Thursday 18th February

*Just heading back to the office. Text later. Xx*

“Jesus! You alright love?!”

“Do I look alright?! No, really! Am I hurt?”

“Urm, no, just blood. A lot of blood.”

“Ok, thanks. See ya!”

“Wait! Are you sure you’re ok?! You’ve just fallen over!”

“I’m fine thanks!”

***

“No, I can still use my hands. I didn’t put my hands out to save myself. I don’t know why. I was carrying a bag in one hand, the other didn’t come out in time. No, no recent brain surgery. No, I can read. No, I didn’t black out. No, there’s no history of epileptic fits in my family. No, I can’t see my face for bruising. It hurts everywhere. No, I can’t pin point it down, it all hurts. Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s due to the fall. I fell on my face. No, I told you my hands are fine. I don’t know how serious it is, that’s why I’m calling you. Yes, I can talk still. No, I hadn’t been drinking. No, I don’t have any blood related diseases…”

***

“Here, shall I take photos of you before I bandage you up?”

“Urm, sure. Is it that bad?”

“Lets say you’ll want to see this when you’re all bandaged up. Have you got a camera?”

“Yeah, here you go.”

“I’ll take a few…”

“…Wow, this is a very good camera. Injuries in high definition! You’ll love looking back at these later! Something to put up to get followers.”

“Thanks?”

“Ok, you’re going to scar on your foot. They let the skin dry and I doubt we can save it.”

“That’s ok. It’s only small. I care more about my face if I have to be honest.”

“Wait there, I’ve got to discuss how we’re going to do this with someone else. You’re pretty bad and I want to avoid you scaring.”

“Sure, I mean no scaring to the face would be preferable.”

***

“How did you do that? You walk that same route everyday.”

“Why didn’t you use your hands?”

“Your face actually hit the pavement?”

“Where are you now? Did your parents come and pick you up in the end?”

***

Friday – Sunday

*Why can’t I sleep? Why won’t the tablets work? Someone, anyone, please just take this pain away. Give me extra days bed bound and bored, or a passing dizzy spell, but the pain. Please just leave me for a couple of hours so I can sleep.*

***

Sunday

“Are you ok? You seem pretty down today”

“I just have no energy. What energy I do have I can’t use because I can’t walk without pain. I can’t do anything for myself.”

***

“India, help bring the bags in for Alice.”

***

“We’re concerned for her, she’s in pain. It’s her knee, her hands are fine. Yeah, her knee must have gone down then her face. No, her hands are fine. Would you say she should go to minor injuries? Yep, that’s what we thought. Warwick or Stratford? Ok, and her face, they’ve told her to keep these bandages on, but what do you think? She thinks it’s just grazing, but the nurses at Swindon said she had to wear them for a week before taking them off. Yep, we thought that was the case, but then we’re not medics in this house! Ok, thanks Jill.”

***

Monday

“So you fell on Thursday and your knee is still bad?”

“Yes.”

“When you fell did you make any attempt to save yourself?”

“No, I hit the pavement with my face and knee. I don’t know why but I failed to use my hands.”

“Did you black out perhaps? What caused you to fall?”

“I didn’t black out, there was a man there. He was chatting to his friend on the phone. I don’t know what caused the fall, I wasn’t looking at my feet at the time.”

“Well, the x rays show that nothing is broken. Just rest it up and let nature take it’s time. Don’t rush to put weight on it and try to not walk long distances for a couple of days.”

“I walk a lot. I don’t have a car, so there’s little I can do about that.”

“Sorry, we don’t give crutches out unless the bone is broken. It’s for the best if you manage without one.”

***

Monday

“Ah, so you saw the photos then! Yeah, she insisted they took photos of her face so she could show her boss or write some blog post on it. You know what they’re like nowadays. No, she didn’t use her hands. None of us really know why, but then these things happen. Almost happened to me the other day. Case of slow reactions I suppose and how you trip up. No, she hasn’t looked into any no win, no fee agencies. Why? Should she…?”

***

Tuesday

“You sure you’re ok to go back to work?”

“I’m ready to go back. I want to get on with life now. I’m done with being dependant, unable to do anything while life goes on around me.”

***

Wednesday (today)

“Alice! You’re back? How are you feeling?”

“Let me know if I can help in any way. Can I get you anything from town?”

“Aren’t those the shoes you fell over in?”

“Huh, guess they are. Blood stained and tainted with bad memories. I’ll have to buy some more when I can.”

“Come on you, let’s get you back home.”

 

It’s been a roller coaster week, but for once I’m thankful that the world keeps spinning.