Page 28 of Mateo & Nicole

These warring thoughts consumed her, made her head spin. It was hard to figure out what this man was beginning to mean to her.

Only when she realized she hadn’t said or done anything in response to Mateo did she turn her full focus to her son. Tears still streaked his cheeks, and fear flooded his eyes. “I don’t want to move,” he whispered. “It hurts.”

“What hurts?” Mateo crouched down and reached for the boy’s arm. “Here?” He gently squeezed Paxton’s wrist and slowly moved up his arm each time Paxton shook his head. When they got to his shoulder, Paxton winced. But then Mateo ran his hand across Paxton’s collarbone, and his eyes found Nikki’s. “I think he’s broken his collarbone. There’s a bump right here.” Mateo placed his fingers gently to indicate what he’d found.

“His collarbone!” Nikki had to soften her voice and school her features. Her baby broke his bone—because she wasn’t supervising him. This was going to come back to bite her. Hospitals were required to report instances like this one. Nikki’s heart rate shot through the roof. She fought her instincts to overreact. It wouldn’t do any good to get Paxton riled up.

Nikki swallowed hard, her eyes pleading as she met Mateo’s. She wasn’t strong enough to handle this on her own. Already she felt like she was crumbling.

Mateo, the amazing man that he was, noticed. He turned to Paxton and smiled broadly. “I’m going to take you to urgent care. We’ll have someone take a picture of your bones just to have a better idea of what’s going on in there. Okay?”

“Will it hurt?” Paxton’s lower lip trembled, and Nikki leaned forward to take his hand in hers.

“Pictures don’t hurt, kiddo.”

“You’re mom’s right, kid. From what I’ve heard, broken collarbones are one of the most common breaks.”

Nikki gave him a surprised look, but he didn’t explain where he’d heard such a thing.

“Do you think you can walk?” Mateo asked. “Are your legs hurt?”

Paxton pointed his toes forward, then up. “No. My legs are okay.”

Mateo nodded. “Okay, let’s get you to your feet. Careful—don’t want you bumping your shoulder on anything.” He helped Paxton to his feet, his touch gentle, and it was all Nikki could do to not cry over just how sweet Mateo was being with her son.

During the whole ride to the clinic, Mateo kept the conversation light while getting information out of her son at the same time.

Mateo looked at Paxton through the rearview mirror before tossing a look in Nikki’s direction. “Hey, buddy. Did you know that I broke my arm once?”

Paxton didn’t respond right away, and Nikki turned to look back at him, finding him staring out the window. She frowned. Had she done more damage than she’d originally thought when she’d gotten upset with him? He shook his head, not giving either of them his focus.

“Well, I did. It was really dumb, too. I was playing tag in the dark with my friends. I tripped on a tree root and landed on my hand wrong.” Mateo grimaced. “But the best part was letting people sign my cast.”

Paxton swiveled his attention to Mateo. “Do you think I’ll have a cast?”

Mateo cut another glance at Nikki. “Actually, I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

He shifted in his seat, and Nikki pulled out her phone to look it up. She offered Mateo a small smile before she answered Paxton’s question. “I think they usually just have you wear a sling or something along those lines.” She craned her body so she could meet Paxton’s gaze. “You doing okay, kiddo?”

Paxton nodded, though his whole demeanor was still sullen. Her chest squeezed. The guilt still racked her body for how she’d reacted to Paxton’s fall. She took in a deep shuddering breath as she faced forward and then squeezed her eyes shut to prevent herself from crying right here, right now. She couldn’t afford to make him feel worse. He needed her to be strong and calm.

A large, warm hand wrapped around hers. Her eyes flew open to find Mateo staring at her with a mixture of support and concern. He squeezed her hand and gave her a short nod. There was no talking—not with Paxton just a few feet away and able to overhear their conversation.

She nodded back, then mouthed the words, “thank you.”

Thankfully, the wait wasn’t terrible at the urgent care. They were able to see the doctor within ten minutes of arrival.

After an exam and a set of X-rays, Mateo’s assumptions were confirmed.

“It looks like your son has a break in his clavicle.” The young woman smiled with empathy at the trio in the examination room. “I’ll put in a referral to see a specialist. They’ll be able to tell you how long it will take to heal and what to expect. For now, we’ll give you a sling.”

“Will I get a cast?” Paxton asked with a small voice.

The doctor shook her head. “No, I don’t believe so, not for a broken clavicle. The good news is that the break was clean.” She turned to Nikki and Mateo. “That means no surgeries. And for kids, it usually doesn’t take as long to heal.”

Nikki exhaled with relief. When Mateo took her hand in his, she didn’t startle as much as she had before. She gave Paxton a small smile. “Everything is going to be okay.”

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