I lost my footing as I was walking down the snowy path home. I slipped and landed on my side. Tears stung my eyes as I felt my left ankle throbbing. Slowly, I tried to get up. The pain shot through my ankle all the way up to my thigh.
"Fuck!" I grimaced and cursed myself. It was Thursday night, and I had just spent the evening drinking and partying at a friend's. I was a little too drunk to drive, and because I live only a short walk away from my friend's, I decided not to take a taxi, and to walk instead. Which brings me to where I am now, hobbling down a snowy path, on a cold dark January night, cursing as my sprained ankle is beginning to swell.
I looked at my watch, it read a quarter after two in the morning. At least I was only a block and half away from my apartment. It would only take me a few minutes, then I would be warm and safe, and I would be able to get some ice on my foot. "Thank God." I toughened up and quickened my pace.
A deep shiver ran right through me. "Don't worry Sandra, it's just your mind playing tricks on you." I thought to myself. The wind in the trees was eerie and I could almost swear that I could hear the sound of someone else's footsteps.
I continued on. The pain in my ankle was getting worse, and a new burning feeling brought my attention to my elbow, where I noticed that blood was seeping through my light blue jacket. I groaned, and shook my head, when suddenly a hand clamped down on my shoulder.
A high pitch scream was about to make it's way out of my mouth, when another hand clamped down over it. The hairs on my neck stood up, and the shiver that ran through me earlier returned. I was terrified, and angry. I pitied the poor fool for coming at me like that. Within a split second I had grasped his arm, and turned my body away from his. I threw my fist out and decked him right in the nose. I stood there shocked, as my leg went out to kick him in the balls. It was Ethan, my ex-boyfriend's best friend. He crumpled to the ground looking up at me with a confused look on his face. I stepped away, yelling; "What the fuck were doing?"
He looked up at me and moaned, "I'm sorry Sandra. I didn't mean to scare you. When Carol told me you left and that you were walking home, I started sprinting down the path to catch up with you. I didn't want to let you walk home alone."
I bent over him to help him up. I was still angry and with the adrenaline still coursing through my body, I could no longer feel the pain in my ankle. Ethan's nose was bleeding and he had troubles getting up, his balls still aching from the blow. He looked at me and asked "Where in the hell did you learn to fight like that? Fuck!"
I just ignored him, and continued on my way. He groaned and caught up to me. "Sandra, I'm really sorry."
"You idiot, when you are following a girl home late at night, down a dark path, are your first thoughts always to grab her from behind and cover her mouth?"
"I'm really sorry; I didn't want to scare you."
"So grabbing me from behind and covering my mouth was an attempt NOT to scare me? Whatever."
We walked in silence after that. Finally, as I was once again hobbling, I made it up the stairs to my apartment. I started to calm down, and looking back at Ethan, I noticed the blood leaking down his handsome face. Shaking my head, I opened my door and told him to go in and take a seat. We were both in dire need of some simple first aid.
Putting my boots aside, my cat Dirty Frank and her kitten Mouser rubbed up against Ethan as he sat down. Both cats loved him and would stick to him like glue whenever he was over. It always amazed me because out of all my friends, he liked cats the lease. In fact, he really, just didn't like cats at all. He was always nice to Dirty Frank and Mouser though. He claimed the two cats liked him because they can sense if a person is genuinely good hearted or just plain mean. It made sense to me, although after tonight, I was starting to wonder if he was wrong.
Ethan watched as I took out the first aid kit. I handed him some tissues for his nose and I took out some antiseptic and bandages for my elbow. After I took off my coat and cleaned up the cut, I went up to the freezer and got some ice for both of us. I put in on my ankle and groaned. Ethan looked shocked and asked "Did I do that to you Sandra? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!"
The look of guilt made me feel a little bit better and although I was tempted to say yes and let him believe that it was his fault, I decided to be honest. "No, before you scared the shit out of me, I lost my footing in the snow and fell."
Ethan appeared to be relieved, but the look of guilt still covered his gorgeous face. He wasn't very big, maybe close to 5'9" and 180lbs. But he had gorgeous skin, and I loved his black hair that he kept long enough to accentuate his prominent cheek bones. His hair would fall into little wavy wisps across his face, making him look mysterious and dark. He had deep set dark brown eyes, a thin nose, thick juicy lips, and just a hint of a goatee.
My anger started to subside, and I went over to him to check out his nose. I tilted his head up so I could take a good look. Our eyes locked, and I could feel my heart beat faster. He looked like he was about to say something, when Dirty Frank jumped up on the table and knocked over the bottle of antiseptic, causing it to spill all over the floor. I groaned for what seemed to be the twelfth time tonight and hobbled to the sink to get a rag.
"No, no, girl let me get that." Ethan grasped on to my shoulder, this time much gentler than he had earlier that night. "You should sit and stay off that ankle." He led me back to my chair and sat me back down, then went and cleaned up the mess himself.
I watched as he rinsed the rag out, and then worked on putting the first aid kit away. He was wearing black slacks and a white shirt slightly unbuttoned as well as wrinkled. He also wore a black sports jacket over it. All in all, he looked dangerously handsome.
"Sandra?" I hadn't realized I was staring at him. "You know girl, Jason was a fool to leave you." I looked down. Jason was my ex-boyfriend. We had been together for just about three years, when he left me for a job in Moosejaw. We decided to remain loyal to each other as long as I was saving up the money to go to school there. Well, I had managed to save up the money, only to have him tell me that he was engaged to another woman.