Page 53 of Hibiscus Heights

Grant cradled the boy. “Thanks, that was smart thinking.”

Duke whined, drawing her attention to the rock.

“What do you have there?” Deb stooped beside him. She spied a broken bottle that had washed up onto the shore and wedged by a rock. “Good boy.” She plucked it from the crevice so it wouldn’t harm another person.

Grant hugged Teddy close. “Where’s the nearest emergency clinic?”

“It’s farther down the island. But we’re near Beach View Lane. April’s mother was an emergency room nurse. She can assess the severity.” Deb smoothed a hand over Teddy’s hot forehead, wishing she could alleviate his pain.

“I remember,” Grant said quietly.

Teddy clutched Deb’s hand, his fingers feeling so small in her palm. “Don’t leave,” he pleaded, his face streaked with tears and sand.

“I won’t.” Deb’s heart clenched at his distress. She pulled her phone from her armband and called. April answered on the first ring, and Deb explained the situation.

When she hung up, she smiled at Teddy. “We’re in luck. Let’s go.”

Grant scooped Teddy into his arms.

With Grant carrying Teddy and Mason staying close to his brother’s side, they made their way off the beach toward the neighborhood street. Duke trotted beside Grant as if to look out for the boy.

“It’s not far,” Deb said, still holding Teddy’s hand. “Ella Raines was the best nurse on the island for decades. She’ll know what to do.”

15

“You’re a brave young man,” Ella said to Teddy.

The boy sat with his leg extended at her kitchen table. Deb stood on one side of him and Grant on the other, each holding a hand. Mason fidgeted at the table, petting Duke as he watched the process.

Ella brought a bottle of sterile saline wound cleanser from her emergency bag. Peering through magnifiers perched on her nose, she cleansed Teddy’s wound with care.

Deb and Grant tried to distract him by talking about Duke and fun things to do on Crown Island.

Deb smiled as she watched Ella. April’s mother had tended to plenty of minor injuries when they were young. Deb had spent her share of time right where Teddy sat now. She still bore the scars of their escapades, but what fun they’d had tearing around the island. They’d learned how to be independent and think for themselves, skills that served them well.

“Do you think that cut needs stitches?” Grant asked.

Ella worked methodically. “It’s long, but it’s a clean, shallow cut, and the bleeding has stopped. I have steri-strips. Those butterfly bandages will hold the skin together sufficiently to heal, so he shouldn’t need further treatment.”

“You got lucky,” Grant said to Teddy.

Ella held up a finger to Teddy. “However, you’ll need to keep that wound dry, my little man. No swimming until it heals. While salt water might be healing, the ocean can have bacteria that we don’t want in that cut.”

“Do you hear that, son?” Grant rubbed his hand across Teddy’s shoulder while Ella tended to him. Catching Deb’s eye, he mouthed, Thank you.

Deb’s heart tightened at that simple gesture. She looked up to see April watching from the doorway, taking in the scene. Her friend would surely have comments later.

“There, that’s it,” Ella said, removing her glasses.

Grant breathed out in relief. “Thank you for tending to him.”

Ella smiled and gestured to Deb and April. “I’ve done that countless times on these two and their friends. They were fearless, so they sometimes got into trouble.”

Teddy and Mason grinned and looked at Deb for verification.

Deb nodded at that. “It’s true. But we also figured out how to get out of trouble.”

Teddy grinned with pride. “You weren’t afraid of anything?”

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