"Yeah, I figured it would be easier for you to chew than a sirloin." Dar touched the side of Kerry's face gently. "You said it was a little sore here."
"Mm." Kerry moved her jaw from side to side slightly. "Yeah, it is. What else you got?"
Dar lifted the cool pack momentarily, then set it back down a little to one side. Despite her casual dismissal, the bruise did look horrific, and the green eye under the compress was swollen almost shut. "Green beans and chipotle polenta."
"Ah, Spicy grits." Kerry started to ease up onto her elbow. "My favorite."
"Lie down." Dar took hold of her shoulders and pressed her back down. "Let that ice pack do its thing." She waited until Kerry complied, then went back to arranging the plates. There was no real easy way for her to accomplish her task of getting her ailing partner fed, but then, she was never much into doing things the easy way, so improvisation was in order.
Carefully, she lifted the plate up, then hoisted herself up and over Kerry's legs to settle between her partner and the back of the couch.
"Mm." Agreeably, Kerry squirmed over a little, giving Dar more space as she felt the plate settle on her stomach.
"There." Dar propped her head up on her hand, working the fork with the other as she selected a piece of chicken. "How's that?" She rumbled right into Kerry's nearby ear.
Kerry merely grinned as a response. She'd taken some ibuprofen and she had her ice pack, but there was something about having Dar this close that beat both of those. She accepted the chicken, and sighed. "I still can't believe I was that stupid."
"Ker."
"Well, I was."
"He moved wrong, you didn't." Dar argued.
"You're just saying that." Kerry picked up a green bean and nibbled it. "You didn't even see it happen, did you?"
Dar scowled.
"See?"
"I know you didn't do it wrong." Dar stubbornly insisted. "That guy's a nitwad. He's got the reflexes of a gumby." She grumbled. "I should have kicked his ass in the last round, and maybe..."
"Dar, Dar, Dar." Kerry tapped her partner on the head. "Stop that." She dropped her hand to Dar's neck and kneaded the back of it. "Tell me about how you ended up in Dr. Steve's office so much, huh? Take my mind off this."
Dar offered her a forkful of polenta. "I scrapped." She admitted briefly. "I fought with anything that got in my way and it didn't matter how much bigger than me they were." Her eyebrows twitched a little.
"And I was a little accident prone."
"You?"
"Uh huh."
"I find that very hard to believe. You're disgustingly graceful."
Dar chuckled wryly. "Now, most of the time, sure," she said. "But I grew six inches between sixth and seventh grade. I gave myself concussions just getting in and out of the damn truck." She offered another green bean. "Wasn't pretty."
"Hmm." Kerry regarded the long body fitted against hers. "I guess sometimes short has its moments. I think the most I grew in any year was about an inch, maybe." She reached up and traced Dar's cheekbone. "But I bet you were pretty anyway."
Dar shook her head negatively.
"Yes." A thumb traced across the well shaped lips. "I've seen pictures, Dar. Don't give me that icky face."' Kerry remembered one in particular, a full length shot of Dar at thirteen or fourteen, in shorts and a dirt covered t-shirt, long dark hair half obscuring her face, but not the sharp blue eyes peeking out or the hesitant half grin that surely identified the camera holder as her father.
Gorgeous. Even then, Dar's face had been distinctively unique and the smudge of mud across her cheek only amplified the character of it.
"Kerry?" Dar whispered into her ear. "Hello? Earth to Kerry?"
"Sorry honey." Kerry felt the pounding in her head beginning to subside. "I just so absolutely love you I can't help drifting off into dreamy hazes sometimes." She turned her head so her good eye could meet her partner's.
Dar was blinking at her, an expression of somewhat puzzled pleasure on her face. "Really?"
Kerry traced her fingertips over Dar's lips again, and nodded. "Thanks for taking care of me." She felt a smile tug at her mouth. "And I think you're right. He did go the wrong way. I just wish I could have stopped in time so I didn't hit his foot."
Dar lifted the ice pack, and leaned forward, brushing her lips over the injured area before she replaced the gel again. "I'll kick his ass for it next week." She promised solemnly. "And then I'll teach you how to duck."
Kerry exhaled in satisfaction, putting her accident behind her for the moment. "Hey. I've got an idea." She burred softly. "How about I wear a patch over my eye tomorrow, kinda like a pirate?"
Dar chuckled soundlessly.
"Arrrr... Avast ye mateys!"
DAR DROPPED INTO her seat, glancing at the clock on the wall in some mild embarrassment. She shook her head, then leaned forward and hit the intercom. "Maria, what the hell's on my schedule today??"
"Uno momento, Dar. I will be right there." Maria answered promptly.
"Hope it wasn't anything that started at eight." Dar remarked to the empty office. Both she and Kerry had fallen asleep together on the couch and woken abruptly at eight, realizing they'd forgotten any kind of alarm.
Kerry's ice pack was a sloshy, warmish pack by then, and it had slipped down off her face, revealing a still swollen and tender area underneath. Her eye was mostly closed, and Dar didn't have much trouble in convincing her to stay home and relax once she'd seen her reflection in the mirror.
So here she was at just past nine, trying to collect the scattered threads of her day after its late start and hoping she hadn't missed anything really critical. Dar folded her hands as Maria entered, carrying a pad of paper, and gave her assistant a wry grin. "Morning."
"Good morning, Dar." Maria sat down. "Is Kerrista all right? Mayte said that she would not be here today."
Dar sighed. "We had an accident at kickboxing class last night. Kerry got bopped in the head, so I made her stay home. It's not that bad, but she looks like she was beaned in the eye with a baseball."
"Dios Mio!" Maria exclaimed. "That poor thing!"
"Yeah." Her boss agreed. "Wish I was..." She paused awkwardly. "Anyway, what's on the schedule? Did I miss something already this morning?"
Maria smiled at her, and looked down at her pad. "Ah, no, no. There is a meeting after lunch today, with the gentleman from A&T, and a conference call for you at four for the international." T
Rats. Dar sighed again. The four o'clock international call tended to last forever, and she... "Okay." She cut off her thoughts abruptly, reminding herself she was actually a corporate officer here. "Thanks, Maria. Let me get to work on the damn inbox. Tell Mayte to forward any calls for Kerry over here to me."
"Yes, I surely will." Maria stood up. "Would you like some coffee, Dar?"
"Do I look like I need it?" Dar replied with rakish grin. "Yeah" sure."
"I will be right back," she said. "While you are getting your things ready."
Dar watched her leave then she gave her trackball a spin bringing up her inbox in the hope it would keep her occupied and not wishing she was at home.
One note caught her eye, and she opened it, scanning the contents quickly. Her fingers drummed lightly on the keys, then she hit reply and answered. She hoped Kerry would forgive her for it.
THERE WERE A lot of things Kerry knew she could be doing. However, she was curled up in their waterbed with the blinds drawn, listening to an audio book playing softly in the CD player instead. Her eye was still swollen shut, and trying to read anything, much less her laptop screen just wasn't working for her.
So she'd retired to their bedroom instead of her office, keeping her laptop nearby for mail purposes, but she simply laid there in the comfortable air conditioning with her other eye closed as well.