Jake was part of this off-campus club. We weren't supposed to know about it as outsiders, but one night while drunkenly playing some videogames, Jake blurted out that he had joined a club designed to give busy students a way to date other equally busy students. That all seemed innocent enough, until we learned that it also was designed for these busy students to basically meet for dates guaranteed to end with sex. Once Mo heard about the club, he kept pestering Jake to let him join. It looked like today was the picnic where all the prospective members would be given the opportunity to chat with all the other members and for those members to judge whether or not the prospective members would indeed be a good fit for the club. The following day, those members would be voted in or out. We all had our fingers crossed that Mo would make the cut -- as a pre-med student he had very little free time. Sure, when he wasn't studying, he was usually blowing off steam with the rest of us playing video games, but he could really use some stress relief, if you catch my drift!
"Anyway," Pablo said, getting us back on track, "So, are you two, you know?"
"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" I asked rhetorically. "Yes," I put my arm around her and pulled her close next to me. "Yes, I'd say we're happy calling each other that. What do you think, Donna?"
She kissed my cheek and smiled like none of us had ever seen her smile before. She didn't need to say anything, the glow around her told the whole story. She was my girlfriend and I was her boyfriend, there was absolutely no question of that.
"Well, I hope it all works out for the best, buddy," Pablo said, grabbing his tray. "I got to get to weight room, are you going to be around the track today?"
"I think so, but I'm not sure," I told him also grabbing my tray. He took it from me, and stacked it on his; it was gestures like these that I always appreciate. It's difficult to do many remedial tasks due to my nerve damage in my leg. Even tasks you wouldn't think would be difficult. The fact is, using a cane to walk leaves me not only with one bad leg, but also with only one hand to work with, so carrying stuff can be really difficult, especially unwieldy things like trays. "Um, what time's practice this afternoon?"
Pablo and I talked about track for a little bit while we bussed out trays to the conveyor belt they go on for the college's staff to clean up. Even though it was February and track season did not start until March, the coach already had the athletes training so they'd be ready to rock for the first meet. I told him I'd try to come down and watch him throw, but it depended on how my pain was. He said he understood and we walked back over to the table. He grabbed his athletic bag and went off to the weight room.
Mo and Jake said they had to get going too. They had to get ready for their picnic. After they left I told Donna that I thought it would be pretty interesting to be a fly on the wall (or in the egg salad) for that picnic. She laughed and said it was time for us to go too. She grabbed her tray and we were on our way back to my dorm room (which was now also hers for the time being).
On the way we stopped by the student health center for some free condoms. One of the awesome perks about going to a health-conscious college!
*****
She and I lay back down on my bed. I had already taken off my jeans I wore to breakfast and put on a pair of athletic shorts. I could tell she was looking at my leg again, but tried not to let it get to me. If she really did want to be my girlfriend, she would have to hear the whole story sooner or later. I sighed and rolled to my side, so we could look face to face.
"Where do I begin?" I wondered out loud.
"Why don't you start where you feel comfortable," she suggested.
"Alright, well I guess we'll go from the car accident. I was on my way to a track meet... Actually, it was our league finals. I was at a stop sign, waiting my turn to go. The guy behind me was not. I could see him coming up on me, and I knew he was going to hit me. I kept my right leg firmly pressing the break and slammed on my horn so everyone around would know something was up. He tried to swerve, or at least I think he did. It might have just been him swerving while driving from being drunk, though.
"Anyway, he hit the back of my Prius. Hard. My pole vault poles came off the roof rack and flew all over the intersection. My emergency jack flew from the trunk and ended up in the back seat. Don't ask me how that happened; I'm no physics major. Obviously, the police and paramedics were called. The other driver tried to run, but he ended up driving over some of my poles, causing him to blow out a tire. He ended up hitting a tree and totaling his car. He still ran from the accident, but the po' was able to catch him easily enough.
"Honestly, I don't remember any of this. This is just what everybody else has told me -- the witnesses and the police. I was knocked unconscious from the accident immediately. That's probably for the best... I never want to remember what I actually experienced. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. My Mom and Dad were there already. I was still woozy from my concussion, but the docs told me I had torn my MCL pretty severely. Ironically, this was probably because I was bracing so hard on the brake for the impact. The doc said the injury should going to heal just fine, and that I was lucky I hadn't torn my ACL."
I sighed, and started to continue. Donna stopped me, already crying. "You're leg is shaking, Er," she told me.
"It's a spasm. I used to get them a lot, but my meds help quite a bit." I replied matter-of-factly.
"Can I?" she asked, placing her hands on either side of my knee.
I jumped involuntarily at her touch. "Y-yes," I said. "Hard touch is better than light. Anyway, I'll get to the end of the story now, if that's okay." She nodded yes, while gently holding my knee in her hands. "Well, the docs said that surgery wouldn't be necessary, that after the concussion wore off I should do some physical therapy and take some pain medication. I'd have to wear an immobilizer and use crutches for about a week and afterward a month's worth of PT [physical therapy] should make me right as rain. Well, I wore the immobilizer and did the PT. But the pain and weakness I felt in my knee, leg and foot kept growing worse. My physical therapists told me it was all in my head and to get over it. I kept telling them their exercises were too difficult, and I was in too much pain to keep going at their rate. They wouldn't listen.
"Well, my mom kept getting more worried, she made an appointment with my orthopedist. The one I was normally seeing was on vacation, and she told them I had to be seen right away. I got in that day with one of his associates. After hearing what I was describing as my symptoms, he decided to run some tests and get another MRI of my knee. He called me into the office as soon as he found out the results. He told me it couldn't wait and his secretary was going to clear whatever space in his schedule would fit my own. Believe me, when a doc tells you that, you know it's not going to be good news. Well, he sat me down in the office and explained that physically, my knee, leg and foot are healthy. The pain I feel all the time -- and will always feel all the time -- is the result of severe nerve damage caused by the accident. In the blink of an eye, my dreams of being an elite track athlete were over. I will always be in pain, my leg will always be discolored and swollen, I will always need a cane to walk, and I will always need physical therapy to ensure my leg doesn't atrophy."
Donna was crying more now, obviously my story had really gotten to her. She nuzzled herself close to me, letting go of my leg. She put her hands on either side of my face, and looked me in the eye. "You will always need, and always have something else, Er," she said wiping some of her tears away with a tissue.
"What's that?"
"Love," she said and kissed me. "My love, Erik. I've loved you for so long. Not just as a friend. I've loved you as a best friend. My best friend. And I love you even more that you were able to share all that with me. And I don't want to scare you, but I already love you as my boyfriend. You're so brave. So -- "
I didn't let her finish; I kissed her back, passionately. Her lips slowly parted, and our tongues met for the first time. She then lightly pushed me back down onto my pillow so I was lying down on the bed. Both hands moved to her shirt, which she began to unbutton.
"Are... are you taking off your top?" I asked unable to stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
She smirked and rolled her eyes without answering the question. A moment later her shirt hit the floor. Next, she quickly and effortlessly unlatched her bra and threw it onto the floor as well. Since I met her during orientation I knew she had a good body... and quite honestly I had attempted to sneak a peek more than a few times while staying over in her room while my roommate and hers were occupied in my room. As before, I was still amazed by just how large her breasts were -- and even more amazed about how she was able to conceal them from others' notice.
"
Nit dos iz sheyn, vos iz sheyn, nor dos, vos es gefelt.,
," I murmured.
"What was that?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips while she looked at me with a stern, yet playful expression.
