15. Callie
Callie
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH
T he more energy I throw into this boxing match, the less energy I’ll have to overthink how great it was to hug Finn. I mean…he is just…so, so muscle-y. And funny. And nice.
Based on his expression, I’m not sure that he’s listening to Lexie go into the sparring rules any more than I am. He looks as nervous as I feel. But that’s all the more reason for me to pump up the enthusiasm!
“I’ve never been more ready for a boxing match,” I happily announce. “But also I don’t know anything about boxing.”
Nick chuckles, along with some other spectators.
Not Finn, though. His frown just gets more severe. “I really don’t think we should do this,” he hedges.
Nick smiles warmly. “No need to be worried, Finnegan, I would never put you in the ring with someone who’s never thrown a punch before.”
“Well I didn’t say that …” I grin.
But he’s totally right; the only punch I’ve ever thrown was in a plastic red cup, and it was down my own shirt.
“I’ve got you,” Nick leans over and hands me two rolls of bandage material. “First, we’re going to wrap up your hands before we put on the gloves.” He tosses a couple more rolls to a still-hesitant Finn before helping to show me the right way to loop it around my hands and wrists. While he does that, he looks at my opponent and continues, “This is strictly for fun, we’re just going to do some basic sparring drills where one person punches and the other is wearing focus pads.”
I don’t know what focus pads are, but hearing about them seems to help Finn unclench a little.
Nick then hands me a pair of boxing gloves while Finn leans over and grabs what I assume are the pads. He patiently teaches me the form for some of what he calls the basics. The jab, the cross, the hook, and the upper cut. He assigns each one a number and elaborates on what the sparring will actually look like.
“So when the bell rings, I’ll call out a number and you aim the corresponding punch at those mitts, okay? Just keep going with that move until I call out another number, and then you can change it up.”
I jump from side to side, punching my gloves together. “This is it! I’m finally gonna be the Black Widow!”
Finn’s eyebrows bunch together.
“Marvel? Avengers?”
He continues to stare at me like I’ve randomly started speaking another language.
“Oh, come on!”
“That’s good,” Nick encourages. “Use that anger!”
The bell rings, Finn braces himself with his mitted hands out and forward, and I bounce towards him on the balls of my feet.
Then the numbers begin. “One, two!”
Jab, cross . I land a right and then a left and I surprise myself. “Wooo! This is fun!” I declare, jabbing and crossing away.
“Three, four!”
These are the hooks. Those are a little harder for me to master, but I still can’t help but think it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done.
“Five, six!”
Uppercuts. Finn repositions the mitts so that the pad is towards the floor and meets the upper cuts that I’m furiously throwing.
“Great job, Callie! All right, I’m going to mix it up a little, are you ready?”
“I was born ready!”
“ That’s it!! One, two, three!”
Combinations already? I’m so good at this! My entire attention is solely on those focus mitts as I land every strike. I am one hundred percent on my way to fighting next to Iron Man.
Until my eyes move.
For just a split second.
The tiniest of glimpses, the briefest of looks.
Finn is smiling at me and it’s incredible. Dazzling. Forget Iron Man, I’m sparring with Captain America.
And I just need to be perfectly clear that I’m not blaming the specimen before me for what happens, but the fact that his smile turns my insides into tapioca pudding is why my jab misses its mark and instead goes…straight to his throat.
“Oh my god!” I panic, watching him cough and hold his arms over his face and neck. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”
Nick is by my side as well, with some water. “He’ll be all right,” he assures me.
“It’s okay, Miss Callie,” Lexie calls from outside the ring. “I did the same thing to him when I was seven!”
Finn continues coughing like his body is rejecting an internal organ via his esophagus, but he’s motioning to me like he’s going to be fine.
I’m not convinced. I rip the gloves off and throw them down, running over and placing his face in my hands so he would look at me. His coughing has gone down to just repeated throat clearing now, but I can’t make myself let go. The stubble around his jaw scrapes my fingers, and I watch the brown in his eyes give way to black as he stares at me. We’re both out of breath, but I’m thinking now that it’s for other reasons than before. If we weren’t surrounded by a literal town full of people, I’d kiss the living daylights out of him.
