Chapter 11: The Problem

"I forgot to buy crutches. I was so preoccupied with..."

"Very stupid, Karen. You should have thought it over in advance."

"My fault."

Lena nodded.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Lena asked.

"My purse is over there. Take some money! I will tell you where the shop is."

"What if they have ran out of crutches," Lena chuckled.

"Don't be silly! It's not possible."

Lena left. Karen inspected the cast. It was completely dry. She touched its hard surface and tried to understand why she was so thrilled. Was it the whiteness, the immobility, or just the smell of plaster? She could not explain that. Karen felt that somehow the cast was enhancing her femininity. It implied that she needed protection, that she should be pampered. Lost in thought, Karen gradually became aware that she must do something very prosaic. She needed to go to the bathroom. She stood up, balancing on her right foot. The cast felt surprisingly heavy. Her bare toes were hanging few inches off the floor. Karen wondered how to proceed. She placed her casted foot on the floor and tried to walk. It was very difficult due to the bent at her knee. Finally, she decided to hop to the bathroom. Luckily, it was quite close. By the time she got there, she was panting. On her way back to the couch, her tiredness grew.

Karen's mobile started ringing. She had left it upstairs, in her bedroom.

"Oh, no!"

She hopped to the bottom of the stairs and looked up. Twenty steps.

"I can do it," Karen muttered.

She propped herself on the railing and hopped up. Step by step, she was climbing cautiously, putting weight on the cast. It bumped against the railing a couple of times so she stopped to check if it was damaged. It wasn't. Panting heavily, she reached the landing, then hopped into her bedroom.

"What kind of crutches do you want?" Lena asked.

"It doesn't matter. Do not fool around, Lena! I need them," Karen said irritably.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"In this case, I will buy a pair of elbow crutches. They suit you," Lena giggled.

"OK."

Karen pocketed the mobile and hopped to the landing. Descending the stairs seemed to be easier than the ascending. Moreover, it turned out to be much quicker. Propping on the railing, she hopped cautiously on the first step. Her casted leg swayed. The movement shifted her center of gravity. Karen staggered. Trying to steady herself, she tightened her grip on the railing. It didn't help, nor did her desperate cry. Her fingers were wrenched out of the railing. There was no time for reaction. Instinctively, she hopped on the next step in a futile attempt to regain her balance. Karen's sock-clad toes came up against the hard surface of the concrete step. For a brief moment, all her body weight was on them. Her foot turned abruptly to the right. An audible, popping sound announced the fracture of some small bones in her foot. Karen howled, waved her arms about and fell down the stairs. The cast broke as it met the hard concrete. The girl hit her head against the railing and her body got limp in an instant. She tumbled down the stairs in merciful unconsciousness, sprawling at the bottom of the staircase.