"Who wants to go for a walk?" I asked Hayes.
He jumped up and barked. I guess he did. I attached his leash to his harness and we were off. I locked the door behind me and started for the park. Hayes was a playful, 3 year old shepherd mix and he needed to be walked for an hour at least twice a day. On Saturday's, I try to go to the park with him and run around the pound and the playgrounds. It made Hayes tired and I get my workout in. Got to stay in shape for reasons I will not admit.
Hayes looked up at me as we got to the park. He started wagging his tail and shuffling his feet. He knew what the park meant and got more excited with each step towards it. Starting our run Hayes was out in front as he usually was. He liked chasing the ducks and geese at the pond more then he liked tennis balls. I don't know how many ducks there were going to be since it was still cold but I was hoping, for Hayes' sake, there were at least a few.
There were no ducks when we got down to the pond but that didn't stop Hayes from pulling the leash. Usually, if he saw that there was nothing to chase, he would calm down and run along side me but something was up. He didn't want to run around the pond anymore, he just pulled me in the direction of the playgrounds. They were up a very steep hill and usually we would climb the stairs but not today.
"Hayes!" I yelled as I tried to keep up with him.
The ground was wet and muddy and I tried to keep my footing. I also tried to slow him down but something was up there that excited him. Maybe there were ducks or pigeons so that he could get it out of his system. I was just about to reach the top when I slipped on the mud, let go of Hayes' leash and slide all the way down to the bottom of the hill. When I reached the bottom, I was faced down in the mud. Great. I sat up and looked around. Thank god, no body was around to see. Trying to get up there was a surge of pain through my ankle. Double great. I looked at my clothes and oh triple great! My clothes were full of mud. I was a mess. I sighed and limped up the steps to the playgrounds.
Hayes was jumping up and down next to a man watching his daughter climb up the slide. The man was holding Hayes' leash and once Hayes saw me he barked.
"Oh Hayes," I managed to say trying not to cry.
And quadruple great.
"Oh there she is," Toby turned around to look at me.
"Shit," I murmured.
Toby took his daughters hand and walked over to me. I tried to smile but it was a weak one. I was a mess and I didn't really want Toby to see me like this. No way.
"Wow, you look great," Toby joked looking at all the mud that had accumulated on my clothes.
"Thanks for catching Hayes," I ignored the comment.
"Oh, he came right up to me actually," He said scratching Hayes' head.
"I was wondering why he was acting up," I smirked taking his leash.
"Uhm," Toby looked at Sasha still holding his hand. "This is my daughter, Sasha. This is Daddy's girlfriend, Amber"
"Hi Sasha," I said squatting down to her level. Pain shot through my leg and I guess it showed on my face.
"What's wrong?" Sasha asked putting her hair back behind her ear.
I laughed nervously looking down at the muddy ground then back up to her.
"Well," I started. "When I was at the top of the hill with Hayes, I slipped and fell down the hill," I got up from the squat and my ankle was in pain yet again.
"Here, why don't we go sit down," Toby suggested sending Sasha off to play on the swings.
"Yes please," I said holding back tears. It hurt more and more with every step I took. Hayes was wagging his tail happy to be out and about. He was full of mud too.
When I sat down on the bench, there was an immediate relief. I am just prone to getting hurt I suppose. I watched Sasha jump off the swing, cheer when she landed on her feet, and then get back on. I attempted to smile at the thought of my child doing that one day. Well, when I have kids... if that's ever going to happen.
"What hurts?" Toby snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, my ankle," I answered trying to move it.
"May I?" He asked going for my ankle to look at it.
I nodded and he took my leg up on his lap. He pulled my sweatpants up slightly exposing my very swollen ankle. It was slightly red and the swelling went a quarter of the way up to my calf. It hurt like a bitch.
"I think you should go to the hospital," Toby mumbled rotating my ankle very gently.
"No, no. I am fine," I argued. "I just need to rest it when I get home."
"Did you walk here?" He asked.
"I... I don't want to tell you how I got here because you will tell me I can't do that," I addressed.
"Amber,"
"Don't Amber me like you Michael Michael," I think the pain was getting to me because I felt dizzy but I shook it off. "I am going to walk back home and rest my ankle."
"No you aren't," Toby protested.
"Watch me," I argued getting myself ready to stand up. I took and deep breath and pushed myself off of the bench. I couldn't even put my foot down it hurt that bad. I sucked it up and took a step away from the bench. Nope. I sat back down on the bench and looked at the ground. "I need help."
"What?" He smirked.
"I need help!" I exclaimed.
He laughed. "Sasha has some friends here so I can ask them to take them home when they're done. I'll pick her up later when I can."
"I don't want to take you away from you daughter," I muttered. "Besides, I'm dirty, Hayes is dirty. I don't want to get your car muddy."
"Oh, it's not such a big deal," He said standing up. "I'm going to just go talk to one of the mom's and I'll be right back. Uhh, just stay here."
And off he went. I shouldn't be thinking about this but Toby, I think, is such a good father. Sasha obviously loves him. You can see it when she hugs him. He cares so much for her, like a father should. She is adorable by the way.
"Okay, come on," Toby came jogging back. "Give me Hayes."
I didn't really like anyone else walking Hayes. He can get strong and obnoxious sometimes and I'm the only one who actually listens to me. I gave Toby his leash and huffed. He gave me his other hand and helped me off the bench. Refusing to put my foot on the ground, I quickly wrapped my arm around his shoulders and grabbed on to his upper arm. Toby wrapped his right arm around my waist and we slowly set off to his car. Thankfully, his car was just beyond the playground. Hayes got stronger as we approached Toby's car but, Toby was able to keep him at bay which was very reassuring. I didn't want Hayes to pull and we would both fall and probably end up going to the hospital.