You know, now that I know I didn’t shatter his windpipe.
Nick clears his own throat and helps us break the spell. “All right, Finnegan, are you ready for your turn next?”
Finn smiles at me…it’s a full-on wolfish grin now. “Oh yeah,” he rasps. “I’m ready.”
It probably shouldn’t turn me on that he wants to brawl with me in public, but it does.
It so does.
He hands me his pads and takes the pair of gloves that Nick hands him, assuming the position of a skilled boxer.
“I’ll take it easy on you,” he says, his voice dangerously low.
“Don’t you dare,” I tell him.
He growls at me.
The bell rings and Nick calls out the combinations. “One, four!”
I stumble back just a little at the first contact. Finn probably is taking it easy on me, but he’s still putting some back into it.
“Two, three, two! Come on, Finnegan!”
Nick has slipped into coach mode himself, now, and the effect it’s having on Finn is really doing it for me. He’s hitting the mitts harder, to the point that I’m actually having to back up.
“One, one, two!”
Pow, pow, pow!
Look…I know that—logically—it’s a bad idea to try to seduce your boxing opponent in the middle of a match.
Where there are spectators.
Including his daughter.
But my hormones KO’d my common sense about thirty seconds ago and I have a hard time backing down from a challenge. Which is why I say to him, “Is that all you got?” followed by a smile and a lick of my lips.
And it would have looked so foxy if not for my backwards bounce into…well, nothing. My right foot scrambles for purchase, but it’s already outside of the ring and the rest seems to happen in slow motion and hyper speed all at the same time.
The ropes drag up my back as they slow my fall towards the floor, my arms flailing for no reason because the focus mitts have rendered my hands useless. My groin muscles stretch farther than they’re used to on account of my left leg still being stuck in the ring, and as I try to untangle myself, my right leg lands hard on the gym floor. And then, for fun, a loud pop sends ripples up and down my leg as my right ankle gives out and the rest of me crumples to the floor like a rag doll.
The searing pain blurs my vision for a moment, so I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus on my breathing.
A trio of familiar male voices is around me now. I can tell that they belong to Finn, Nick, and Brian, but I’m not coherent enough to hear what they’re saying.
“Callie,” Finn grips my shoulder and forces me to make eye contact. “Tell me where it hurts.” He is all business now, no trace of dubious challenger or alluring boxer.
“My ankle,” I grit out.
He immediately looks at it and he starts gently touching the rest of me, checking for other injuries. “Anywhere else?”
“No. This is so much worse than the sled,” I joke. Or at least try to.
All three of them offer me a weak smile, but no one laughs. When Finn’s hands get near my ankle, the pain shoots through me and I yelp.
Finn quickly removes his hands and Brian leans in. “Where’s your pain on a scale of one to ten?”
“Not too bad, maybe like a thirty.”
“Let’s see if we can get you standing,” he says.
Finn and Nick are on either side of me and gently help me up while Brian seems to be evaluating my movement. “Your left leg is fine?” he asks.
I nod.
“Can you put any pressure on your right leg at all?”
Gingerly, I lower my leg to the ground, but the pain when my foot hits the floor makes my eyes water. Finn notices and shakes his head at Brian. “She won’t be able to put weight on it.”
Brian nods in agreement.
Kodi appears from behind him. “We should get her to the clinic. I’ll go up ahead and let Maureen know we’re on our way. We can get x-rays and see what the damage is.”
“I’ll go with you,” Brian says, then looks at Finn. “Meet us there.”
“Right behind you. Nick, you good to help me get her to my car?”
“Absolutely.”
And that’s how I end up hobbling out of Put Up Your Ducks, my arms over the shoulders of two giant men, swinging my one leg forward with every step like a human foosball figure. Everyone kindly applauds for me as we exit the building, many of them offering to come check on me later or yelling at Finn to keep them posted.
