Stages of Grace - By Carey Heywood Page 0,42

under my knee, making me flinch. Ryan's hands freeze, his eyes flicking up to the pained expression on my face. It only hurts for a moment, and since the bandage is now off, Ryan looks back down to inspect my knee. He puts his hands under my leg to lift it a bit. His hands are still cold from the ice, and I shiver. He pulls the throw blanket off the corner chair to wrap around me.

"Better?"

I know his question isn’t just about being cold. I nod.

He smiles and wraps the ice around my knee. "You should probably keep that on your knee for at least fifteen minutes. Want me to keep you company?"

"Oh, you don’t have to."

"It's alright. I don’t mind."

"Okay." I twist my fingers absentmindedly under the blanket, feeling very nervous with Ryan still sitting on my bed. I'm not a pretty crier and can only imagine how splotchy my face must look.

We sit there for a few moments, both of us on my bed. I’m not sure what to say, and he isn’t saying anything. The silence that hangs between us begins to feel almost solid. I start to ask him something. He speaks up at the same time, so we both stop, laughing, telling the other person to go ahead. Ryan insists I go first.

"Do you have brothers or sisters back in New Zealand?"

"I have two older sisters. One is still in New Zealand. The other now lives in Australia."

"Do you miss them?"

"They were a bit older than me so they acted more like second mothers than sisters. I was a bit spoiled." He smiles as though he remembers something and goes on. "They both have husbands and kids of their own now. Jean, my oldest sister, came out here with her family last year for a visit. Orlando isn’t far, and they went to meet Mickey Mouse."

"Nieces and nephews?"

"Yep. Jean has two boys. Um, one is sixteen and the other maybe twelve. Nancy has a girl and a boy. Stacy is fourteen and Adam nine. I think that's about right, give or take a year."

"Are you close to them?"

"Jean's oldest had his heart set on moving out here to work with me over the summer. I wasn’t up to it."

"Why not?"

"Ugh. That kid thinks he's a lady's man of some sort right now. No, thank you. I'm waiting for his hormones to settle down before I even think about it."

"No way! He can't be that bad."

"My sister is convinced he's going to knock up half his class."

I cover my mouth I'm laughing so hard.

"You have a lovely laugh, Grace."

That stops me. I blush, looking down.

"And now you've stopped. I should have kept my mouth shut."

I feel like covering my face with a pillow. "Stop looking at me."

"Afraid I can't do that."

My eyes flick up to his. There he is, sitting on my bed, flirting with me. I have no idea what to do or say. His gaze is too much for me. I look down and nervously worry at one of my fingernails. What's wrong with me? Why can’t I function around him? It’s like being in high school all over again. God, I'm twenty-five years old. I assumed I'd figured out talking to the opposite sex by this point. Ryan looks at his watch and reaches to unwrap my knee. He shakes the ice-pack as he stands and pauses as if about to speak. Instead, he gives me a broad smile and wishes me sweet dreams on the way out.

I flex my knee, trying to see if a bruise is already forming or not, but it looked too blotchy from the ice. Getting settled to go to sleep, I think about Jon. Other than letting him know I had arrived safely, we have not had any contact. What is it going to be like when I get home? I only have three more days until I find out. Even though it had just been Jon in my thoughts, I fall asleep picturing Ryan's green eyes.

~*~

The next morning, my knee feels very sore and is a strange shade of purple. I slowly make my way to the kitchen to retrieve the ice pack. It’s still early, and Kate is still asleep. I hope to ice my leg, shower, and be dressed for the day before she gets up. I don’t even know if the ice is doing anything for my knee at this point but figure that it can’t hurt. Afterward, while in the shower,