Manhandled!

It seems that the world is getting even with me for breaking up with Devon the way I did. Now I don't normally believe in karma but after this past week, I'm looking over my shoulder.

Last Tuesday my friend Mia called me to tell me that she wouldn't be able to go because 'something' came up. Since Mia was the one driving and we were going to be staying at her parents cabin in the mountains, that cancelled our trip. I was so upset, I was looking forward to this trip to take my mind of my problems. I wanted to leave the memory of Devon high above the snow covered mountain while I cuddled up with some hot rebound guy for a couple days.

On Wednesday I slept in, arrived at work an hour later and got reamed out by my boss for a half hour about the dedication he expects from his staff and if I wasn't as dedicated as I could be, then I should really look for another job. I almost lost it because up until that day, I was never later, never called in sick.

Thursday was alright, I thought that I was over the bad karma vibe but Friday evening when I was walking downtown to grab something for supper, it changed again.

There had been a fire a couple months ago that ripped through three businesses, it was horrible but no one was hurt. I was walking by the chain linked fence that the construction company hired to rebuild on the site erected when they started the clean up a month ago when I heard wolf whistles and catcalls. I turned to see where it was coming from - a group of construction workers were standing together behind the fence, looking like they were getting ready to go home for the day - when I lost my footing and fell down. Hard. My left foot ended up under me and it hurt so much. I cried.

The only good thing about the whole falling thing? I didn't have to wait too long for someone to come by to help me up - a couple of the construction guys came running over. But I didn't want his help, I wanted to get up and walk away with my head held high.

"Leave me alone, I can do it myself!" I snapped at them and slapped hands away from me. I struggled for a couple minutes, trying to stand but my ankle hurt and my shoes slipped on the sidewalk.

A pair of hands roughly grabbed me around the waist. "For the love of God Janie! Just let me help you!"

The voice made me freeze for a moment before my eyes slowly travelled up the body of the man who held me. "Sean!" I gasped when my eyes met his. "What are you doing here?" But as I asked I clued in that the orange vest he was wearing wasn't a fashion error but a safety choice.

"I work over there," he nodded to the fenced area. "Put your hands on my shoulders," he ordered as he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me to my feet. "There," he smiled when I was standing with his help. "You should be ok now," he let go of me.

My eyes widened in pain as my weight pressed down on my injured ankle. I grabbed for him as I felt myself start to fall again.

"Whoa!" He caught me, damn near crushing me against his chest in the process. "You hurt yourself."

"No," I lied. "I'm fine. Really." I went to move back from him to show him but it was pointless, my ankle was useless. "Ok," I admitted defeat. "My ankle is killing me, maybe I sprained it?"

"Maybe."

"I should call someone to come get me," I reached for my purse but it wasn't on my arm. "Where...?" It was on the ground where I fell.

"Yeah," he told me. "You should go to the hospital."

"I'll call Amber, she'll -"

"Amber and Reed have plans tonight," he informed me. "What about Devon? He works near here, doesn't he?"

"I don't think he would come running to my rescue."

"Sure he would."

"No," I shook my head. "Not now. We broke up a couple days ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Funny, he didn't look too sorry. Maybe it was the angle that I was staring at him from but he seemed happy about that news.

"Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll get someone to come for me. If you can help me over to that bus stop, I'll make a call and you can go back to work."

Sean glanced at the bus stop for a moment. "No," he said finally and in one swift motion he scooped me up in his arms. "I'll take you to the doctor."