Once I’m safely placed in Finn’s SUV, I hear Lexie’s voice approaching. “Dad! Dad! Is Miss Callie okay?”
“I’m okay!” I yell from inside the car and try to turn back to look at her. She sounds scared.
“She’s pretty hurt, kiddo, but we’re going to take her to the clinic for some x-rays.”
“Ms. Longspur said she can take me to Grandma and Grandpa’s, but I want to go with you guys.”
“We might be awhile, Lex, you’ll probably be happier at home.”
“Quit telling me where I’ll be happy, I want to come with you and Miss Callie!”
I keep my face forward so it at least looks like I’m not listening in on their muffled argument
“Alexis, I have no idea how long we’re going to be there and?—”
“Are you serious right now?”
I summon whatever strength I can find to open the door and lean out a little. “Tell you what, Lexie?” Both of them throw their attention to me. “This is going to be boring for me and I’m the patient, so why don’t you start working on the Bird is the Word article that paints me in a very heroic light, and then I’ll make your dad buy us pizza for lunch.”
She’s not totally sold, but it’s enough to get her to throw the white flag. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Her voice is a little shaky, which surprises me. I don’t want her to be upset, especially over me.
“Psh! It’s just a flesh wound! I’ll still bite your legs off!”
My terrible Monty Python reference is lost on her, and therefore not at all as reassuring as I want it to be.
Finn gets her attention again. “Lex, she’s in a lot of pain right now and we need to get going. Please go with Ms. Longspur and I will be home as fast as I can.”
“With pizza!” I call.
“Shut the car door,” he orders me.
After a minute, I see Lexie walking back into the gym while Finn slides into the driver’s seat and starts the car.
“She looked really worried,” I note.
“She is really worried.”
“You didn’t have to tell her I was in so much pain.”
“She’s not an idiot, Callie, she saw you in there just like the rest of us did.”
“I know, I just…kids don’t need to process all of that adult stuff. I’m not bleeding out, I’ll be all right.”
Finn scowls. “Well, no one thinks you got shot. And I don’t lie to my kid.”
The pain radiating through my leg keeps my thoughts from being too coherent. But that’s probably a good thing, since Finn is stone silent for the entire drive to the clinic.
“X-rays are being reviewed as we speak,” Kodi announces as she enters the exam room, breaking the super uncomfortable quiet that’s still hanging between me and Finn. “Brian should be in here soon.”
“Thanks, Kodi,” I offer her a weak smile. I’m lying on a clinic bed with an ice pack on my elevated ankle, trying not to wonder what I said that turned Finn into a robot. He’s sitting in one of the chairs next to me, staring into space with his arms crossed.
Kodi’s eyes soften a little, and she walks over and puts her hands on my shoulders. “You are a fucking champion, Callie Stavropoulos.”
Finn mumbles something imperceptible and Kodi jerks around. “What did you say?”
He sighs. “I said ‘of course you can say her last name.’”
Kodi puts her hands on her hips. “What is that supposed to mean? What is your problem, Finnegan? You’ve been a dick since you got here.” She might be over a decade my junior, but she is unflinching and honestly, I ran enough of her cornhole drills to know not to cross her.
“Okay, okay,” I rub her arm. “Eeeeasy there, tiger.”
“Am I wrong?” she asks me.
She’s not wrong, but I don’t want to upset Finn more than he already is. I hesitate, weighing my words carefully.
“No,” Finn answers for me. We both turn to him. “No, you’re not wrong. I, uh…I…can you give us a few minutes, Kodi?”
Kodi looks at me, and I nod. But before she can leave, there’s a knock at the door and Brian comes in. “Ooookay, Miss Stavropoulos,” he smiles.
“Jesus Christ,” Finn mutters.
Brian either doesn’t hear him or doesn’t acknowledge it. “The good news is that there’s no evidence of any kind of fracture. Now, you could go to the city hospital for an MRI to look at the ligaments more closely, but based on your symptoms and the exam, I think you’re dealing with grade two sprain.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“Likely a partial ligament tear. You’ll need to keep weight off of it for one to two weeks, but then you should be able to use a boot while it continues to heal.
