Page 111 of A Dream for Daphne

“My hero,” she said.

But they did manage to get her shirt off of her. Abe had to hold back a gag when he saw her shoulder already bruising.

“Let me know if this hurts,” Theo said, touching her hand and arm, in different spots.

“Nothing,” she said. “It’s like my arm is dead now. It hurt at first.”

“You dislocated it. I’m going to pop it back in. I’ll be honest. It’s going to hurt. There is no way around it, but once it’s in, you’ll be able to move it. I can give you a shot to help with thepain after. You’re going to need an MRI so I can see if you tore anything. Sometimes it’s clean and you pop it back and rest it a few weeks and you’re good to go.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” she said.

“Why don’t you lie down? I’m going to try to be quick about it. If I can. It’s not always possible.”

“Just do it and get it over with,” she said.

She lay down on the table.

“You should be good to go for your brother’s wedding,” Theo said. “Though it’s ironic that you’ll both have your left arm in a sling so close together.”

Theo was talking to Daphne as he worked.

“At least I wasn’t shot like my brother,” she said, laughing.

The minute she laughed, Theo moved quickly and there was a loud pop in the room.

Abe thought he was going to lose whatever food was in his stomach, but Daphne let out a shout and he jumped to run to her.

“Take a deep breath,” Theo said. “And another. Try to relax your arm. I’m going to give you a shot now for the pain.”

“Is it fixed?” he asked.

“It’s back in place,” Theo said. “Hopefully there isn’t any ligament or muscle damage. I won’t know until the MRI.”

He pulled a needle out of his lab coat.

“Please give me that,” she said. “All the pain is hitting me at once.”

Theo administered the shot while Daphne was white as a ghost and breathing heavily. His heart hurt so hard for her and the helpless feeling wasn’t a good one.

“It’s going to take a few minutes to kick in, but you’ll feel better. I’m going to move your arm around a bit to just check. Sit up slowly when you’re ready. Take your time.”

She took a few deep breaths and started to sit up, Theo helping her.

“It’s better, right?” she asked. “How long will I need to rest it?”

“To start, two weeks,” Theo said. “It’s going to depend on the results of the MRI. I’ve already got them setting up the MRI once you leave here. I don’t know if it’s going to be right away, but I’d like to get it today. If there is any damage to your muscle or ligaments, the longer we wait to fix it, the worse it will be.”

“You mean I might need surgery?” she asked. “I could be out of work.”

“Stop,” Abe said.

“I’ve got to work,” she said. “I mean I suppose I can pick Tatum up with my right hand. There are people out there with only one arm that have kids.”

“You should be out of work for two weeks,” Theo said. “That means no lifting anything at all.”

“Not even with my right arm?” she asked. “I can still watch Holly at least.”

“Don’t even think that,” Abe said again. “Let’s get through this. You know Poppy and Reese will understand.”

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