I managed to get to my feet and hobbled back toward my place. The urge to cry was a battle, but I didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself than I already had. My mouth felt as big as a baseball, my hip was sore from the fall, my elbow throbbed, and I was sure it was full of rocks and dirt. It was going to be a b***h to clean.
Just a little farther.
Almost there.
A girl I recognized from the eighth floor ran to open the door for me. I’d seen her a couple times with her daughter, and she seemed nice enough.
“What the hell? Are you all right?” I nodded and headed straight for the elevator. She slipped in next to me and punched the button for our floor. “Come to my place. I have a first aid kit.”
My chin started to quiver as what happened set in, but I pulled myself together. She
