Grace Under Pressure (Grace Walker Series Book 1)

Chapter 19:

I walked to the hallway towards Mason's apartment, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knocked on the door and I heard a loud thump. I opened the door and found Mason on the floor. He apparently tried to come open the door without his crutches and went crashing to the floor.

"Are you alright? Mason, you've got to quit doing stuff the hard way."

I stood him back up, and it wasn't an easy task. I was about 5'4 ,maybe 110 pounds and he was a football player. He stood at least 6 foot tall.

"Thank you. But can I ask, what are you doing here?" He asked.

I stood and looked at him. I had to fight the urge to cuss him out for what he did at Reni's party and for getting her in trouble, but I thought better.

"Mom asked me to come and see you, see if you needed anything. She's well aware you're miserable in here."

"I don't need anything from anyone. I just want to go home." He said and sat back down on the couch.

"Mason, you were a stubborn ass the night of the party and you're being one now." He just stared at me now in disbelief. "Don't you want to get better so you can go home. So you can go back to school and hang out with your friends and be able to play football again?" I asked.

"Football. I don't have football anymore. The doctor said I will be lucky to play next year and that's if my leg heals right. It won't matter anyhow. Any scout that might have been looking at me probably lost interest the day they found out I broke my leg. So no, I'm not ready to go back to school and see my friends and play football."

"Don't you remember who I am, how clumsy I have been my whole life. The times I've missed away from school and my friends for every injury I endured? The only thing that kept me going was the support from my mom and Reni."

"The only support I have right now Grace are these crutches. My dad let that woman decide where I was gonna go and blamed the whole thing on me." That woman, meaning Olivia, his step mother. His mom and dad were divorced and his mom moved to Atlanta to pursue her career, and left Mason with his dad. Olivia came from money and married into money. She never knew a day of struggle in her life. From what I can remember, she always butted heads with Mason, because she didn't like his real mom.

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. But feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to heal you. If anything it's going to make it worse. You've got to eat so you can take your medicine. And you also have to go to therapy if you ever want to get off your crutches. And no one said you had to stay in this apartment. You can venture out and go find something to do. I know maybe you could play Bingo."

He laughed out loud after I said that. Which made me laugh.

"Just please, don't make my mom look like a fool. She promised your Dad she would give you the best treatment why you stayed here." I said.

"I know and I like Tessa. I don't want her upset. She was always like a mom to me whenever that woman and I had a fight." I can remember him running to our house, upset that she grounded him for stupid little things and wouldn't allow him to have any fun and then put up a front when his dad came home, as if she wasn't evil to him all day.

"Alright Mason, I'm gonna hold you to that. Please eat so you can take your medicine. They have cheeseburgers and fries and other stuff you like. Do you want me to get some for you?"

"No, I have a number to call and the caregiver will bring it to me. Thank you though. And hey, thanks for visiting me too. I haven't had too many visitors since my accident. It was nice to see a familiar face besides my dad and Olivia."

"Sure thing, Mason. I'll come see you tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day."

"Bye, Gracie." He smiled. And not just a regular smile. A killer smile that caused my stomach to do that flip-flop thing. I haven't heard him call me that in ages.