Before she could even think to raise her arms to protect herself, the ball slammed full speed into her nose, the crunching sound reverberating in her head. Her eyes snapped closed on impact, then filled with tears. She dropped to her knees. The world was spinning. If her nose was bleeding she couldn’t feel it. Her entire face stung, but it was also numb. Was that possible? She reached her left hand forward. Down? Somehow it connected with the ground and the wobbling decreased slightly. The ground was hard beneath her hands. Kneeling forward, she took deep, steadying breaths.
“Shit! Chloe!” The gentle hands that found her shoulders were shaking. “Here, sit back. I’ll help you.”
Chloe let herself be pushed back slowly, her legs stretching out in front of her as she used her left hand to stabilize herself in her new seated position. The wooziness was settling down now, but pain was throbbing into being, spreading from her nose to the rest of her skull. Mercifully, though, she heard no other voices approaching. She might not have survived had any of the coaches from the boys’ team come over to investigate.
“Shit, I’m so sorry. I was aiming for the lower right-hand corner and then…that damn lawn mower backfired! It startled me and I pulled it.” Madeleine’s voice trembled. “Let me check you out.”
Soft fingers removed the hand Chloe had been using to cover her face. Placing both of her hands gingerly on either side of Chloe’s face, Madeleine tipped her head back slightly tracing gently underneath her closed eyes with the soft pads of her thumbs.
“How bad is it?” Chloe managed to get out, though every syllable pounded in her teeth and cheekbones.
“I’m so sorry,” Madeleine repeated. She hesitated, her hands still cradling Chloe’s face. “I,” there was another pause, “I think I broke your nose.”
Desperate to regain even an ounce of control, Chloe opened her eyes. Control, however, was not what she saw in the face inches from her own. She found abject fear. Despite the fuzz of her addled brains, she could tell that Madeleine was seriously shaken. Her worried eyes were searching Chloe’s face ceaselessly. A face which, Chloe suddenly realized, was probably streaked with tears and no small amount of snot as well as the blood she could feel dripping out of her nose.
Was that a tear on Madeleine’s face too? What the hell? Her nose hurt, but she would be fine; it wasn’t life threatening. Instinctively, she looked for a way to reassure her.
“The real question is, did I get the save?” She raised her eyebrows, instantly regretting it and wincing in pain. Madeleine glared at her, then turned around to locate the ball.
“If I didn’t, lie to me.” That got a little chuckle.
“You’re in luck, keep. The ball must have ricocheted off your dome. It’s a good fifteen feet from the net. Congratulations, you got the save.” Madeleine smiled, some of the worry leaving her face. “For the record, though, you’re supposed to use your hands, not your beautiful face.”
Supporting Chloe with one hand, held warm against her cheek, Madeleine swept some of the hair off her forehead with her other hand, her touch featherlight. Her fingers combed through the rest of her hair, pulling the strands back into place, but her eyes never left the throbbing mess in the middle of Chloe’s face.
“C’mon. It can’t possibly be that bad. You look like someone stabbed your puppy.”
At that Madeleine finally managed a short laugh. Letting go of Chloe’s face, she reached for her hands, removing the gloves she’d forgotten she was wearing.
“It’s already starting to bruise under your eyes and it’s only going to get worse. Stay put. I’ll get some stuff from the first-aid kit in the soccer teams’ storage unit.” Madeleine stood and walked away.
Chloe stayed put, as ordered, content to sit still for a while longer, hoping the pain would recede a bit. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she waited.
Returning with some gauze pads, Madeleine knelt down next to Chloe. “Stop me if this hurts, but we can’t have you dripping blood all over the place.” Madeleine slid her hand behind Chloe’s neck, supporting her head as she tipped it back with her other hand. Chloe’s skin tingled at the soft touch. She couldn’t determine if it was shock, the gentle way Madeleine was stroking her face, or the rush that accompanied her proximity that was preventing her from feeling any pain. Most likely it was the intoxicating mix of all three.
