My eyes flicked open to see Jasmine’s face inches from mine. Her hand curled a blanket under her chin and her eyelashes brushed her cheeks in sleep. Slowly and painfully I slid down the length of the bed to roll onto the floor, trying to keep the cast on my foot from smacking into something and waking her up. I used a dresser to pull myself up so I was standing on my one good foot, then hopped awkwardly into the closet and pulled on a shirt and shorts. When I was clothed I peeked out to find her still sleeping.
Success.
I dropped to the floor and army-crawled across the scratchy carpet into the next room. A small black kitten leaped on my back and I batted him away gently as I reached for my keys. The click of unlocking the door seemed deafeningly loud. I held my breath as I opened the door, listening for sounds of Jasmine waking up in the apartment. When all was silent I breathed in the sweet, sweet air of the outdoors and pulled myself to my feet with the doorframe, preparing to hop out. A low growling noise made me turn. Jasmine stood at the entrance to the bedroom, holding the black kitten that had probably gone and woke her up when I refused to play with him. I glared at the traitorous kitten then made a leap for the exit, hoping that her lack of clothes might keep her in the house. But I should have known better. With a thump that knocked my breath out she crashed into my fleeing back, face planting me into the grass. Post-surgery as I was I couldn’t put up much of a fight, but I wiggled my arms and remaining leg in protest as she straddled my back and looped a rope around my struggling limbs. With a strength that someone her size shouldn’t have, she yanked me to my feet.
“Hop.” She said grimly.
“Jasmine I—“
“HOP!”
“I JUST WANTED A LATTE!!! I’VE BEEN IN THE HOUSE FOR DAYS, I’M SO FREAKING BORED!!!!” My shouts lost most of their threat as my tiny, mostly naked girlfriend continued to corral me back to the house.
“Do you want to have more surgery?” She asked icily, “If you re-break something, next time you’ll be handcuffed to the bed.”
I turned to growl at her again but noticed we were gathering an audience. Small Hispanic children in swimsuits stared at us with huge eyes and a small group of college boys were taking long pulls from their cigarettes while they watched the show. My face flushed and I hopped inside the apartment quickly. Jasmine turned to wave before pulling the door closed, collapsing with laughter against the wall. I fell onto my back, looking like a stunted water beetle with my broken foot suspended in the air.
“What if they complain to management?” I moaned
“They’ve seen us do worse.” Jasmine giggled.
I sighed, she was probably right.
“Anyway,” she stretched her arms above her head, “I want more sleep.” Her hands paused at the knots in my bindings, “Are you going to behave?”
I gave her my most innocent face, “Of course.”
She sighed and released my ropes, indicating that I should hop ahead of her back to bed. I lay back on the bed, exhausted from the small outing but still plotting another on. Jasmine laced her fingers through mine and I turned to her, smiling. But the smile turned to a grimace as I heard the click of a lock and found myself handcuffed to a lamp. I expressed my displeasure with a muffled scream.
“Goodnight.” Jasmine said, kissing me lightly before curling up once more with her blanket. I curled up around her back, happiness battling with stir-craziness.
“Heal faster, stupid foot.” I whispered.
-M
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