Hello Beautiful

I tried to follow my own advice, but it wasn’t exactly working. I hated to see her cry.

I feel so bad about that stupid bruise. Damn it, why am I so competitive?

She closed her eyes again, and this time, after I checked to see that she was breathing and had a pulse, I let her. I could tell that having me freak out wasn’t helping her calm down, so I focused on keeping my breathing even with hers. I could see her wince every time she took a breath. I may just have to strangle Joe for doing this to her, and then I would strangle myself for letting her play this stupid game. I knew she was going to get hurt, so why didn’t I stop her?

Kevin interrupted my thoughts by walking over and kneeling down next to Joe. “Is she ok?” he asked quietly.

“I’m honestly not sure,” I replied.

Laura’s eyes opened. I wiped away her tears and stroked her hair, feeling her forehead discreetly in the process to see if she had a fever. She didn’t and that eased my worry slightly.

I stood up when I heard the ambulance coming towards the back lot of the studio. It pulled up to the basketball court and four guys got out of it. I told them what happened, and even though I desperately wanted to rat Joe out and tell the paramedics that he had tripped Laura, I couldn’t do it. All I told them was that she tripped, fell over backwards, and hit her head.

I had no explanation whatsoever for her chest. Joe was on his own there.