Page 45 of Loving Kai

“I guess I should start her up to make sure.” He straddled the bike and turned the ignition. When it fired right up, he gave the woman a thumbs-up, then put on his helmet as she drove away. He eased the bike onto the road and looked both ways, wishing he’d taken Justin up on his offer to come get him. He sighed, then made sure he’d cleared the gravel before shifting into gear and heading home.

He went slowly and found himself being hyper vigilant, aware of every little thing around him. He arrived at home without further incident and put the bike in the garage.

He went inside the house, took off his boots at the door, then headed for the bathroom to remove his pants and get a better look at his abrasions. Taking his pants off was a challenge, and he tried not to remove any more skin that might be attached to the shredded denim.

The damage was hard to see through the seeping blood, which was running down onto his ankle. He sat on the toilet and put a warm washcloth over it before the blood could hit the floor. It hurt, and he fought the urge to remove it. But the alternative was to run it under water, which would hurt more. He had to rinse the washcloth several times before he could see the cuts, scrapes, and bruises left by the roadway. Nothing too deep or requiring stitches. There was a little bit of gravel, which he removed. He’d recover.

It took a moment to place a large nonstick pad over the area since his hands were still shaking. It wasn’t perfect, but it was on, and he wrapped his calf in gauze. He would need to keep it clean and dry for a few days until it scabbed over. He stood, removed his T-shirt, and looked at the bruise on his upper arm. The damage appeared superficial and muscular. Something else he’d get over in a few days. He put on a clean T-shirt, then took three extra-strength Tylenol. It had been a good day until the last hour.

He sighed. It hadn’t started out good, but once Maggie came over, things improved. “Maggie.” Thank God she wasn’t on the bike with him when that asshole Stuart tried to run him over. She’d never get on a bike again. The thought of it made him angry, and he considered calling Justin again to see if they’d arrested Stuart.

Abe went to bed and tried to stop thinking about Stuart’s truck heading for him and his body skidding across the highway by deciding where he should take Maggie for their first official date. The rodeo was in town for the week, and he decided that since she was an ex-barrel racer, she might enjoy going. He liked to ride horses, but he wasn’t a big rodeo guy. For Maggie, he would be, at least for one night.

He didn’t sleep well, and when he woke, his whole body hurt. The accident had done more damage than he’d thought. He still didn’t think it warranted a trip to the doctor’s office, though. He couldn’t take a shower because he wanted to keep his leg dry, so he opted for a hot bath. When he sat down, he rested his leg on the side of the tub.

His mother’s hot tub would feel really good on his sore, bruised muscles, but it’d be hard to keep his leg dry in it. The bath would have to do. He’d brought his phone in with him, and when it rang, he dried his hands on a towel and answered. He smiled at the sight of Maggie’s name on the caller ID.

“Good morning.”

“Hi. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No.”

“What are you doing?”

“Um…taking a bath, actually. And don’t say it’s cute. I haven’t taken a bath in quite a while.”

“Why now?”

He scowled at his bandaged leg. “I had a bit of an accident last night.”

“Accident? What happened?”

“I was so anxious to get home last night that I forgot to make the bank deposit.”

“Oh no. You had to go back out?”

“Yeah. It was last night or first thing this morning. Turns out, though, I may have made the wrong decision.”

“How so? Did you crash your bike?”

He didn’t want to worry her, but he didn’t want to underplay the event either. “Not really a crash. More of a slow-motion fall and skid.”

“Oh my gosh. Are you hurt?”

He glanced at his leg and wiggled his toes. “A little banged up. Nothing to worry about.”

“How banged up is a little?”

“A gnarly road rash on my leg and a bruised shoulder.”

“Abe.”

“It’s fine. All good.”

“Can I bring you anything on my way to work?”

“No.” It’d be nice to see her, though.