I Fell For My Nemesis

Jocelyn had never been this badly hurt the whole time she had been a hero. She had to get carted away in an ambulance since she couldn't even stand and her kneecap had shattered so extensively she had to get a partial patellectomy. 

They removed part of her kneecap because of how badly it had been damaged and she had extensive physical therapy ahead of her and still never may be able to fully extend her left leg again. Her hero career was basically over because of something as stupid and careless as being thrown into a wall the wrong way when she was distracted. 

How many other times had she been thrown into walls and had been perfectly fine? This was so stupid!

Stupid and painful. Forced retirement was so much worse than choosing it for herself. If she kept trying to fight after recovering she could end up dead without a full range of motion. 

What was she supposed to do now? She didn't even have her stuff on her when she was out fighting crime so she needed to have someone go to her apartment and get it before they would discharge her from the hospital. She still had paperwork to fill out. 

Jocelyn couldn't bother Keith about this. He would figure out she was Frostine in a heartbeat if she was caught at the hospital without having her insurance or ID on her. She was going to have to reach out to her supervisor, wasn't she? She had to explain that she would be out of work for a week anyway as she recovered from emergency knee surgery. 

It was a good thing she had the number memorized. She had to use her boss as her emergency contact on her rental application and her landlord as the one at work. 

She had to borrow someone's phone and she was very lucky that her supervisor picked up. He was rather concerned about what happened to her and he and his wife came to the hospital to pick up her keys dressed rather casually since it was a Sunday. 

She had to stay overnight as there was no one to take her home post anesthesia yesterday. That bill was definitely going to come back to bite her later and she was not looking forward to it at all. 

"What happened, Jocelyn?" John's wife Maria asked in concern when they arrived. 

Jocelyn sighed. "I got into an accident and my knee shattered. I'm sorry for bothering you both on a weekend."

"Don't apologize for getting hurt! Accidents happen. You haven't used any of your sick or vacation days this year so if you take a week to relax and recover it will all be paid," John told her kindly. "We can absolutely bring you your wallet but do you have anyone to take care of you once you're discharged?"

"…no. I can manage though. I plan to sleep this off as much as possible."

They exchanged a glance, unsure, but didn't argue with her. Merely accepted her apartment keys and said they would be back. They returned with her purse a couple of hours later and she thanked them profusely for their help. 

They brushed it off and told her to take care. John even said he would call all of the clients she had scheduled for her to cancel their appointments for the week and that she should take it easy. Bless him. 

The problem was that Jocelyn didn't know how to take it easy. She never had. 

She was going to be taking it easy for an awfully long time and had no idea what to do with herself. She supposed now was the time she had to discover new hobbies if she didn't want to lose her mind. She was going to have to look into things she could do while stationary. 

With a heavy sigh she slumped back against the pillow. Everything about this was terrible. Life as she knew it was over. 

At least John or Maria had been thoughtful enough to grab her phone and put it in her purse. She decided to play that dot connecting game to kill time. Maybe she would have to get into phone games more…though that definitely wouldn't be enough to fill all of the horribly empty hours stretching before her now. 

Eventually, a nurse brought the paperwork she needed to fill out and she was able to do that, get her crutches, and be discharged with a long set of instructions she needed to follow. She was grateful she had also asked John and Maria to bring her a change of clothes because she did not want to leave on crutches looking like Frostine. That would be a dead giveaway to where she lived. 

Maria rather practically brought her a dress. It was a lot easier to wear over the brace on her knee. Jocelyn was going to have to get more of these. She didn't have many. 

It took her a ridiculously long time to get home on her crutches. She didn't have proper shoes either. All she had were Frostine's turquoise blue compression socks. She couldn't exactly ask for her supervisor to bring her shoes because no idiot in their right mind went out without them in this city. 

They didn't match her dress at all but she really hoped no one was paying attention to her feet. She looked nothing like Frostine right now between her loose, messy hair and struggle to move. 

How did anyone get around on these things regularly? They really hurt her armpits. 

Jocelyn made it home with much difficulty and plopped into her chair after moving her desk chair over to prop her leg up on. It would be really helpful to have a recliner right now but she didn't have the space. 

She sighed heavily and leaned her head against the back of the chair. This was such a nightmare. She didn't even have anything to do but play phone games until her phone ran out of battery. Which was exactly what she did until she had to get up and get her charger. 

Since moving was difficult and painful she only got up for that, to use the bathroom, and to get the takeout she ordered when it arrived. Her bathroom was so small that she had to sit on the toilet at a strange angle to make room for her bad leg. This was going to be incredibly inconvenient. 

Showering properly would be impossible on one leg too so she was going to have to give herself sponge baths and use dry shampoo for the foreseeable future. She didn't even OWN dry shampoo. 

Could she try rinsing her hair in the sink? That didn't seem like that would end well. 

Jocelyn thought she was managing as well as she could all things considering until she realized something horrible. When it was time for her to go to bed she couldn't even get up to her mattress. That was the last straw for her horrible day. She burst into tears and couldn't stop sobbing no matter what she did. 

It took over thirty minutes for her to calm down. Think. She had to think! She couldn't climb up there even to pull the mattress down and after sitting in this uncomfortable chair all day she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep here either. 

She was still trying to figure out what to do when she got a text from Keith. 'Hey, just got done with training for the day. Thought I'd see how your weekend is going'

This was different than the situation with the hospital. He didn't know Frostine got hurt so asking him to come over and help her move the mattress wouldn't give her secret identity away. But could she really put him out like that when he had barely finished training and was probably tired? 

Jocelyn had already inconvenienced five people today. That was a personal record and not one she wanted to beat. 

But she knew that Keith would find out about her injury sooner or later. And that he would genuinely want to help her if he knew she was having trouble. It was asking that was the hard part. 

'Not great, honestly. I hate to ask but could you possibly come over and help me with something?'

Rather than responding to her text, he called her and his voice was tinted with concern. "What happened? You never ask for help with anything." 

Jocelyn sighed. "I broke my leg and now I can't get to my bed. I was hoping for some help getting my mattress to the ground so I can sleep. I don't want to put you out but—"

"Joss! Why didn't you tell me what happened sooner?!" 

"I knew you were busy and didn't want to bother you. I live in Manhattan so it's kind of far."

"Forget that," Keith said impatiently. "Text me your address. I'll be there as soon as I can. Is there anything else you need that I can get on the way?"

Jocelyn didn't want to inconvenience him further but she also knew she was in no condition to make it to the store on her own. Since he had offered she should take advantage of it.

"Dry shampoo. I promise I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there soon," he promised before hanging up. 

Jocelyn was simultaneously ashamed and grateful. At least help was coming.. She didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't texted her when he did.