6 AM in the middle of winter was a terribly dark and cold hour to be up and about but it was the only time Yusuf and his friend, Aaron, had to go to the gym. Going together made it harder to come up with excuses not to go and they’d been going together for several months now. It was Yusuf’s turn to drive so he was getting ready a bit earlier.

He was tired, like most mornings, and he sipped his morning tea to help wake himself up. This herbal blend was more fruity than he was used to but it was nice with just the right amount of citrus. Most mornings he had hot cocoa instead but today was a tea sort of day.

As soon as he was finished with his tea, Yusuf grabbed his wallet and cellphone and hurried out the door. The moment it clicked shut behind him, he realized his mistake. He’d forgotten to grab his keys. He tried the door on the off chance that he’d forgotten to lock it.

“Nope,” he grunted when the knob refused to turn.

He took stock of the situation. He was in his pajama bottoms and a hoodie since that was what he always wore to the gym. His wife was already gone to work and wouldn’t be home until the afternoon, otherwise he’d just call her to open the door. He had class right after the gym but all of his books were inside. He didn’t think he had any tests or the like today so he could get by with just showing up, though he wouldn’t be able to take any notes. He thought for a moment, trying to remember if any of their windows to his apartment were unlocked. The apartment was on the second floor and he thought he could make it onto the roof and reach a window. If any of the windows were unlocked, it would be the bathroom window which was also the closest one.

The roof overhung the stairs slightly and he managed to pull himself up onto the roof. It was steeper than it looked once he was up there but he only needed to go about five or so feet to reach the bathroom window.

The ice and snow on the roof made crawling difficult and more than a little bit treacherous but it was only a few feet to the –

His hands slipped, followed by the rest of him. The world spun around Yusuf and he bounced off the stair railing on his way down to the ground. Fortunately there was a snow pile there to break his fall. It was better than hitting the concrete, at least, but not by much. The wind was knocked completely out of him and several parts of his body were hurting.

“Ow,” he finally gasped and began assessing his injuries at once.

His hands hurt and felt like they were scratched up pretty badly from when they slipped on the ice and then grated against the roof’s shingles. His back hurt where he’d hit both the railing and the snow drift but didn’t feel so bad that he was worried about any serious injury there. His elbows and ankles also hurt from the landing but, similar to his back, didn’t feel like they were hurt any worse than just a bruising.

Slowly and gently, Yusuf tested out his various limbs and joints. There was plenty of sore muscles and pops but nothing seemed broken. After that he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. Miraculously it wasn’t damaged and he called Aaron.

“Don’t tell me you’re not working out today,” Aaron said as soon as he answered.

That was what Yusuf had been about to say, but now as he thought about it, what else was he going to do? He wasn’t about to try and climb back onto his roof again, and he didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“No,” he said instead, “I just forgot my keys, locked myself out. Could you to drive today?”

“Oh, uh, sure. I’ll be there in a minute.”

They both hung up and Yusuf lay there a moment longer before forcing his body to get up. It hurt, of course, as he knew it would. It was better to get moving sooner rather than later and prevent his muscles from locking up anyway. Everything ached as he began stretching in his driveway while he waited for Aaron.

As he bent down to touch his toes he noticed the knees in his pajamas were torn and his knees were bleeding. His knees had been one of the few major joints that weren’t hurting right up until he noticed the cuts. Then they started to hurt. How they’d gotten so torn up he couldn’t say. Maybe from when he’d slipped on the roof, but why were they so much worse than his hands? It didn’t make any sense to him but they looked and felt awful.

At that moment, Aaron’s car rolled up and the light from the headlights flashed over him. It only then dawned on Yusuf how much of a wreck he must look. Resigned to some significant teasing over his poor decision making, Yusuf walked over and got into the car.

Aaron didn’t say anything at first and just stared at him.

“You going to explain any of this?” he finally asked, gesturing to Yusuf’s injuries.

“I thought I could get in through the bathroom window.”

Aaron looked up at the second floor windows, then back at Yusuf.

“Did you fall off your roof?”

“Yes.”

“Was this before or after you called me?”

“Before.”

Aaron nodded.

“Do we need to go to the urgent care instead of the gym?

“No, I’ll just do light weights today.”

Aaron clicked on the dome light in the car and studied Yusuf for a moment.

“You sure,” he finally said with a lot more seriousness in his voice than Yusuf was expecting, “because you’re bleeding. A lot.”

“It’s just my hands and knees.”

“And the whole right side of your head.”

“What?”

Yusuf put a hand up to his head and, sure enough, it came back bloody. Really bloody.

“I guess I landed a bit harder than I thought,” he said as his hand began to shake.

“You think?”

Aaron turned off the dome light and began to drive.

“I’m guessing you’ll need a couple stitches at least. Besides, no one wants you touching the weights with your hands right now.”

“I was feeling alright until you pointed out how much I was bleeding,” Yusuf said as a wave of nausea washed over him. “Ooh, I’m not feeling good now.”

He had to lean his seat all the way back and lie down otherwise he was pretty sure he would need to throw up or pass out or both. A part of him knew he was getting blood all over Aaron’s car now but he couldn’t do much about that now.

The drive took longer than Yusuf expected and when they arrived, Aaron hopped out of the car and ran in without him. Yusuf tried to get up but he was too shaky and nauseous to get very far. Soon enough, Aaron was back with a nurse and a wheelchair.

“Hey, this isn’t the urgent care,” Yusuf said as he looked up and recognized the hospital.

Aaron and the nurse got Yusuf into the wheelchair and brought him inside. The whole time the nurse was asking Aaron questions and Yusuf was trying to follow the conversation and answer for himself but the longer time went by the less things made any sense to him. They tried asking him some questions but he was too disoriented to answer. Then they flashed some lights in his eyes and he tried to look away. He didn’t even realize he was no longer in a wheelchair but instead in a hospital bed until they were wheeling him out of the room and down a hallway.

“We need you to lie still, okay?”

One of the nurses was talking to him and Yusuf tried to say ‘Okay’ but only managed a mumble so instead he gave them a thumbs up. They brought him into a big room with a large machine that looked like a giant doughnut. There was a lot of activity around him until suddenly everyone else was gone and he was alone.

It was too early in the morning for this much trouble. Yusuf was upset with himself for causing all this and being stupid, though he couldn’t quite remember what he’d done, only that it was his fault. He just needed to sleep. Get some rest and he’d feel better in the morning. That’s what he needed.

Yeah.

Just a bit of sleep.

He closed his eyes as the machine began making some noise but he ignored it. Sleep was what he needed and when he woke up everything would be better and make more sense.

A few voices were speaking, possibly to him. He thought he heard his name but they could talk when he woke up. They could talk later.

Sleep never felt so enveloping and welcoming.