Madeleine finished, leaving her fingers on Chloe’s chin after gently tilting her head back down. Chloe’s heart froze, then in order to make up for the lost time took off racing in her chest. She watched, mesmerized, as Madeleine dipped her face a fraction of an inch closer. No sooner had she begun to contemplate what that might mean, though, to hope it meant what she’d like it to, than Madeleine dropped her hand, a slight tremble noticeable as she brought it to her left wrist to play with the hair tie there.
Thoroughly shaken herself, Chloe leaned back on her hands, trying to get a little distance from whatever had flared between them. Madeleine stood, careful not to bump Chloe.
“We have to go to urgent care. I’m worried that you might have a concussion, and I think they’re going to need to reset your nose.”
That statement was enough to bring Chloe back down to earth.
“Madeleine, I’m fine. I don’t need to go. I can breathe and my head doesn’t hurt hardly at all.” Chloe had zero intention of going to the doctor. She had been to way too many already. She was not going for a simple broken nose.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I broke your damn nose. Let’s go.”
The retort Chloe was going to make—that she’d broken enough bones in her lifetime to know how to handle a fractured nose—died in her throat when she looked more closely at Madeleine. She was more shaken than a ball to the face should have made her.
“What is it?” Chloe stood, reaching out a hand toward her.
“Concussions scare the shit out of me and I launched a ball full speed at your head. Plus, your nose has to be broken. I feel terrible. Taking you to the doctor is all I can do about it. Please, can we go?” The impassioned plea surprised Chloe. She put her hand on Madeleine’s upper arm, rubbing it softly.
“Okay, we can go. But please promise me that you’ll stop feeling guilty over it. I’ve been hurt so many times, broken so many bones, this is honestly nothing. My family has a saying about my propensity to be injured, it happens that often. They say I always ‘break even.’ Every injury I’ve had, I’ve never been irreparably damaged. And something positive comes out of it. I may have broken my nose, but I got the save. It’s all even in my book.”
“I’ll work on it. Let’s go.” Amusement played on her lips, though more than a shred of remorse remained on her face.
Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but shifting her facial muscles produced a jolt of pain like lightning and she couldn’t bite back the wince that escaped.
“You do realize that if you keep doing that it’s going to make it incredibly difficult for me to forget that I did this to you.”
“You’re strong. You’ll pull through.”
Sighing, Madeleine shook her head. Suppressing as much facial movement as possible, Chloe grabbed Madeleine’s biceps with her hands and ground out in a harsh whisper, “Hurry, I haven’t got much time…”
Batting Chloe’s hands away, Madeleine stepped back. “You were doing so well pulling off cute and pathetic. You had to go and ruin it. Let’s go, Dumbledore.”
“Hey, is that a nose joke already?” Chloe called out to Madeleine’s retreating back. “C’mon. It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes!”
“Too soon? Weren’t you the one who told me to stop feeling guilty?”
Despite the pain it caused, Chloe couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face as she followed Madeleine to the car.
* * *
The urgent care visit had been very fast. No one had been in the waiting room when they arrived and the nurse perked up, grateful for a distraction. She had ushered them to a room and with
in ten minutes the doctor had come in and immediately administered the concussion protocol. To Madeleine’s obvious relief, she was negative for most concussion symptoms.
The broken nose was equally straightforward. He wanted to reset it, though it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Chloe had resisted at first, but when she saw Madeleine’s pained expression she decided to let him straighten her nose so every time Madeleine saw her she didn’t have a visual reminder of the incident and feel guilty. The doctor told her it was her lucky day; she had a clean break. He could do a closed reduction then and there and she would be as good as new.
Madeleine left the room for the procedure and about twenty minutes later Chloe was doped up, splinted, and ready to go. The doctor left them with instructions to get some food in Chloe soon, as the pain pill he had given her often led to nausea when taken on an empty stomach.
As they walked to the car, Madeleine was silent. Chloe’s curiosity was piqued. Why had Madeleine been so scared when she first saw Chloe on the ground tonight? She had done her best to hide her turmoil, but Chloe had seen her recurring discomfort throughout the visit to the clinic.
