Johnny Came Tumbling Down

Johnny came down the stairs at the bar in Coffs and looked around, seeing none of the guys around, he had to be to work in the morning and couldn’t stay the night.

"How will you get home Johnny?" Cissy asked hitching her handbag on her shoulder

"I don’t know, walk I guess."

"How far is it to The Glen?"

"About thirty minutes I reckon."

"I’ll give you a ride, I gotta be to work too, come on," she smiled

Johnny was none too sober and staggered to her car. He wasn’t used to drinking like he had tonight in fact he didn’t think he’d ever had that much to drink in one night. He was surprised he could even get it up for Cissy.

"It was the shots Johnny; they’ll do it every time you’ll be flying along and all of a sudden wham!"

"Yeah, I think I been whammed. I probably wasn’t well…you know."

"Hey handsome, you were fine," she laughed, "more than fine," she ran her hand up his thigh.

Johnny didn’t feel fine, the motion of the car made him feel drunk than he was. He must have dosed off because she shook his arm.

"Is this it love?"

"Ah yeah…thanks Cissy, you were great…great fun." He leaned over and kissed her good morning.

"See I got you home before daylight…I hope I’ll see you around again handsome."

Johnny got out of the car carrying his shirt in his hand and somehow made it up the steps to the front door of the boarding house, fumbled for his keys and let himself in. All he wanted was to fall across his bed.

Amanda woke early, before daylight an unusual thing for her to do; rolling around in the bed she finally got up to get a drink of water from the flask on the dresser. She heard the car out front and went to have a look, whoever it was must already be in the house, she thought as the car drove away. She started back to her bed and heard a cry, stopping for a moment she thought she heard it again and she walked over to her door and opened it a crack, yes there it was again. Reaching for her robe she went to the end of the hallway and looked down the stairs.

"Oh, " she cried out and ran down the steps somebody was in a heap at the foot of the stairs. "Oh…Johnny you’re hurt."

"My…ankle…I think I broke it." He was sitting on the bottom step holding his up his knee, "I can’t feel my foot." He gasped.

"I’m going to call the ambo," she said and ran to the phone on the reception desk.

Miss Peeg hearing her niece’s door close opened hers to investigate. Amanda didn’t answer her knock and standing still and listening she heard voices toward the stairway and walked over to see what was going on.

"You there, are you all right?" she called out seeing the man on the bottom step

Johnny moaned and Amanda appeared, "he’s fallen down the steps Auntie and hurt his ankle, I’ve called emergency services."

Miss Peeg started down the stairs, "ice Amanda it should be on ice." Amanda ran toward the kitchen

Johnny thought he might be sick, "and a towel Amanda," called out Miss Peeg. "There, there you poor boy, help is coming."

"I can’t put my foot down," he said

"No no you don’t want to, here let me help you support your knee…you’ve been drinking."

"Yes ma’am at Coffs."

Amanda came back with a bowl of ice and a couple of towels from the kitchen and proceeded to wrap one in ice and place it around his ankle, the other she handed to him in case he felt the need to be sick again. "I’m going to change Auntie, will you stay with him?"

"Change for what child it isn’t daylight yet?"

"I’m going with him…he doesn’t have anybody Auntie." Amanda met her Aunt Winnie’s eye.

"Of course you must," oh dear Winnie Peeg thought, oh dear me it would be this one.