Chapter 28
Michael was relieved not to be working with Father Hernandez anymore, or Sister Justine, and anxious to get back to teaching. His reorientation to his syllabus was almost complete. His final activity was to review the lectures with the associate professor who had filled in for him. Michael also felt comforted by his usual jogging dominion by the beach. His favorite portion of the jog was the reserved bicycle and jogging road running parallel to the beach between the multicolored and multileveled houses. The weaving through Rollerbladers, bicyclists, walkers, and other joggers added variety to each run. Michael was accustomed to Tuesdays being less crowded, with just enough activity to keep the jog interesting but not bothersome in trying to avoid someone every other minute. This day was not a typical Tuesday’s.
A bicyclist, 50 to 70 yards ahead of him, was more interested in talking into his Bluetooth headset than in paying attention to the other exercisers. The biker periodically steered left into the lane of opposing traffic. A couple of joggers would weave out of his way to prevent from him colliding with them. Even when they yelled out for the cyclist to stay in his lane, Michael could tell the cyclist feigned an apology but continued on his way indifferent. Michael moved as far right as possible and dedicated all his attention to the one distracted bicyclist. He didn't notice a more skilled bicyclist, wearing a black-and-gold spandex outfit with matching helmet, speedily arriving on the left of the distracted cyclist. In a blur, they both were almost upon Michael, the faster cyclist passing the slower cyclist and attempting to call out he was passing on the left. The slower cyclist, startled by someone instantly showing up at his side, flinched and disrupted the grace and agility of the faster bicycler, which sent him straight into Michael, who tried to jump out of the way but couldn’t. His leg sustained the majority of the impact.
After he returned to his house with the assistance of a couple of joggers, Alicia attended to his severely scraped calf and ankle and worked to dress the injury. Each time she touched close to the distressed ankle, Michael grimaced. She knew it was more serious than he claimed. Already seeing swelling, she hurried to retrieve a cold pack. When she returned, tinges of discoloration developed under his tanned skin. She decided he should head to the emergency room. No matter how much Michael tried to rationalize that there wasn’t any reason to go to urgent care or the hospital, by the end of the brief disagreement Alicia overruled him.
The Fallen and the Elect Page 55
