Page 40 of Class Act

When she hit a certain point on the outer edge, I gasped. “That’s the place.”

She sat my wrist back down and helped me sit up. “Do you feel dizzy at all?”

“Not anymore.”

“Good.”

“Is her arm broken?” Lizzie asked, and then looked to me. “If so I’m cooking you dinner every night until you’re out of a cast.”

Her face was worried, her hands clasped, and I offered her a smile, hoping to help her relax. “Maybe not every night, but I’ll take one or two dinners.”

She brightened, happy to feel useful.

“I’m not sure if it’s broken or sprained,” Ruby said as she pulled an ace bandage out of her kit. “But you definitely need to head up to Urgent Care for an x-ray.”

I sighed. “That’s what Ford said, but I just wanted to get home.”

“Ford?” Ruby asked as she took my left wrist in her soft hands again and wrapped it securely in a fancy way that immobilized it. Then, she got another ace bandage and looped it around my neck and shoulder, effectively making a sling for me. “I thought you said you were on a blind date.”

“I was. But the Whittakers were there ice skating, too, and they stepped in when I got hurt. They brought me home.”

“How romantic,” Lizzie said.

I had to admit that the way Ford had cared about me and gotten me home had been pretty dreamy, but I wanted to keep it to myself for now.

“Wow, Rubes, you’re a professional,” I complemented when my arm was wrapped up tight.

She quirked a grin. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks. Let’s check out this head stuff now.”

“Okay.”

Ruby ran through a series of questions, testing my sensitivity to light and asking about dizziness or nausea. She asked me a few questions and examined my head with light fingers. “I think that since you have to go to Urgent Care anyhow, we’d better get a second opinion. I’m not overly concerned right now. Might be best, though, if I slept over tonight.”

“First step, let’s get you some pain meds and head to the doctor’s office,” Lizzie said.

She went to my medicine cabinet and got me a few ibuprofen and a glass of water. Once I’d taken the pills, Lizzie and Ruby each took me under an arm and hoisted me to my feet. Ruby kept her hand on my back, making sure I hadn’t lied about being dizzy, but I was fine, and once I stretched my stiff back out a little, I went to the coat closet to get the coat Ford had recently hung there. Lizzie held it while I fed my right arm through the sleeve and then draped the empty left arm over my shoulder.

“Ruby, you take her to Urgent Care. I’m going to get some things ready for when she comes home,” Lizzie said.

“Liz,” I teased her on our way out, “you’re more upset about this than I am.”

“How would you feel if roles were reversed?” she asked.

I sighed. “The same.”

“I’m taking care of you tonight,” she insisted.

I hadn’t had a lot of times where I needed the help of others, but tonight I felt extra grateful for the care of my friends. “Okay. I accept. Thank you.”

My wrist throbbed all the way to the Urgent Care building across town, and I started to worry that I really had broken it. I did my best to find the silver lining in the fact that it was my left wrist and I was right-handed, but I knew it would be a pain to be down one arm regardless.

After a thorough exam--why do they always poke the sore spot?--and an x-ray, I was relieved to learn it had been sprained but not broken. The doctor recommended keeping it wrapped and rested for forty-eight hours, along with pain killers and ice, and that I should use it lightly for the next couple of weeks until it had fully healed. They also felt like I had a mild concussion and should use the same forty-eight hours to rest my body. My weekend was shot, but I was so grateful to not need a cast for six weeks that I happily took his advice and went home.

When we got there, Lizzie was sitting on my couch, and the house smelled amazing. She’d made quick work of cooking, and I sighed happily as I sank into a recliner.

“You really didn’t need to do this,” I said to her.

“It’s not every day I get to play nurse to my friend,” she replied with a cheeky grin.

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