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Fallen #31
Sucre grabbed the popcorn out of the microwave and the Gatorade off of the counter and headed for the basement. He couldn't believe what T-Bag had just done, well he could, he just didn't think that he was dumb enough to do it with so many other people in the house. Perhaps, Sucre was just giving T-Bag too much credit. "Where's Cal?" Lincoln asked as Sucre handed him his popcorn and tossed L.J. his drink. "She's taking a shower; said she suddenly felt dirty." Sucre said trying not to make it obvious that he was glaring at T-Bag, who sat there smiling. Lincoln gave Sucre a confused look, wondering what Cali meant by that. Sucre shrugged "Chicks man. They're all about hygiene." He said. He wanted nothing more than to tell them all what T-Bag had done, but he had promised Cali, and he was not going to betray her.
If I thought that the pain would subside as time went on, I was sadly mistaken. As time went on the pain grew stronger and didn't even want to imagine what the bruise would look like in a few days time. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, hell it hurt to sit still! I needed to ice it, which would be a chore to do without someone noticing. I cautiously searched the bathroom hoping to find an ace bandage or something like it that I could use to wrap my ribs with. The only thing in the house that I had bought was the groceries, so I didn't know what kind of medical supplies had been provided. I had seen a couple ice packs in the freezer so now all I needed was to find something to keep them in place with. The more I searched, the angrier I became. The pain refused to let up, that coupled with the feeling of victimization that I had was almost too much for me to handle. The only thing that kept me from going over the edge was the fact that all I had to do was place one call and my T-Bag problem was over. I decided to forego my search for a moment and went to my bedroom. I shut and locked my door, grabbed my phone off of the charger and gently sat on my bed. I scrolled through my phone book until I came to the last number, and hit send. I took a deep breath, causing pain so strong to course through my body making me feel faint. "Hello?" the voice said. "Hey… It's me." I said trying to mask my pain. "Hey babe… Are you okay? You sound off." He said. "I'm not okay… I need this thing ended now. If you can't do it I will, and I know the boss isn't going to be happy about that!" I said my anger getting the best of me. "Cal!" He yelled "Slow down. What happened?" I took another painful breath and ran through the story as quickly as I could. I didn't want to relive that. After I was finished I listened to him swear and yell and plan out his revenge for about five minutes until he ran out of breath. "When do you want this done?" He asked in a calm voice. I looked at the clock; it was 8:30p.m. "Would 10p.m. be too early?" I asked. "Right now wouldn't be too early." He replied. So that was that. After 10p.m. Theodore Bagwell would no longer be my problem
I hung up and placed my phone back on the charger and decided to get dressed. I grabbed a baggy pair of sweatpants and slipped them on, along with a sports bra and put my house coat on over those. I dug out a wife beater and one of those tank tops that have the bra built it, the stretchy ones, and grabbed a large hoodie out of my closet that I had stolen from L.J. a few days before.
I returned to my search for an ace bandage, finally finding it in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. Of course it would be in the place I should have looked in first! So, there I sat a pile of clothing in front of me along with some safety pins and an ace bandage. I had finally acquired everything that I would need to wrap my broken ribs… Well, almost everything. I needed some help, and there was only one person who I could go to for that. Which created a new dilemma; how do I get him away from the others without creating suspicion? I didn't know, I just hoped that a solution would come to me by the time I got to the basement.
So off I went, to get my helper, dressed in oversized sweatpants and a house coat. I was in so much pain that it wasn't until I got half way down the stairs that I realized that there was music in the air, but it was not coming from the basement. I stopped and turned around, making it my mission to locate the sound. "Hey!" I heard Sucre say from behind me. Slowly, I turned around "I didn't think anyone was down there." I said. "I just came in to grab L.J.'s CD's. Everyone is outside playing basketball." Sucre explained. It was about 9 at night and was dark, but the porch light produced enough light to allow a basketball game to ensue. I nodded in understanding, a pained expression on my face. "You okay?" Sucre asked making his way up the stairs toward me. I nodded once more and sighed "I will be. I need your help wrapping my ribs though… If you don't mind." I said breathlessly. He put his hand on my shoulder "Of course not." He said as we made our way to the bathroom.
"Why so many shirts?" He asked upon seeing the heap of them on the counter. "The wife beater and towel are to prevent frost bite from the ice packs, the green one is to help the ace bandage hold them in place, and the hoodie is to hide it all. " I replied as I slipped my house coat off. Normally, I would have been embarrassed to be standing in front of a man I barely knew wearing nothing but sweatpants and a sports bra. However, I was in too much pain to care about that now. Plus, Sucre didn't eye me like most men I had encountered would.
"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed breathlessly as he sat down on the toilet so he was eye level with the bruise. "Nice huh?" I asked sarcastically. "You really need to go to the hospital, Cali. This is probably worse than it looks and it looks like hell." He said examining my side. "They wouldn't tell me anything that I don't already know." I replied handing him the small towel so he could wrap it around my mid section. He nodded and took the towel and gently wrapped it around me. "Try not to stick me, please." I said handing him a few safety pins. "I'll try not too, but I'm not promising anything!" He joked with a smile. A few seconds later the towel was secure and I had not been made into a human pin cushion. Next came the ice pack, and ace bandage, followed by the green tank top and topped off with the hoodie. "Can you breathe under all that?" Sucre asked trying not to laugh at my many, but necessary layers. I chuckled softly, "No."
Finally, we made our way to the driveway at the back of the house, where the rest were engaged in their basketball game. "'Bout damn time, man!" C-Note exclaimed, doubled over, breathing heavily, with his hands on his knees. "Sorry, my fault." I said as Sucre re-joined the game. "We forgive ya, sweetheart!" T-Bag yelled with a wink. I tried to ignore him, wanting nothing more than to off him myself. I had seen firsthand what he could do to a full grown woman; I couldn't bring myself to imagine what he had put those children through. "Go ahead and have your fun you sick bastard." I thought to myself. "It's the last bit of it you're ever going to get!"