CHAPTER 22

Kendra stood in her driveway, unable to wait inside any longer. At first, she had pretended like she was doing something inside her garage and had moved things around in there as if that had been the real purpose of her being outside, but when she received Aspen’s text telling her that she was almost home, she’d given up on trying to look busy and just went to stand in her driveway, staring down at her front lawn, contemplating putting rocks there instead of grass because it would be easier to maintain that way and would save some water, too.

When Kendra saw a car slow down before it reached Aspen’s driveway, she started walking that way.

“I can help,” she offered when Aspen opened the back door of the car. “Where’s DJ?”

“Probably at home by now. She lives closer to the airport. Also, hi.” Aspen smiled up at her as Kendra helped her get out of the car.

“I thought she’d be with you to help.”

“I told her I was okay, which I am.”

“When are your parents coming over?”

“They’re not. I mean, they might still come over to check on me, but I told them I was okay.” Aspen wrapped her arm around Kendra’s shoulders. “I don’t even need crutches. I can make it inside, Kendra.”

“You’re supposed to stay off it for at least a week, Aspen. It’s only been two days.”

“I know. And I’ve listened to the doctor, I swear.”

“I’m helping you get inside,” Kendra stated. “And why don’t you have crutches, at least?”

“I had a wheelchair at the airports, and my butt was in my seat on the plane other than to go to the bathroom. I hobbled there to be safe, but I’m okay. I just need to avoid putting all my weight on it.”

“Where are your keys?”

“I have to get my stuff first,” Aspen reminded.

Kendra turned her head to see the driver pulling bags out of the trunk.

“I’ll come back out and get it. Thank you,” she said.

“No problem,” he replied.

“Julio’s my man. He helped me get my stuff in the trunk and told me his daughter was a big fan. Thanks, Julio!” Aspen gave him a wave as he got back in his car.

He waved back at her once inside and pulled out of the driveway, likely going to pick up his next ride.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were taking an Uber home?” Kendra asked as they walked toward Aspen’s house. “I thought DJ or your parents were with you, or I would’ve picked you up.”

“I didn’t want to bother you or my parents. I told DJ I was fine, and I am.”

They got to the porch, where Aspen pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.

“One sec. The alarm.” She moved around inside and entered her code. “Okay. Come on in.”

“I will. I just need to get your stuff.” Kendra went back outside, feeling a little upset with Aspen for not letting her take care of her, but then she remembered and muttered, “You’re not her girlfriend, Kendra.” She picked up Aspen’s two bags, after pulling the woman’s backpack over her shoulders, and went back inside. “Where do you want all of this?”

“You can just drop it by the door. I’ll take it to my room later.”

“Aspen!”

“What?” Aspen asked as she sat on her sofa and shifted until she was lying down.

“Are you always like this? Not letting people take care of you?”

“No. But you don’t have to. I’m okay.”

“Your ankle is wrapped, and you just flew across the ocean. Did it swell? I can get you some ice.” She dropped the bags down and moved to Aspen’s side. “And it should be elevated,” she added.

“The swelling has gone down, actually. I also upgraded to business class for the flight home, so I was able to keep it elevated. Worth it. I wouldn’t mind the ice, though.”

“I’ll get it and be right back.”

“Thank you.”

Kendra made her way into Aspen’s kitchen, found a plastic bag in a cabinet, and filled it with ice before she headed back to the living room.

“Do you want to get set up in your bed instead of out here?”

“I’m good here for now,” Aspen said. “I need to text my mom that I’m home, though.” She pulled out her phone.

Kendra sat down, moved Aspen’s legs into her lap as if she’d done it a hundred times, and unwrapped her ankle.

“Done,” Aspen added.

Kendra looked down at the ankle in front of her, and it didn’t appear to be swollen at all, which made her feel better. She set the bag of ice on it and earned a grimace and a hiss from Aspen before she wrapped it back up.

“Better?” she asked, rubbing Aspen’s calf.

Aspen smiled at her and said, “Yes, much.” Her phone dinged. “My mom is asking if I need her to come over.”

Kendra looked down because she expected Aspen to want her mother there.

“I’ll tell her I’m good.”

Kendra looked up at her and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Are you staying?” Aspen asked back.

“Yes, if you want me to.”

Aspen nodded and looked down at her phone.

“I told her that I have help, so I’m okay.”

“Are you hungry?” Kendra asked.

“Yes, but I don’t think we should do the cookout thing right now.”

Kendra smiled and said, “I’m guessing you have no food here.”

“You’d be correct.”

“I’ll order us something,” she said and pulled her own phone out of her front pocket. “You can eat, and then, I’ll help you get to your bed. I’m sure you’re tired, too.”

“I slept on the plane, so I’m okay.”

“Still, you should rest,” Kendra told her.

“If I rest, will you go home, though?”

“What?”

“I haven’t seen you in over a week,” Aspen said. “I thought we could catch up.”

“What’s to catch up on? I talked to you every day you were gone.” Kendra smiled. “And I know all about this.” She motioned with a hand toward Aspen’s ankle. “When is your doctor’s appointment?”

“Tomorrow in the morning. Don’t worry, I’ll have my mom drive me or something. Or, DJ can, if my mom can’t.”

“Or, I can,” Kendra offered.

“Don’t you have to work?”

“I can take the morning,” she replied. “I’m not flying anywhere this week.”

“I don’t want you to have to–”

“Aspen, it’s okay. I’d rather be there, honestly; in the room with you and the doctor, if you let me, because I have a feeling that even if he told you that you were about to lose a toe, you’d just tell me that everything is fine.”