Toby opened the back door and Hayes jumped right up. He closed the door and opened the passenger door. He backed me up and sat me down into the car. He closed the door, went around the car and got in. He backed up and started towards the exit of the park. Hayes barked at everything. I sighed and tried to calm him down but it was no use.
"It's okay," Toby smirked. "He's excited."
I nodded. "He loves car rides." I thought Toby was taking me home but he passed my street. "Where are we going? You passed my street."
"I did?" He asked obviously knowing what he did.
"Yes. Where are we going?" I started panicking. "Toby, where are we going?"
"I'm taking you to the hospital," He admitted.
"No, no, no," I panicked.
"You need to get your ankled checked out," Toby argued.
"Please no," I muttered. "I have a boot at home I can wear for compression and I will stay in bed. Just don't take me to the hospital."
Toby thought for a minute, sighed and turned the car around.
I kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."
"But, if you need help with anything, you have to let me help you no matter what," He addressed finally turning on to my street.
"I promise," I said.
We pulled into my driveway and he helped me out of the car. I grabbed Hayes' leash, hopped to the back fence, and turned him lose into the backyard. I wasn't letting him into the house. He needed a bath. Toby helped me inside where he sat me down on a kitchen chair.
"Okay, what do you need?" He asked looking around my kitchen.
"First, I need to get into the bathroom," I informed him. "Then, Hayes needs a quick bath before coming inside. He's really good at receiving baths. Just take the hose, fill up the little kiddie pool back there and yell 'Hayes gets a bath!'. He will jump into the pool and you can just hose him down."
"Okay, easy enough," Toby murmured as he helped me back up.
He walked me into the bathroom and sat me down on the toilet. He closed the door behind him and went to give Hayes a bath. I took off my shoes and all my clothes and put them into the hamper. I was going to need to do laundry after my swelling went down. I hopped my way over, sat down on the edge of the bath tub, and started a bath. I reach over to the cabinet under the sink, and grabbed a pair of my pajamas. I turned the water off and slowly emerged myself into the hot bath. I washed the dry mud from my face and hair and then washed the rest of my body. Usually I would sit in the tub for over an hour but Toby was here and I didn't want to keep him from Sasha. I drained the bath and sat on the edge of the tub. I put my shirt on and slowly put and pulled my pants up. I hopped to the doorway and swung open the door. Toby was waiting next to the bathroom. A little wet but he looked okay.
"Okay, ready?" He asked not waiting to hear my answer. He wrapped his arm around me and started towards the bedroom.
On the bed was already several pillows at the end, a glass of water, advil, and the remote to the TV. Toby helped me on the bed and gently put my foot on top of the pillows. He took out 2 advils, gave them to me, and gave me the water as I put the advils in my mouth.
"Thank you," I said putting the water down.
"Hayes is in the living room on his bed. I made sure his feet weren't muddy when coming in," Toby announced sitting at the foot of the bed. "I'm going to go pick up Sasha but, if you need anything just call me." He put his number into my phone and left it on the side table. "Don't get up unless you need to, please," He kissed me on the forehead and left.
I sighed and turned on the TV. I wish he would've stayed but he needs to spend time with his daughter. I heard that she admires Michael and whenever Toby brings her into work she stays with Michael and plays with his toys. That's adorable. Toby must be thrilled. The news was on talking about how companies, like Dunder-Mifflin, can't compete with companies like Staples. I sneered and changed the channel. There was an okay movie on so I just let it be. Maybe I'll just take a nap. No, no. I wasn't tired. I sighed and looked around. I just wanted to be on my feet cleaning.
I watched two movies and an episode of my favorite series. I turned off the TV and looked at the time. 7:30pm. I was getting hungry but I just had the ingredients to make food, not food I could pop in the oven. My phone rang just then.
"I'm coming in," The voice on the other end said and hung up. Hayes barked as someone came into the house.
Shit. Who's here? I looked at my phone to see who had called me. Toby.
"Hey," He came in with a bag from some Thai place that I haven't heard of. "Uhh, I hope you like Thai."
Toby took off his jacket and helped me into the kitchen where we ate the Thai. It was actually really good. Hayes begged as much as he could but he only got his dog food. Poor Hayes.
"Thanks for dinner," I whispered gathering the plates.
"No, I've got it," Toby said as he got up and put the plates in the sink. "Okay, back to bed."
"What happened to your daughter?" I asked letting him help me up.
"Oh, her mother wanted to take her to a party so I had to drop her off home," He mumbled walking slowly behind me with his hands on my waist.
I lied down on the bed with my foot up on the pillows, and patted the bed next to me. He hesitated but didn't argue as he went on to the other side, took his shoes off and lied down next to me. I put on the TV and would you look at that, Pretty Woman was on.
"If you don't want to watch this I'll change the channel," I yawned.
"No, we can watch it," He mumbled getting comfortable.
I yawned again just as the 'big mistake' part came on. The pain was coming back in my ankle so I took another advil. Only 1 since I shouldn't take a full dose until 6 hours has past. I carefully turned on to my side facing Toby and continued watching the movie. My eyes were getting heavy and I yawned again. I wanted to get close to Toby but, I didn't want to be rejected. Got to take that chance though. I couldn't concentrate on the movie as I was inching my way towards him. He looked at me quickly and sighed. He scooted towards me and put his arm around me. I hesitated but I put my head on his chest, sighed and fell straight to sleep. This turned out to be a great day.
