Page 96 of Pumped

“Shh, it’s okay, sweetie. Go back to sleep,” I say, rubbing her back, but a voice calls out before I can soothe her back to sleep.

“Ivy Lambert?”

We all turn in the direction of the nurse. He leads us down a narrow hallway and into an examination room. It’s small, cramped with the exam bed taking up most of the space. There’s a tiny table tucked into the corner with a computer and two chairs lined up against the wall. With three grown adults and a little girl, it feels a bit claustrophobic. Suddenly, all of Owen’s muttering and talking to himself hits me like a sledgehammer.

What if Ivy’s wristisbroken? What if it’s worse than broken? What if there’s permanent damage and she’ll never be able to use it again? What if she loses it entirely? All these worst-case scenarios race through my mind as I stand in the middle of the tiny room, clutching Ivy to me so tightly she starts to whimper.

“Sorry, sweetie. Sorry.”

The nurse gestures to the bed. “You can set her on there.”

Ivy leans into me, grabbing onto my shirt with her good hand, and honestly, I don’t want to let her go either. If I keep her in my arms, if I can physically wrap myself around her, then maybe the diagnosis won’t be as bad.

“Is it okay if I…” I nod toward the bed and start hoisting myself onto it before the nurse even answers. “She’ll be more comfortable if I’m holding her.”And I will be too.

The nurse smiles sympathetically. “Sure, go ahead. My name is Dustin, and I’m a nurse practitioner. That means I’m qualified to do pretty much everything a doctor can do.” He rolls his little stool over to the bed. “So what brings you in today?”

Owen steps up next to the bed, planting his feet and crossing his arms like he’s our own personal bodyguard. “She fell and injured her wrist. We need an x-ray to check if it’s broken,” he barks with a scowl on his face.

Dustin’s gaze darts up to him, a little taken aback, and I nudge Owen with my foot. We don’t need to piss off the nurse who’s trying to take care of Ivy. What if he gives us a bad diagnosis? I mean, I know that’s not how it works, but I’m not taking any chances, okay?

Dustin turns back to Ivy with a cautious expression. “Can I take a look?”

Ivy doesn’t move, and a part of me wants to hide her away from this stranger. But that’s only going to drag this out longer than any of us want. I rub her back. “It’s okay, Ives, you can show him.”

Carefully, I help her slip the makeshift sling off and support her arm as she extends it to Dustin. Owen watches like a hawk as Dustin examines Ivy’s wrist, now swollen to twice the size of her other one. I’m not a doctor, but it doesn’t look good.

Dustin’s brow furrows as he turns her wrist over. “We’ll have to get an x-ray to know for sure, but from the stiffness of the muscles, I would guess it’s broken.”

My heart plummets. “Is that bad? I mean, that’s bad, right?”

Owen sets a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I lean into his touch, seeking comfort in his strength. “We won’t know until the x-ray images come back,” he says.

Dustin agrees. “Yes, that’s right. If it is broken, we’ll have to see where the break is and if it’s partial or complete. There are lots of little bones in the wrist and hand, so if there’s more than one break or if bones are displaced, then it’ll get more complicated.”

I feel the blood drain from my face as I imagine Ivy with steel rods sticking out of her arm like some sort of cyborg. Ivy starts crying again. Soft, quiet tears that roll down her red and splotchy cheeks. Owen lets out a growl so low it’s barely a rumble and steps forward to insert himself between us and the nurse.

“Or, it could just be a sprain,” Dustin says, trying to sound upbeat while rolling his chair away. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions until the x-rays come in.” He stands and pushes the little stool into the corner. “You guys just hang tight in here. I’ll let the x-ray tech know and he’ll come get you when he’s ready.”

The door closes behind him and Owen turns to us. He pulls out one of the fresh handkerchiefs he grabbed on the way out the door and dabs at Ivy’s cheeks. He wraps his other hand around the back of my neck. “You guys okay?”

Ivy’s got her brave face on and she nods, cradling her hand to her chest. I don’t feel nearly as brave as she does, but I nod too.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SIX

OWEN

They won’t let us into the x-ray room with Ivy. I argue with Dustin, the nurse, trying to intimidate him into letting one of us inside. But Dustin stands his ground and eventually Everest pulls me away.

Ivy sniffles, looking so small and vulnerable as she follows Dustin into the x-ray room. She’s being so brave, courageous, and strong. I’m so goddamn proud of her and at the same I don’t feel worthy to be her parent. I’ve made so many mistakes already and we hadn’t even had her for a year. I don’t want to think about all the mistakes I’m going to make in the future, all the ways I’m going to let her down. I just hope I don’t fuck her up too badly before she reaches adulthood.

It turns out her wrist is broken—in two places. They look clean, though—I made Dustin show me the images and walk me through what he saw. The bones don’t look like they’ve shifted, so hopefully she’ll only need a cast. We’ll have to bring her back in once the swelling’s gone down to double-check alignment and maybe get a new cast if the first one becomes too loose.

Dustin lets Ivy choose which color she wants her cast to be. She chooses pink, of course, then he gives us a prescription for pain medication and tells us to schedule an appointment for next week.

By the time we get home, it’s long past dinner and all three of us are pooped, barely hanging on by a thread. All I want is to fall into bed with Everest on one side and Ivy on the other.

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