“I told the nurse I didn’t care for anything.”
“There you go again with that well-bred, Southern fried stoic stuff. You don’t have energy to spare for manners, so cut yourself some slack. Now drink some of this. You’ve been through a trauma.” He must have seen the stubborn trickling through her, because he added, “I was told to make myself useful and give you liquids, and that’s what I intend to do. Ginny Irwin scares the crap out of me and everyone else in Blackwater Lake who comes here to Mercy Medical for treatment. If you’re as smart as I think you are, you’ll be scared of her, too, and do what you’re told.”
Ellie didn’t think anything or anyone could have made her even want to smile, but Alex and what he’d just said proved her wrong. She raised up on an elbow. “Okay. Since you put it that way...”
He held out the glass and steadied the straw while she drank. “That’s a good girl.”
After getting about half of it down, she stretched out on her side again and gingerly adjusted her injured leg. Strangely enough, she did feel a little better. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He scanned her from face to feet. “How do you feel?”
“How do I look?” The way his mouth pulled tight wasn’t very reassuring. “Tell me the truth.”
“Your face is white as a sheet and your ankle is swollen. A lot.”
“I appreciate your candor.” And she sincerely meant that. Honesty was very important to her, but it didn’t make the increasingly panicked feeling go away.
“Everything will be okay, Ellie.”
How will everything be all right? she wanted to ask. A broken ankle would slow her down. It wasn’t in her comeback plan or her schedule. She’d already lost too much time with that darn, stupid emotional detour on the road to professional success. There wasn’t any flexibility in her blueprint to rehabilitate her reputation and resurrect her career.
“I have no doubt that things will work out.” She was pretty sure the words had just enough confidence to be convincing.
“Darn right. Whatever happens, if you need anything, just ask.”
Not going there, she thought. She’d trusted a man once, and it hadn’t gone well. She would get through this on her own. What didn’t kill you made you stronger.
“I’m sure I won’t need anything, Alex, but the offer is awfully nice.” She smiled as sincerely as possible. “It’s way past quitting time. Y’all should head home.”
“I’m in no hurry.”
That made one of them. She was in a huge hurry for him to take his care and concern out of here before she started to believe in it.
“Really,” she said. “I’m okay. There’s no reason to waste any more of your evening on me.”
“I don’t mind—”
A knock interrupted him just before the door opened. Ben came in with X-rays in his hand. “Hey, Alex. I didn’t know you were still here.”
“I was just telling him he should go,” Ellie said.
The doctor looked at her. “I’ve got the radiologist report.”
“Finally.” Now that it was here she was dreading the results.
The two brothers stood side by side, and the family resemblance was obvious. The shapes of their faces were identical right down to the strong chin and rugged cheekbones. Their coloring was slightly different; the doctor’s hair was lighter. Alex was just a shade taller, broader in the shoulders. His hair was darker, his brown eyes more intense. When he made no move to leave, Ben cleared his voice.
“Obviously you two are friends, but I need to talk to Ellie privately. It’s a patient confidentiality issue.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Alex set the plastic glass and straw on the counter beside the soda can and left the room.
When the door closed behind him, Ellie didn’t know whether to be relieved that he’d listened to his brother or to miss his reassuring support. But this mess wasn’t his baby to rock.
“Okay, then. What’s up, Doc?”
He shoved the X-ray films on the viewer box and even the untrained eye could see the bones of the foot, ankle and lower leg. Using his pen as a pointer he indicated an irregularity.
“I’m sorry, Ellie. I know you were hoping it was just a sprain, but that’s not the case. There’s definitely a fracture here.”
“Okay.” She took a deep but not very calming breath. “So what now? You put it in a cast. Maybe the walking kind,” she said hopefully. “So I can get back to work.”
“I’ll put a cast on it so you don’t make the injury worse while we wait for the swelling to go down.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “What happens then?”
“I need to do the repair in surgery. It will require a plate to hold the bone together while it heals. But here’s the thing...”
“What?” The knots in her stomach pulled tighter.
“When the clinic addition is finished, a procedure like this can be done here, on an outpatient basis, but you can’t wait that long. We need the hospital and it’s pretty far away.”
Close to that cute little airport where she’d flown in from Dallas. “How much work time will I lose?”
“The day of the surgery, then one or two after because there might be some discomfort from the procedure.”
“And can I work in the meantime?”
“Yes, if you can do what you need to on crutches. You can’t put any weight on the leg, and common sense is essential. Keep the foot elevated as much as possible to get the swelling down. The sooner the surgery is done, the sooner you’ll be back on your feet.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have any other questions?” There was sympathy in the doctor’s dark eyes.
“Not right now, but I’m sure I will.”
“When you do, don’t hesitate to ask.”
She nodded numbly.
Ellie figured she was in shock. It was the only explanation for her state of calm through the process of getting the cast on. When it was done, Ginny gave her crutches and instructions, then helped her into a wheelchair. She was on her way to the clinic waiting area and about to ask the nurse for the favor of a bit longer ride to her car in the lot by the construction trailer. Before getting the words out, she spotted Alex sitting in a chair.
Ginny wheeled her closer and said to him, “Here she is.”
“Thanks, Ginny.”
Ellie heard the squeak of the woman’s sneakers on the wooden floor behind her as she walked away. She couldn’t believe he was still there. More important, she didn’t want to get used to it.
She shook her head. “You shouldn’t be here.”
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