“Oh good, that’s a relief,” I exhale.
He nods. “I can get you in my office for a series of visits to help with the muscles and tendons and then at home you can use the R.I.C.E method, which is?—”
“Rest, ice, compression, elevation,” Finn cuts in.
Brian looks at his smart watch. “So it’s Saturday, it’s not even noon yet. That gives you the rest of today and all day tomorrow to take it as easy as possible and keep your leg elevated. But there’s no reason you can’t be in the classroom by Monday, so long as you feel like you can do it. Listen to your body. We can talk about some accommodations you can make that will help it all go as smooth as possible.”
“Obviously, you can borrow my crutches if you need them,” Kodi offers with a wink. She’s probably happy to be rid of them after what she just went through with her knee.
Finn chimes in. “I can give you some simple stretches to start tomorrow. And I have a great ice pack wrap.”
“Sounds good,” Brian says to Finn. “Callie, I’ll double check my schedule, but I should be able to get you started this Monday.”
“What about driving?” I ask. The town is thankfully small enough that I don’t use my car very often, but even biking requires both ankles…
Kodi raises her hand slightly. “I’m totally happy to drive you around while you’re rehabbing. We basically work the same hours.”
“We’ll carpool to work,” Finn adds with a small smile. “It’ll be all right.”
“Again, it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks,” Brian assures me.
How can they be this generous to someone who isn’t even going to be here next year? It’s too much.
“I…I don’t think I can?—”
“Hey, Babe,” Kodi interrupts. “Can you get a wheelchair for her from the back? Maureen can show you where they are. Finn, if you want to go pull the car around, I’ll get Callie’s paperwork for her at the front desk and wheel her out to you.”
He says okay to her, but he’s looking at me like he knows I’m trying not to cry. Which is a little humiliating. “Thank you both,” he says before gently putting his hand at the base of the bed by my feet. “I’ll be right out front, all right?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Once both the men have left the room, Kodi shuts the door and comes to stand next to me, her face full of compassion. “What’s going on?”
I clear my throat and sniffle a little. “I don’t really know,” I confess. “I guess I’m just…I don’t really like to depend on other people. Kind of comes with the whole nomad thing I’ve got going on.”
She weighs her words for a moment. “I’ve lived in this town my whole life,” she starts. “And the people here are batshit crazy sometimes. They’re nosy and invasive and way too serious about birds.”
I chuckle a little, and she smiles back at me.
“But one of the reasons I love it here—one of the reasons I stay—is because at the end of the day, this is the kind of place where people take care of their own. They have a pretty fucked up way of showing it sometimes, but even the Tit Peepers would give their left leg for anybody in this town. Whether it’s someone who never left, like me, or someone who left and came back, like Finn…or someone who blew into town and charmed everyone here.”
“Like Brian,” I grin.
She lights up, putting a hand over her heart in an exaggerated motion and rolling her eyes. “Yeah, like him,” she agrees. Then she puts her hand on my arm. “And like you.”
My face falls, and I wring my hands. “Support is one thing, what you guys are doing is…” Incredible. Too much. More than I can repay.
“Are you nervous because it feels wrong to accept the help?”
My throat tightens and the tears threaten, but I don’t say anything.
Kodi just pulls me into a hug while I continue to swallow down my emotions.
After a few seconds, she pushes me back with her hands on my shoulders, her manner determined. “Suck it up, Stavropoulos. You hear me? As long as you’re in my town, you will work by my rules. That means you never touch a pitched cornhole bag during a frame, you do whatever my fine-ass boyfriend tells you to do to get better, and you remember what I said earlier. And that is that you’re a fucking champion. Are we clear?”
“Sir, yes sir!” I laugh, echoing a common response I threw back at her during cornhole season.
“That’s better. I’m going to go get your paperwork drawn up for check-out so you can get out of here. Are you okay?”
I nod and give her a thumbs up. “I’m good, Captain.”
Kodi starts to leave, but points at me as she closes the door. “Fucking. Champion.”