Rose Bridges

Twenty four

Romero

The house is dark and dead silent as she lays on the couch with her shoes knocked off. Her makeup has melted off her face from the crying and she looks drained as she lays there half asleep.

I walk over, holding an ice pack wrapped in a thin kitchen towel, and sit on the other side of the couch.

It's silent between us as I pull her foot onto my lap and hold the ice pack to her ankle.

It doesn't look bad. Just a little bruised.

The only light on is a candle on the coffee table.

I glance over to her and see her staring into space.

"It doesn't look bad," I murmur. "Just ice it for a few days and you should be good."

I glance back over to her and she's still staring into space.

And suddenly, she starts laughing.

Laughing.

I stare at her with widened eyes and an ajar mouth as she holds her hands up to her face and laughs into her palms, her body quivering with laughter.

After a minute passes of just her laughing is when I start to get a little more concerned. "Carmen," I say.

She's still laughing. "Carmen," I repeat a little more loudly.

Tears of laughter are coming out her eyes. I don't think she realizes how loud she's laughing and I'm not sure if anyone is home, so I take her foot off my lap and back on the couch before getting up and squatting on the floor next to her.

"Carmen," I say more sternly as I grab her wrists and gently pull her hands way from her face.

Jesus christ, she looks like a mess.

And damn is it refreshing; to see someone who always seems so put together at all times looking like a complete disaster.

Maybe we're not so different at all.

I can't stop my wide amused grin.

She smiles back at me, soft laughs still coming out her mouth.

"You good?" I ask quietly, chuckling.

She nods, smiling so much, the apples of her cheeks looking prominent.

I lean over and place my hand on the back of her knee, bending it upwards to bend her leg, so I can grab the ice pack and hold it to her ankle from where I'm squatting next to her.

My smiles dies off as I look at the ice pack. "Listen..." I begin. "I'm really sorry-"

"Thank you," she says at the same time.

I pause and shake my head. Huh?

She sees my confusion and smiles. "That was the most thrill I've experienced in I think my whole life."

I smirk. "Running with a bruised ankle?"

She raises her eyebrows slightly and nods, acting impressed. "I feel like a new woman."

My head drops forward and I smile, trying to reduce it before I look back up. "Are you serious?"

"I feel like I just went on a roller coaster," she admits, looking winded but with a smile.

I stare at her with pinched eyebrows. "But-" I glance to her foot.

"Pshhhhh. It'll be fine. I'll just wear really short heels for the next few days."