Preath - Behind The Door

One Thing After Another

The next day - Tobin's POV

It's 6:30 AM. I just woke up. I can tell my shoulders are going to start peeling from this sunburn. I run my hands over my shoulders and they are tender to the touch. Christen is still sleeping so I sneak out to the kitchen and make us coffee. 

The sun is starting to peak through the windows. This is my favorite part of the day. I've always been a morning person. I look to see the coffee almost ready so I grab 2 mugs. 

It's only 6:40 now and I hear Christen's footsteps as she makes her way into the kitchen. She doesn't say anything yet but walks slowly over to me and we just hold each other for a while. 

"Did I wake you up?" I ask. She shakes her head, still holding onto me. 

"Is something wrong? You aren't talking." I say. 

"No," she mumbles. Hm. Maybe it's just too early. I don't push it anymore.

"Okay. I made you coffee." I reply, letting go of her to grab her mug.

She gives me a tired smile. "Thanks, Tobs." She says, holding the mug in her hand.

"Do you want to go sit outside with me?" I ask. The sun is rising now and it's not too hot.

"Sure." She replies and walks over to the door. I follow her over and we make our way outside. I can hear birds chirping. 

Afternoon - Tobin's POV

Chris and I just went on a run and did some training. We have a longer break than usual between games but I'm not complaining. I like it when it's just us two. 

Christen is outside meditating and I'm inside painting in the living room. We're both in our elements right now. 

I lost track of time and ended up working on a project for over 3 hours. Christen helped me out for some of it too and then decided to take a nap. It's 4 PM now and it's about to start storming.

Since Christen is still asleep, I decide to chill on the couch for a while and look through and answer some emails. 

An hour passed by and Christen is awake now. She's sitting on the couch with me helping me answer the last few emails I have left. 

"Yeah that's your last one to respond to I think," she says. I nod my head and finish writing before finally getting to close my laptop. I rub my eyes.

"That took a lot longer than I thought it would," I say. I stand up and stretch my legs. Out of nowhere I hear a big crack of thunder and jump. 

"Woah." I say, peeking out the window. It's pouring outside now. 

"What should we have for dinner?" Christen says, looking in the refrigerator.

"Umm... I don't care, you can choose." I reply, still standing at the window. I hear her take some things out and set them on the counter. Nothing else is happening outside so I walk over to the kitchen and it looks like she took everything out that we had in the refrigerator. 

"Whatcha makin'?" I ask, looking over what she set out.

"It's a surprise." She says, turning the oven on. "Can you chop up those vegetables over there please?" She asks, pointing over to the far end of the counter. 

"Of course," I reply, walking over to the other end. As I'm chopping the vegetables I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my finger and realize I'm screaming. I cut my finger with the knife. 

"What happened?!" Christen exclaims, running over with a towel. I couldn't talk, I just stood there. It was suddenly going dark. 

I managed to say "Chris- I'm gonna pass out," and fell to the floor. 

The next thing I know, I'm laying on the floor with a rag on my head and Christen sitting under me, holding my head. 

"Tobin?" She says. "Are you okay? I think you should go to the emergency room, your finger looks pretty bad." She adds. I want to look at it but she pushes my hand away and tells me not to.

"Do you think you can stand up? I want you to sit on the couch so I can grab some ice and a water." She asks. I nod my head and she helps me stand up and walk to the couch. I sit down and I feel so weak. She brings ice over and gives me a bottle of water. She sits next to me and holds my hand, elevating it. She turns it away from me to look at it before covering it back up.

"Yeah, you're going to need stitches, Tobin." She says, with a scared look on her face. I sigh.

"Okay, stay here. I'm going to go start the car and then we can leave." She says, standing up to go grab the car keys. She walks outside and I secretly uncover my finger to look at it. It looks awful. I cover it back up quickly and she walks back inside. 

"Ready?" She asks.

"Yep." I reply, standing up and walking to the door. I put my slides on quickly and get in the car. 

At the ER - Tobin's POV

We've already been here for two hours and just finally got into a room. They're coming back in a few minutes to get X-rays of my hand. 

I go back to get X-rays and Christen stays in the other room. She's on the phone with my mom letting her know what happened. 

They get the X-rays back and everything looks fine, I'm just going to need a few stitches. Getting the stitches hurt pretty bad. I was squeezing Christen's hand so hard I thought I might break it. They wrap it up in a bandage after and put my arm in a sling to keep it elevated. We finally make it back in the car and it's 12 AM.

"Good thing you're tough, Tobin." Christen says, driving back home. I just laugh. 

Back home - Tobin's POV 

I make it back inside and Christen and I head straight to sleep. She gives me my pain meds before getting into bed. 

"Thanks, nurse Christen," I say, laughing. She laughs at me before climbing in bed. 

"Try to get some sleep, it's pretty late." She says, kissing me and pulling the comforter up further.