Page 8 of Fractured Hope
“Good morning, Sunshine. Late night?” I asked, knowing full well it probably was. “Wake up! Wake up!” I singsonged to ensure he was still listening to me. “I need you to come in and help Seb with the morning rush.”
All I could hear was groaning until finally a drawn-out “Why?” battered my eardrum. “Wait, why do you need help? You should be opening.”
“Don’t have time to explain now, but I’ll have Seb fill you in. I’m totally fine, I promise. I just need you here by eight onthe dot and no later,” I said, talking over my brother’s many questions.
“Okay? But if you need me there at eight, why’d you have to wake me now!?”
“Sorry. I just needed to tell you now, since I won’t have time later and need to make sure our customers are covered before I leave.”
“Okay, okay,” he grumbled. “I’m awake now, so I’ll come over after I pay a visit to my lovely Kaydence for coffee,” Lyric said dreamily. He really did love coffee.
“Thanks, bro. I appreciate it.”
“All right. See you later then,” he said, then ended the call.
Sighing, I turned to head back into the break room, where I came face-to-face with Doc in the doorway. I gestured him inside.
“How’s the patient?” I asked worriedly.
Doc smiled as if to reassure me. “He seems okay. I just wanted to check in with you and go over what happened again because he just has that look, you know? Has he told you anything about himself? Do you know when he arrived or what he’s doing in town?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. He hasn’t told me anything, other than his name. The Greyhound bus came through yesterday, so that must’ve been him. Do you think something else has happened to him?” I asked, getting anxious. What could’ve happened? Come to think of it, why was he in town? New people rarely came to Hope’s Ridge. Great, now I felt even guiltier since I’d probably ruined his time here.
Doc was looking at me questioningly.
“Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you could go through what you saw when he fell. He seems to be favoring his wrist, and he’s wincing when he triesto shift, move, or even take a deep breath.” Doc looked worried, glancing back in the direction of the break room.
I went over everything I’d seen again in as much detail as I could. When I’d finished, Doc was shaking his head and scratching the gray scruff on his chin.
“I think we might need to talk to him. Do you want to come with me or do you think it might go better if I approach him as a doctor only?”
“You’re a doc, Doc, but I’d like to come. We can ask him if he’s comfortable with me in the room as you check him over again.” We walked together into the break room.
Bodhi hadn’t moved from the couch but was picking at the bandage I’d placed on his palm. He glanced up as we came in, waiting expectantly.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I asked with a worried grimace.
A soft smile crossed his face. “No, I mean with your call?”
“Oh right, yes. All good. My brothers are on their way in to take over so I can get you to the hospital.”
Doc shuffled farther into the room, and we both turned to look at him. “Bodhi, are you okay if I ask you a few questions and take a look at your arm?” Doc gestured to the bandage he was playing with. “Would you like Atticus, here, to step out or are you okay for him to stay?” Doc had a grandfatherly vibe that often put his patients at ease. We waited for Bodhi to speak.
“It’s fine.” His gaze shifted over to me. “You can stay.”
With that declaration, I took the seat by the end of the couch.
Doc had taken the other chair. He got his stethoscope out of his medical bag and hung it around his neck. He carefully peeled the bandage off Bodhi’s hand while gently pushing up the sleeve of his hoodie. Glancing at his wrist, I could see from here it was swelling, too, and there was a band of murky yellow bruising thatseemed to go farther up his arm, disappearing under his sleeve. Trying not to react to what I was seeing, I waited for Doc to ask questions as he examined the graze.
“What happened here, Bodhi?” Doc asked gently, moving Bodhi’s wrist carefully back and forth.
Bodhi’s eyes were downcast. “I fell.” His attention shot to me. “You saw me fall,” he said with defiance in his gaze. He seemed used to evading questions.
“This looks like some old bruising here,” Doc responded, gently tapping the healing marks.
