Time for a Change Read Free

eyes.
    He said nothing, simply stepped closer and put his arms around her, drawing her close in a hug. Suddenly Sally forgot why she was there or what she was supposed to be doing. His arms felt strong and warm around her, shielding her from the outside. She could smell his aftershave or cologne even more now and she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Her ear rested against his chest and she could hear the steady thump of his heart beating, strong and sure.
    When she heard the doctor ask his nurse to pass him the syringe for the tetanus shot, she flinched. This wasn’t going to be pretty or easy for any of them.
    Tony leaned closer to her ear. “He’s going to give you a shot now.”
    “I know,” Sally mumbled and tensed her leg up, prepared for the jab in her foot.
    “Um, no. It doesn’t go in your foot. You may want to stand up for this. This one goes into your buttock.” Sally lifted her head in shock and glared at the doctor who smiled back at her smugly.  
    “What?”
    Tony took her by the hand and helped her to stand facing him. Behind her back, he rolled his eyes at the doctor as if he was humoring her. “You can hold onto me while you get the shot, okay?”
    Sally nodded and leaned against him. The nurse helped her to unzip her skirt and pulled it aside far enough to reveal her lacy g-string. As the doctor swabbed with an alcohol wipe and then prepared to jab her, Sally looked up at him, grimacing in anticipation. Tony leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, taking her by complete surprise and distracting her enough that she was barely aware of the needle puncturing her flesh. She felt a jolt of electricity flow through her, like nothing she’d felt before and looked closely at him to see if he’d felt it too.
    A small frown furrowed his brow, as if he was confused by something.  
    Five minutes later she was storming out of the hospital and looking for her phone in her bag. She’d have to call someone to come and fetch her but really! The absolute cheek of the man! He was so worried about his precious bottom line when he did his financial reports that he was prepared to compromise himself … and her!... and kiss her! Sally was fuming. She was so angry she could hardly speak so when she heard Tony behind her, calling her name, she didn’t turn around or reply. Seeing a cab, she climbed in and shut the door behind her.
    Much later she’d awoken from her nap at home and was stretched out on her sofa nursing her sore foot and aching butt, when the intercom buzzed.
    “Hello?”
    “Sally?” It was a man.
    “Yes?”
    “It’s me, Tony. May I come up for a moment please?”
    He sounded so sweet. So polite and contrite that she couldn’t resist. She wasn’t necessarily interested in what he had to say, she just wanted to look at him again. She’d regretted dashing off and leaving him standing there, but he did kind of deserve it. Sally opened the main door and unlatched her front door to let him in and went back to find her comfortable spot on the couch.
    When Tony nudged the door open with his foot, Sally was taken aback to see his arms full of stuff. “What the hell…?” she started saying, then got up to help him put things down. There was a bag of what looked like groceries. Another paper bag seemed to contain takeout food. An expensive-looking bunch of flowers that had clearly not been picked up at the supermarket was laid on the kitchen counter. Finally, he handed her a small brown packet with a pharmacy name on.
    “You forgot to collect this when you left. Pain pills and an antibiotic I suppose. I imagine you must be ready for the pain pills by now.” He’d left his jacket somewhere and now loosened the knot on his tie.
    She gratefully accepted the packet and quickly swallowed her pills. “And the rest?” she asked, gesturing to the stuff all over her counter. He’d started unpacking the groceries and seemed unsure of where to put them.
    “The flowers are an apology. I’m