Page 27 of Tart
I made the so-so hand in the air. “We do, but it’s a high deductible. You pay everything up to the first ten thousand. Since we’re young, that’s a pretty safe bet, but as we learned with Haylee last year, when you get hurt, it gets expensive. We carry special insurance, so if we get hurt on bakery property, they cover it. I didn’t get hurt on bakery property this time.”
“This time?” he asked with a brow in the air.
My head barely nodded in response to his question. “I was in a situation in February.”
His hands rubbed up in down on his thighs with frustration. “Let me translate that. Some asshole tried to take things too far in February.”
I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “I got away from him and asked him to leave, but he kicked me in the leg before he did. I suppose it was payback for me kneeing him in the nads.”
“Good for you,” he said vehemently, “I just wish he hadn’t decided to pay you back. Did you have him arrested?”
“I tried, but they can’t find him.”
“They can’t find him?” he repeated, and I nodded.
“I guess he moved on immediately upon leaving my place since I sent the cops the next day. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I tried to give it time to heal, but it doesn’t appear to be happening.”
“Well, it can’t heal by magic,” he said, shoulder bumping me again.
“I know, but the cost of fixing the entire situation is out of my league, Bishop.” He opened his mouth to speak, and I held up my hand. “Let me explain. This kind of brace isn’t working anymore. I used to be able to walk almost normally when I wore it. Now, I just drag the leg around behind me. If I don’t wear the brace, I can’t stand on the leg at all. It won’t hold me up.”
“Do the doctors have a solution?”
“Oh, they do,” I said on a chuckle. “A seventy-thousand-dollar solution.”
“Come again? I didn’t pay much more than that for this house.”
“You just made my point,” I said, shaking my head in frustration. “My insurance won’t pay for the kind of brace I’m wearing, much less one that expensive.”
“Why is it so expensive if I may ask?”
“The brace is computerized, from what I understand. The doctor likened it to one of those prosthetic knees that runs on a computer. The microprocessor adjusts your gait for what kind of terrain you’re walking on and that kind of thing. I have a very rudimentary understanding of it because I will never have one, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Okay, that explains the expense. Why do the doctors think you’ll benefit from it?”
“Honestly, I tuned out after he told me how much it cost. It wasn’t going to happen, so I didn’t worry about the explanation. I do remember him saying if I got the new brace, the leg would be functional again.”
“And if you don’t?”
I gave him the palms out. “Probably end up on crutches, then eventually a wheelchair. I won’t be able to work at the bakery anymore, and my life will be over.”
“A lot of people live very productive lives from a wheelchair, Amber,” he said logically.
“Well, it looks like I’m going to be one of them, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be doing it in the bakery. Haylee already doesn’t want me there. Imagine if I’m rolling around in a wheelchair. The office isn’t even big enough for a desk chair.”
“Then you do the office work at home.”
I tossed my arms up and huffed. “That’s exactly what she wants me to do!”
“Something tells me a lot is going on below the surface with the bakery that has nothing to do with your leg.”
“Let me guess, Brady told you,” I said sarcastically.
“Not in so many words. He just said that you were having a business meeting. I’m a relatively smart guy and figured out the rest all by myself.”
“I’m really tired,” I said, “tired of talking. Tired of being in pain. Tired of thinking. Just tired.”
He nodded and motioned at my leg. “Why don’t you put the brace back on and I’ll walk you home. Tomorrow is a new day. When the sun comes up, it might be easier to sort out what you’re going to do.”
