Page 8 of Honeymoon for Seven

Everyone nodded at the man.

“I have good news. Nothing is broken.”

His mother heaved a sigh and smiled. “I’ll be honest, when I landed by this nice man and couldn’t feel my ankle, I feared the worst.”

“Well, there’s a caveat to the good news.”

Nick didn’t like the sound of that.

“Soft tissue damage can take longer to heal than a clean break or fracture.”

“Pft.” Grimacing, his mother pushed on her hands to lift herself higher on the hospital bed. “A little ice and a few aspirin and I’ll be good as new.”

The doctor looked at Nick and he knew from the man’s eyes that good as new was not going to be anywhere in his mother’s immediate future.

“We’re going to wrap the ankle for now. You’ll need to ice it off and on for the next forty-eight hours. The faster the swelling decreases, the faster your ankle will heal, but that means it needs to be elevated higher than your heart.”

“Fine.” His mother leaned back. “Let’s wrap this up, and send me on my merry way.”

As if his mother had summoned her, a nurse came in with a tray and setting it down, removed the wrapping from an elastic bandage. The way his mom grit her teeth when the nurse touched the injured ankle, he knew beyond any doubt that she would not be up and about anytime soon.

“We have crutches, but the way the ship is rocking, it’s probably best if you use one of our wheelchairs to return to your room.” The doctor addressed the two of them.

Nick’s “thank you,” tumbled over his mother’s “I can walk.”

Both he and the doctor gave his mother a pointed glare.

His mom’s mouth opened, no doubt ready to argue, when Ginnie stepped forward. “I bet Phoebe would love a ride on her grandmother’s lap.”

The way his mom snapped her mouth shut and blinked, Nick was willing to bet that for at least a few moments, she’d forgotten there were other people in the room.

Another staff member was already coming in with a wheelchair. His mom looked at it, looked at her ankle, then looked at Phoebe and nodded. “We’ll make it a fun ride.”

With a little encouraging from Ginnie, Phoebe settled into her grandmother’s lap and he rolled his mom out the door. At the elevator, he turned to Ginnie. “Thank you.”

Nodding, she softly responded, “You’re going to need someone to hold Phoebe while you settle your mother in.”

He’d already suspected this woman was beautiful both in and out, now he was positive. “If that’s an offer, I accept.”

A grin spread across her face. It was an awfully pretty smile. Not that he wished harm on his mother, but if she had to pick a place to mess up her ankle, she couldn’t have picked a better time and place to do it.Way to go, Mom.

Chapter Five

All it took for Ginnie to see that Nick’s mother was not going to be running a marathon anytime soon was about thirty seconds. If nearly collapsing in Nick’s arms as she tried to stand out of the wheelchair wasn’t enough, the pained grimace on her face as she panted away the pain was a dead giveaway.

“Some aspirin and a good night’s rest and I’ll be fine.”

Nick hadn’t bothered to say a word, he merely raised a brow at his mother and sighed. “Let’s start by getting you comfortable.” Before his mother could agree or disagree, Nick had scooped her into his arms and carried her to the sofa. “Here or the bedroom?”

Her lips pulled tightly together, whether in pain or frustration was anyone’s guess. “Sofa. I want to be available for the kids.”

“Are you sure? They won’t be back for hours.” On the way back to the suite they had stopped to get the kids for lunch, but the Kids Club provided lunch for those who wanted to stay, and all four kids were having too much fun to leave with the old people.

“I’m sure. Put me down before you hurt yourself.”

Not wanting to juggle a toddler and pillows, and balance from the still rocking ship, Ginnie spied a few toys by the coffee table and set Phoebe down. Instantly the little girl reached for a big car and grinning broadly, started rushing it back and forth across the narrow table.

“Have we heard anything about Theresa and Alan?” His mother shifted on the sofa.

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