maybe some that had tainted his world view, and I didn’t know anything about any of it.
“I may have been a little harsh,” I admitted.“I’m sorry.”
He shook his head.“No need.I haven’t exactly been an angel since I got here.”
“True.”I grinned to let him know I wasn’t upset about it.“Maybe we should just start again...again.”
“Okay.But if we fall out this time, no more second chances.”
He was also smiling, and I laughed.“Deal.”
When we got back home, I parked outside June’s house, then got out of my car and went to the passenger side to open the door and help Donovan out.I wasn’t sure how I would deliver him from the car to the house, but after a bit of a struggle to get him to his feet, we carefully hobbled down the path.Donovan only had one shoe on, and he was leaning on me heavily for support, hissing in sharp breaths every time he had to put weight on his sprained ankle.It was no easy feat since he was a foot taller than me and a lot heavier with his sturdy build.We had only gotten halfway down the path when the front door opened, and June’s hand covered her mouth as she saw the state of her grandson.
“Oh my God,” she said, stepping down onto the path and meeting us where we’d paused for a break.She glanced at Donovan before circling around to his other side.
“It’s okay, Nan,” he said as she wrapped an arm around his back.“It’s just a sprain.”
“Well, we need to put ice on that immediately.Let’s get you inside.”
Although June couldn’t take much of Donovan’s weight, having her on his other side made it a little easier for us to get to the house a bit quicker.We managed to lean him against the wall in the hallway while he took off his coat, then we helped him to the sofa in the living room, where he flopped down in relief, tugging off his scarf.
“Thank you,” he said, laying the scarf over the arm of the sofa, then wiping his brow.Despite the cold, that amount of struggle combined with the pain had led to a layer of sweat forming on his forehead.
“No worries,” I said, as June lifted his injured ankle onto the coffee table to keep it elevated.
