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“How is it going, Daisy?”
“It’s great. Thanks for coming over to sit with her. I need to go into the store today and she said she would be fine, but her parents just left and it’s only a few hours.”
“Not a problem,” he said. “I’ve wanted to check in on her anyway though we’ve been texting at night.”
He wanted to call her a few times but figured if she wanted to talk, she’d call him. She knew he was home alone. He’d hinted a few times in their texts but let her decide.
“She’s in her room getting dressed.” Daisy leaned in and whispered, “She is trying to cover up her black eyes. Her brothers picked on her about it and I think she’s self-conscious now.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “She told me she looked like a woodland creature.”
Daisy laughed. “She said that a few times and then her brothers started to make noises like one.”
“What does one sound like?” he asked.
“They don’t know,” Heather said, coming down on her crutches. She was moving faster than he expected. “They were just making annoying noises as brothers do.”
“I don’t know what that is like,” Daisy said. “I’m an only child and, after seeing Heather with Noah and Gavin, I have to say I’m glad for it.”
“Same here,” he said. Though he knew if he had siblings he would’ve tried to protect them and most likely failed since he hadn’t been able to protect himself half the time.
Daisy left and he came further into their apartment. “How are you feeling? You’re moving pretty well.”
“I’ll feel better if you give me a kiss.”
He walked toward where she’d flopped on the couch and put a pillow under her foot. Her shorts rose up higher and he was trying not to look at how much of her leg was exposed.
He leaned down and put his lips to hers. Just a soft kiss, but it was enough she closed her eyes and she let out a sigh.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much. I’m still having some pain, but I don’t need the prescription meds anymore. Some over-the-counter stuff is working and I’m switching up what I take.”
“How is your head feeling?” he asked.
“Fine. I had a headache for a few days, but they said to expect that. I can’t imagine being an athlete and getting my bell rung like that more than once. They said the airbag most likely did it. That and the lovely black eyes.”
“It’s already fading. Or is that the makeup?”
He could see the swelling was gone and the color was not as dark as it might have been.
“Some of it is makeup. I think it isn’t as bad because I’ve been icing it daily and putting witch hazel on it. My mother was horrified the next day when she saw me and burst into tears that night when we were home. She said she couldn’t keep it in anymore and needed to do something about it.”
“I’m sure that made you feel great,” he said. He remembered the insults he’d gotten as a kid from both his parents. Whoever he was living with at the time.
Then in foster care even more. If he had zits on his face, he got ridden over it. If his clothes were dirty or torn, there was always some comment.
He developed what he thought was a thick skin, but it probably had more to do with a front he put on so people didn’t know they had the ability to get to him.
“It is what it is,” she said. “My brothers have been doing it too, but they joke about it. My mother was serious.”
“I’d think with everything you do in your job, you’d know or have something that had healing properties.”
She laughed and grabbed his shirt from where he was standing and yanked him down for another kiss. “Thank you for that. I said that to my mother and she waved her hand and brushed it off. I’ve been putting vitamin C and frankincense oil on my face a few times a day. If I say that to my mother, she’d freak out and insist the witch hazel does it.”
“Sometimes it’s not worth fighting,” he said.
“That is what I learned. Thanks for coming over today, but I don’t need a babysitter. I’m getting around great. Daisy won’t stay gone long and then she is only in for a few hours with appointments she has tomorrow.”
