Shattered (Koa #5)

20. Asher

Chapter 20

Asher

A knock on my bedroom door wakes me, and the first thing I register is that my leg kills. It hasn’t hurt this bad since recovery, so I know I’m fucked.

“Dude, wake the fuck up!” Bane snaps in my doorway, wincing.

I sit up in bed, clutching my leg beneath my blankets, out of Bane’s sight.

“What!?” I snap.

“I have a group of six in an hour, and I feel like garbage. Can you take them?”

“What? No! Your appointments, figure it out.”

“Dude, I have a splitting headache and feel like I’m going to hurl. Please. I’m not doing them, and I can’t cancel six appointments on day two. ”

No, he’s right, he can’t. And if he won’t do them… fuck.

“What are they getting?”

“Nothing custom, just shit they found on the internet, all small. Shouldn’t take more than a couple hours.”

“Fine. But you fucking owe me.”

Once he takes off, I swing my legs around to the side of the bed. The smallest amount of pressure has my leg throbbing, and I have to clutch it and hiss through the pain.

“Fuck…”

Waking up in Sunshine’s bed yesterday was so much better than this. I spent three fucking hours last night debating whether to call her or not and then another hour trying to convince myself that I only wanted to call her so I could fuck her.

I grab my pain meds from my night table and down them dry, with an extra one for good measure. It usually takes about half an hour for the drugs to kick in, and I don’t have that time to waste this morning.

I’m just finishing in the bathroom when I hear Bane downstairs.

“You’re gonna be late!”

“Fuck off, mom!” I bite back. He’s right; I’m almost out of time.

Normally, I wouldn’t do the stairs with Bane right down there, but I don’t have a choice this morning. Despite my pain meds kicking in, I’m still sore. I tread carefully, easing myself down the first couple of steps while still out of Bane’s sight. From there, I try to look as natural as possible as I descend, and my leg pays the price for it as I move down a few more, nearing halfway.

And that’s when my leg gives out .

My bad knee hits the wood, and I tumble, reaching out desperately to grab the rail, but I miss, unable to loop my fingers around it. I crash down the stairs like a runaway piano, and I swear Bane reaches the bottom before I do.

When I finally hit the floor, the pain begins to flare out, consuming every inch of me from the roll, and I screech out in pain, clutching my bad leg and gritting my teeth.

“Fuck, are you okay?!” Bane blurts out.

“Fine,” I snap.

He offers me a hand, and I swat it away, and his eyes flare in anger.

“Fuck off,” I snap.

“No, you fuck off.”

I grab the stairs behind me, trying to find something to leverage myself up that isn’t Bane, and as I raise myself up, I give out again, flopping to the ground.

“FUCK!” I roar before putting my fist through the wall beside me.

“Asher, what the fuck!?” Bane snaps, offering me a hand again.

“I don’t want your fucking HELP!” I snap before wadding up some saliva in my mouth and spitting it at his jeans.

Bane flies backward away from me. “Can you even get up?”

I don’t want to try again in front of him, so I don’t, and he throws up his arms.

“That’s it, I’m fucking done.”

“Finally!”

He makes for the door but stops, my words piercing him, and he spins around on his ankles .

“I swear to god, Asher, you are going to kill yourself if you don’t get off your high fucking horse and just let the people who care about you HELP YOU!”

“I don’t need your help!”

“No, of course you don’t. Go fuck yourself. I’m going to do those appointments. If you’re still on the floor when I get back…”

He doesn’t finish his threat, only huffs and storms out the door.