As Madeleine backed her car out of the parking spot, she spoke up. “What sounds good to eat?” She edged her car up to the exit of the parking lot, waiting for an indication from Chloe of which way she should go. She turned to Chloe, and Chloe’s breath caught. She decided to blame the daze she was in on the Vicodin and not the way her whole body thrummed at being close to Madeleine. She watched as Madeleine’s eyebrows inched upward, her face amused as she waited for an answer.
“I’m trying to be all stoic here, but you’re making it difficult.” Chloe balanced her head on her hand, her elbow perched on the passenger side door, wincing at the thought of how pitiful she must have sounded. Did something dart across Madeleine’s face at her words? She couldn’t be sure. Doing her best to hide the embarrassment at letting her thoughts slip out, she swallowed and tried to focus on dinner.
“I’m sorry. Asking what you would like to eat was pretty unfair of me, wasn’t it?” Madeleine’s tone was gentle but also teasing. Clearly she was enjoying Chloe’s slightly altered state. Chloe couldn’t even pretend to be embarrassed anymore, not when this teasing version of Madeleine was so much better than the guilt-stricken one she had seen for much of their urgent care visit.
“I know I should eat, but all I can think about is cuddling on my couch.” Chloe slammed on the verbal brakes, swallowing the words “with you” that had almost leapt to her mouth. Christ, she was acting like a drunken fool.
“Fair enough. There’s a sub shop here in Newcastle right on Main Street. I’ll run in and grab some subs. You can eat yours cuddled on your couch.” Pausing for a second to check traffic before she merged onto the road, Madeleine added in an afterthought, “You’re lucky I took pity and made the decision for you. Try not to get used to it.”
All Chloe could muster in response was a feeble “Mhmm.” She barely registered the stop at the sub shop and must have dozed much of the trip home. She must have given Madeleine the address, but she had no recollection of that. She was surprised when the engine cut and she saw her own apartment. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. You were right. I am pathetic.”
Madeleine shook her head, hopping out of the car and coming over to Chloe’s door. “Stop it. If taking Vicodin on an empty stomach didn’t slow you down a little bit, I’d be concerned about where your tolerance came from. Now I know for sure you aren’t Walter White.”
Laughing, Chloe took Madeleine’s outstretched hand and together they made their way into the house and down the hall to her apartment. Thankful that she had cleaned up the living room a bit this weekend, Chloe flipped on the lights, wincing a little as the brightness tugged at the remnants of the headache she had been fighting. Madeleine noticed, despite Chloe’s best efforts to hide it.
“Easy, killer. Why don’t you sit down on that couch that’s been waiting for you.” Madeleine placed a comforting hand on Chloe’s back, melting away any resistance she might have mustered. Once she had her nestled into the crook of the couch, she switched off the overhead lights and turned on the lamp on the end table.
Grateful, Chloe leaned her head back and rested again. She heard Madeleine moving around her kitchen and tried to remember whether she had done her dishes yesterday. Madeleine’s laughter made Chloe nervous, until she emerged from the kitchen with two plates of subs on one arm and two velociraptor mugs in the other hand.
“I see you found my fine china.”
“I did. It was difficult, though, choosing between these and the other mugs in your cupboard. Are you a collector?”
Chloe laughed despite herself. The collection of mugs shaped like dinosaurs and storm troopers, Free Willy mugs and all the other wonderful and ridiculous things Hannah had bought her for every holiday certainly would be a surprise to any sane adult rifling through her cupboards.
Madeleine set their dinner on the coffee table and pulled it closer to the couch for easy access, minimizing the amount of moving Chloe would have to do. Chloe had grumbled about Madeleine insisting on making sure she ate, but it was actually really nice to have someone around tonight. Apparently reading her mind, Madeleine handed Chloe her sub just as it registered that she was indeed starving.
“Thanks.” Chloe paused, slightly embarrassed for how much she was relying on Madeleine tonight. “I didn’t mean to hijack your night. I really appreciate you driving me and feeding me and basically saving me.” Taking a bite of the sub she had been holding, she couldn’t quite contain the little moan that escaped as her mouth wrapped around the most perfectly toasted BLT she had ever tasted. Chewing quickly, she swallowed and continued, “This is absolutely delicious. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I love BLTs. You’re wonderful.” Feeling fireflies flitting about in her stomach, she took another bite, deciding that focusing on her sandwich was the safest course of action.