Aspen smiled and shook her head.

“No, I wouldn’t. I don’t lie to you, Kendra. I didn’t lie about my ankle the first time, either. It was fine, or I wouldn’t have played. I should’ve stopped in the final, I know that, but I thought we had a chance to beat them, honestly, even with me hurt, and we almost did. That would’ve meant that we’d basically qualified, even if not automatically.”

“Aspen, you risked it when you didn’t have to.”

“I know. I’d take it back if I could. That doctor sent my scans to the doc here, though, and he reviewed them for me yesterday while I was still there and said that I was going to be fine. I’m going tomorrow just to make sure, and then I’ll go back in a week and again if I need to later, but the swelling is gone already. They gave me meds, which have helped, and it doesn’t even really hurt anymore.”

“It didn’t the last time, either.” Kendra pulled up her food ordering app. “What do you want for dinner?”

When Aspen didn’t answer, Kendra looked over at her expectantly. Aspen’s face was mostly unreadable, but it did show a small smile.

“Whatever is fine with me. I’m not picky.”

“You say that a lot, you know?” Kendra teased and rubbed Aspen’s leg with her free hand again.

“That feels nice,” Aspen said.

“Is your leg hurting, too?” she asked, worried.

“No.”

Kendra smiled and looked back down at her phone.

“Burgers? Pizza?”

“Something healthy?” Aspen suggested instead.

“Fine,” Kendra replied with a little laugh. “There’s the sandwich place. They do a grilled chicken sandwich on pita bread, if you want that.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” Aspen told her, and she sounded different, so Kendra looked up again.

Aspen’s eyes were closed. Kendra just watched her for a minute as she continued to rub her leg over her sweats. She knew Aspen was hungry and that she should order them something to eat, but she didn’t want to wake her when the food got there. She placed their order and did her best to slowly move herself out from under Aspen, who stirred but didn’t wake. Then, Kendra quietly carried Aspen’s bags into her bedroom. She didn’t feel comfortable unpacking them for her, but she went about setting up Aspen’s made bed with a pillow for her ankle, and after she finished, she went outside the back door and around the front to wait for the delivery driver because she didn’t want them to ring the bell or knock and wake Aspen up.

After getting the food, Kendra put it on a tray that she found in a kitchen cabinet, got Aspen some sparkling water, and carried all that into Aspen’s bedroom, placing the tray on her bedside table. Then, she went back into the living room, knelt down beside Aspen, and pushed her hair away from her face.

“Aspen?”

“Hmm,” she mumbled.

“Food is here. I’ve got it ready for you. Do you want me to just put it in the fridge so you can sleep, though?”

“No,” Aspen replied and opened her eyes. “Hi.” She smiled softly at Kendra.

“Hi,” Kendra said. “Can I get this ice off before you get up?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Kendra stared for a minute longer before she finally moved and got the now-melted ice off Aspen’s ankle. She rewrapped it and helped Aspen stand, walking her toward the bedroom.

“Why are we going this way?”

“I put it in the bedroom so that you can eat and just fall asleep whenever. I thought it would be easier.”

“Oh, that’s smart. You’re smart.”

“Thanks,” Kendra said with a laugh and helped Aspen get into bed before she put the tray over her lap and stood back. “Need anything else?”

“Where’s your food?” Aspen asked, looking around.

“I left it in the kitchen. I figured, if you were going to sleep, I’d just take it home.”

“No, stay. Have dinner in here with me. We can watch something, if you want.”

“Watch something?”

“Yeah. Like, volleyball, or not volleyball.”

“Those are my options?” Kendra laughed a little.

“We can watch whatever you want. I just have film to watch, so I thought if you wanted to watch it with me, you could. If not, we can watch something else. Get your food, and we can decide?”

“Yeah, okay,” Kendra agreed.

Minutes later, she was half-sitting, half-lying down in Aspen’s bed, eating a sandwich, and Aspen had the TV remote in her hand.

“Volleyball or not?”

“Can we watch something else?”

“Sure. What are you in the mood for?”

“Movie? Or are you too tired?”

“I’m okay. I think you rubbing my leg just put me to sleep,” Aspen told her with a wink.

Kendra wished they didn’t have food between them right now because she wanted to move into Aspen’s side and hold her close.

“What kind of movies do you like?” Aspen asked.

“I’m not picky.”

Aspen laughed, and they settled on a movie to watch while they ate their meals as it played across the screen. When they were done, Kendra took the trash and leftovers to the kitchen and came back into the bedroom to finish the movie and go home, but Aspen was out again.

“You’re okay, huh?” she said softly, teasing the other woman.

She pulled a blanket from the end of the bed up and over Aspen’s legs, and since she didn’t know what else to do, she decided to leave a note telling Aspen that she’d be back tomorrow morning to take her to the doctor and reminding her not to do too much walking. She added that she was only a text message away before she placed the note on the bedside table. Looking down and seeing that Aspen was still sleeping peacefully, Kendra couldn’t help herself then. She leaned down and kissed Aspen on the forehead.

“Night, babe,” she said more to herself to see how it would feel to say that out loud.

She smiled because it sounded pretty good to her. Then, she left, making sure to lock the house after herself, and headed home. A few minutes later, her phone dinged.

Aspen Ashley: Thank you. I had to get up to turn on the alarm, but I’m back in bed now, and I’m going to get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can finish the movie sometime.