Page 68 of AMS.TER.strum

‘I’ll remember it next time.’ My chuckle comes out as a painful cough because now, my leg feels heavy as if an iron ball has been attached to it.

‘Let’s try to lift you up on the couch.’

When I’m upright and put weight on my damaged leg, it’s like being pierced by a drill. I pull up my foot so that it barely touches the floor and collapse on the couch like a sack of potatoes. Also a bad idea; my lower back isn’t happy.

‘Fuck… it was a frigging piece of plastic…’

‘This is how people end up in the hospital. Hang on—let me call Mum to pick up the kids, and we’ll get you a taxi. I’ll sort my shift tomorrow if I need to take you to the airport… ’

‘Aaron’s just gonna love this…’

Corrie’s hand rubs up and down my arm in a soothing pattern. ‘Let’s get dressed first, and we’ll take it from there.’

‘Corrie?’ She looks up from her phone. ‘Maybe put Thumper away first?’ I nod towards the forgotten vibrating toy. ‘Unless you really want to check how long the battery lasts.’

We look at each other as if not knowing how to react, but both our bodies are still running on endorphins, so it can only go one way. The first to go is Corrie, her suppressed laughter finally coming out like a cough, before it takes over her face and starts shaking her whole body, as she collapses next to me on the couch. I follow suit, Aaron forgotten for the time being, and even my throbbing leg seems to have declared truce for a moment.

And there, half-naked on the couch, my arms around the most wonderful woman, the one who has my heart wrapped around her little finger, ignoring whatever inconvenient logistics all this might mean, I feel at home like never before. That this home is my very own Sugar City, the one I have been looking for in every apartment, hotel room, city I’ve been.

Three hours later, I’m back on the couch, leg propped up with a few cushions, and another one behind my back, with very strict instructions to not move. Duh!

Corrie runs to the supermarket for supplies, before Iris brings the kids over in an hour. The TV remote is aligned next to my phone, in case I’m in the mood for distraction. Or need to call someone, which is at the very bottom of my priorities, but at the very top of the list with things I need to do.

My totally legit excuse for not having called Aaron yet is that the hours post-accident were a whirlwind of logistics, most of them uncomfortable. Or painful. Or both.

Sadly, I can’t wait it out before calling Aaron, so I reach out for the phone. Am I being a drama queen or is the pain more acute, knowing what’s about to happen? I try to sound casual, but of course he doesn’t buy it.

‘What’s wrong? Why do you video call? You never do that.’

‘Don’t you want to see my pretty face?’

‘I want to see your pretty ass, the one your fans are drooling over, on the seat of that plane tomorrow, because things are piling up, while you’re playing tourist in Amsterdam.’

‘About that…’ I move the phone to hover over the black boot-shaped brace that’s gonna be my companion for a while. ‘Hairline fracture.’

‘What? How? And where the hell are you?’

‘I stepped on a loose tile in the street. There’s a lot of construction going on…’

‘How did you climb back up to that Airbnb?’ he asks suspiciously.

‘I…am at Corrie’s. We were walking together when this happened, so after the hospital, we came to her place. It’s a ground floor, so I don’t have to climb any stairs with the crutches.’

He looks like a teacher listening to bullshit about why his students didn’t turn in their homework. ‘You’re still gonna be on that plane tomorrow, though.’

‘The doctor said I need to keep my leg up and put as little weight as possible on it.’

‘How long?’

‘Forty days,’ I finally blurt out. ‘I won’t be lying round all the time, but for the first four weeks, it’s imperative that I stress it as little as possible.’

‘Forty. Fucking. Days?!’

‘I know it’s not ideal…’

‘That’s one way of putting it.’

‘I’m sorry, Aaron.’ I really am, considering it means a ton of administration for him to cancel my upcoming appearances. Fortunately most of them are at festivals that include other colleagues, so not entire shows are cancelled.