[Center][H1][B]ANDREW[/b][/H1][/Center][hr]

[h3]LARISSA   |   The Sound[/h3]
[INDENT][I][B][sup]May 2016 - Three Days After The Explosion[/sup][/B][/I]

[INDENT]
[i]Hello floor…

You need a vacuum…[/i]

Groaning, Andrew pushed himself off the floor he’d found much too close when he opened his eyes. He didn’t get far. It mostly turned into an exaggerated roll. And then, fancy that, he was staring at the ceiling. Not much improvement, though at least it was farther away. What had he been doing?

A smirking face came into view then, floating so very high above him, and holding a cereal box. Staring down at her prostrate friend, Janelle raised her eyebrows and shifted her foot nearby. He heard clinking. That probably wasn’t good. [i]“You eating breakfast down there today? You [/i]do[i] know bowls work better when they aren’t in pieces, right? What happened?”[/i]

Good question.

The first two were silly, but he could tell Janelle was trying not to make a big deal out of a worrying situation. Lifting a hand to poke at his cheek, which was aching fiercely, he grimaced at her and then held a hand out for help up. [b]“Thanks. I dunno. Aren’t you sleeping in?”[/b] 

[i]“I was. Then you thudded.”[/i]

Right. Andrew winced. [b]“Sorry.”[/b] He hadn’t meant to wake her, but then, it wasn’t like he’d meant to fall on the ground either. Her pointedly raised eyebrow and faint snort made him grin ruefully, aware it might have been silly to apologise for something he couldn’t help, but he couldn’t help that either. [i]“Ah, ah, nope. No, you sit. You’re going to step on something. And you need to put ice on wherever hurts, because you definitely hit the table.”[/i]

Her sleuthing skills were not great, but he couldn’t argue the point when he realized the table had shifted about half a foot from where it was supposed to be. The skid marks helped in his assessment. And yes, the clinking he’d heard were the broken bits of the bowl he’d dropped. His only consolation was that he hadn’t landed on them. They were about due for breaking something anyway.

Shifting into the nearest chair beneath her scowl, Andrew leaned both elbows on the table and put his head in his hands. He promptly winced as soon as pressure settled on his cheek and angled himself so he was leaning to the right instead of straight on. Because ow. Unfortunate then, that they didn’t have anything extra cold at the moment. Just room temperature glasses, one of which Janelle set beside him as she returned with a dustpan and garbage. He watched her for a long moment, foregoing the usual protest in favour picking up the cheerios that were still on the table while poking, with varying degrees of resulting pain, at his cheekbone. It’d be a pretty sight by tomorrow, he was sure. 

[b]“Definitely need a new battery. My pacemaker’s been off and I keep forgetting. Should have sat back down when I started getting dizzy.”[/b] Finally, he just explained the problem. She’d probably already guessed, but she deserved to know for sure, and to hear him admit he was aware of the situation and knew he should have been paying more attention to the warning signs. Of course, the fainting didn’t always come with any warning, but when there was a sign, you really shouldn’t ignore it. 

[b]“I know, I know, it’s just been busy.”[/b] She didn’t even have to say anything, just gave him a look and he was defending himself on instinct. He knew she was right though. He should have set up an appointment as soon as he realized what had happened. This was only reinforcing the point, with emphatically bruising intent. He got the message. [b]“I’ll ask to call from work. [i]And[/i] I’ll take the bus in, don’t worry. I’ll take it easy. Promise.”[/b] But he did have to work. Couldn’t call in sick when the phone he needed to use was a work phone. His cell was still dead, as was hers. She’d been more concerned about her laptop, and he was just slow about these things. Honestly, the break from constantly checking it for new messages despite knowing there wouldn’t be any was kind of refreshing.

And it was always good to have an excuse not to be a bother, even if doctors were paid to deal with exactly the trouble he was bothering them about. No putting it off now. He had incentive, too. The glass was not a good substitute ice pack. Not at all. Damn it. [/indent][/indent]