“You’re welcome. But honestly, despite the fact that I feel absolutely awful for doing this to you, I had a lot of fun today. Thank you for being such a good sport with me and letting me assuage my guilt by taking care of you a little.”
“Promise me you’ll stop feeling guilty. I had a lot of fun too. I loved hanging out with you and now I’ll add some mystique to my reputation with the kids. They’re all going to be wondering what happened.”
Chloe hoped some levity would put Madeleine at ease about everything that had happened. She couldn’t really convey how nice it had been having her around for the urgent care visit. And now, relaxing and eating subs with her, it almost felt like a normal night of hanging out with a good friend. A friend, yes. One that was incredibly caring, smart, and attractive and just a friend, she reminded herself.
As they ate, conversation lulled into a comfortable silence. Chloe inhaled half of the giant hoagie, then reached for the mug of water, her hunger completely sated. She was feeling more like herself already; the food was taking a bit of the edge off the Vicodin-induced loopiness. Madeleine set her sub down, wiping her hands on a napkin and turning to face Chloe from the other end of the couch.
“These really are great mugs. Did you pick out all of the eclectic stuff in your cupboard?” The smile she wore told Chloe she wasn’t weirded out by the incredibly nerdy selection of mugs and glasses she had accumulated.
“Not quite. It’s become a kind of tradition now. I can’t even remember how it started. I think I had found a mug with a baby beluga on it. Do you remember that song, ‘Baby beluga in the deep blue sea’?” Chloe hummed a little bit of the song, hoping Madeleine might recognize it.
“He swims so wild and he swims so free!” Excited recognition showed on Madeleine’s face.
“Yeah, that one! I don’t even remember what show or movie it’s from, but Hannah, my best friend from undergrad, and I cried until we laughed one night after trying to remember all the words to the whole song. I was shopping for her birthday the next year and found this mug with a baby beluga on i
t. I couldn’t pass it up. Now I don’t want to shatter any illusions, but I’m slightly nerdy, and Hannah, she’s a lawyer, rivals me in my love for sci-fi, hilarious pop culture, and great books. So anyway, once I gave her that gateway mug it kind of turned into a tradition of getting each other amazing and weird mugs for holidays. Eventually anytime we traveled somewhere new we brought back the craziest and best mug or cup we could find.”
“That’s so great. It sounds like Hannah’s pretty fantastic.” Madeleine extended her legs and leaned back on the couch, her posture relaxed and happy. She acted genuinely interested in Chloe’s life. Chloe marveled at how the day had turned out.
“She really is. She drives me crazy sometimes, but in the best way. I can’t imagine not having her in my life. She’s been with me through pretty much every shitty thing since I was first homesick at school.”
“She seems fun, judging from the mugs. Do you get to see her much?”
“We make a point to get out to see each other as often as we can, but she recently started at a small law firm so her schedule is insane. We spent last weekend trying to plan her next visit. It was a nice distraction from waiting to interview for the long-term sub position for Marlene.”
“I was meaning to ask you if you were going to apply! That’s great news that you got an interview. How did it go?” Genuine excitement for Chloe was evident in Madeleine’s enthusiastic tone.
Chloe hesitated slightly, gathering her thoughts. “It went really well as far as I could tell, Mark and the panel were very receptive throughout. Honestly it didn’t feel much like an interview. It was more like a professional conversation.” Chloe shrugged.
Madeleine nodded, momentarily pensive. “From the way Molly and Leah talk about you, I’d say the job’s yours.”
Chloe’s face colored; she was helpless to stop it at Madeleine’s compliment.
“Thank you. I hope you’re right. I was pretty nervous about coming back to high school after so long away from it. College lectures are so much different.” Chloe surprised herself, opening a door to a conversation she didn’t think she was ready to have with anyone, much less Madeleine.
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