Page 29 of Colt
He shrugs. “I think my mom went and got me some new Wranglers and cut about five of them.”
Of course she did. I don’t say anything to him about adaptive clothing or other options because the thing about Colt is, he’s going to do what he’s going to do.
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.”
He maneuvers on his crutches to the breakfast nook table. Then he hoists himself down and looks at me expectantly. “If you’re going to come and invade my privacy, I expect you to be full-service.”
“Yeah, it’s about to be,” I say, going to the cabinet and taking out a coffee mug.
Then I set to preparing him a cup.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he says, not looking at me.
“Oh. I didn’t realize it was notable. It just seemed like you being you.”
He grimaces. “What does that mean?”
“That you don’t like to deal with difficult feelings. And this whole thing is rife with difficult feelings.”
“Touché. But who likes dealing with stuff like this? My mom said something about how I don’t like being patient. And I maintain that nobody actually likes it.”
“Right. I guess that’s true.”
“Being injured is that enough without you all telling me how bad I am at it.”
Something softens in my chest as I set the coffee mug down in front of him. “I’m sorry. I realize that… That’s kind of messed up. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to tell you that you're bad at being injured. It’s just that… I guess in a lot of ways I think that what we're trying to do is show you that we understand this is difficult for you.”
“Thanks.” That word is dry this time, and he takes a sip of his coffee.
“I don’t have a lot of time. I have to go start my shift at Sammy’s.”
Sammy Daniels is a great boss. She has the cutest jewelry store, stocked entirely with things she makes. Sarah and I are reducing our hours as school ramps up for us both. I’m starting my clinical rotations next semester and I won’t be working at all. There are a couple of new girls taking over as our school schedule ramps up. But it’s where I met Sarah, and she’s been a great friend. I feel really lucky to have her, and I know it’s because of the jewelry store.
“Great. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
“So now you’re just going to be surly?”
“I feel kind of entitled to mood swings.”
“Fair enough.”
I don’t leave. Instead, I pour myself a cup of coffee, and I sit down at the breakfast table across from him. “How was your night last night?”
“Terrible. I slept awful.”
“Maybe there’s something you could take for that.”
“I don’t want to. This whole thing already feels like it’s out of my control. I don’t want to end up taking a whole bunch of stuff –”
“Colt, accidents are always out of people’s control. There’s no shame in taking something to help you through it.”
“I don’t need to. I’m just going to… It’ll be fine.”
“It is going to be fine. But it might be different.”
There’s something steely in his gaze then. “I’m going to get back to normal. As close to that as I can. Nothing else is acceptable.”
