The Marriage Beat. Doreen Roberts

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “As long as I don’t have to take anything off.” She avoided looking at Tyler, but she heard his slight cough.

      “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.” The doctor took hold of her arm in a firm grasp and gently raised it. “Does that hurt?”

      She shook her head.

      He probed all the way down her arm with strong fingers. “All right, grasp my hand as if you’re going to shake it.”

      She slowly closed her fingers around his. The second she tried to grip his hand major pain tore through her arm all the way up to her shoulder. She let out a small yelp.

      “Ah.” Dr. Hartford closed his fingers around her wrist and gave it a gentle twist. “Hurt?”

      “Yes!”

      She’d forced the word through gritted teeth, and she saw Tyler’s shoulders hunch.

      Dr. Hartford pulled her arm straight out in front of her. “Press your hand back,” he ordered.

      She tried, but nothing happened. Except for a whitehot heat slashing up her arm, that was. “I can’t,” she said, looking anxiously up at him. “Is it broken?”

      The doctor shook his head. “No, but you’ve done some pretty good damage to your arm. Tom ligaments and, I suspect, a strained muscle. That will take a few days to heal.”

      “Will I be able to use it?” She looked down at the useless hand in her lap. “Look, I can wiggle my fingers.”

      “But it hurts to do that, right?”

      She gave a miserable nod. “Right.”

      “Then don’t do that.” Dr. Hartford winked at Tyler, who didn’t seem to get the joke.

      Megan wasn’t particularly amused, either.

      “It’s going to hurt for a while,” the doctor said, giving her an encouraging smile. “We’ll give you something to help with that. We’ll also wrap the arm and put it in a sling to make things a little more comfortable. Don’t try to use it under any circumstances. You’ll only aggravate the problem, and if you do, you could end up doing some permanent damage.” He handed her a business card. Make an appointment with my office to see me in a week. You should be feeling a lot better by then.”

      He nodded at Tyler, who said gruffly, “Thanks, Doc.”

      “Thank you,” Megan echoed, her mind already grappling with the major problems her injury was about to cause.

      “See you next week,” Dr. Hartford said cheerfully. “The nurse will be back in a minute to wrap that arm. Take care.” He disappeared through the curtain, leaving Megan alone with Tyler.

      For a long moment neither of them spoke, then Tyler said quietly, “I’m sorry. I really messed things up for you.”

      She shook her head, her mind still on her problems. “I’ll manage.”

      “What about your work?”

      She shrugged. “I’ll take a couple of weeks off.”

      “You’re going to need some help. What about your mother? Can she take care of you?”

      She looked up at him. “Look, please don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. It’s only one arm. I’ve got another one.”

      “It’s your right arm. You’re right-handed, right?”

      “Yes, but—”

      “You haven’t begun to realize how awkward that’s going to be for you. You can’t drive, cut up your food, tie shoelaces, dress yourself, cook your meals or shop for groceries.”

      She didn’t like the insinuation that she was entirely helpless. “Lots of people manage with one arm. What about all those people who lose an arm, or are born without one?”

      “They’ve had years of therapy to learn how to get by. You’re facing a crash course...alone.”

      He had a point. She tried to visualize herself fastening her bra with one arm. Taking the top off the toothpaste. Opening a can of soda. She let out a long sigh of frustration.

      “So, what about your mother?” Tyler looked at his watch. “I could give her a call for you.”

      “No.” Megan chewed on her lip. “My mother lives clear across town. She’s a real estate agent, and relies on her commission to support herself and my kid brother. I can’t take her away from her work for two weeks. She could lose customers that way.”

      “Couldn’t you stay with her?”

      “She lives in a two-bedroom apartment. Besides, she doesn’t have time to take care of me. She’s too busy with her own job.”

      Tyler started to say something else, but just then the nurse arrived to wrap her arm.

      “You can shower,” the nurse said, when she’d fitted the injured arm into a sling and tied it around Megan’s neck, “but you will have to rewrap it afterward. Make sure it’s good and tight for support.”

      Megan nodded. “Can I go now?”

      “Sure, you can.” The nurse handed her a piece of paper. “Get this filled in the pharmacy on the way out, and whatever you do, don’t try to use that arm.”

      “I won’t.” Megan thanked her and slid off the bed.

      The nurse smiled at them both, whisked back the curtain and hurried off to take care of someone else.

      “You don’t have any friends who can help out?” Tyler asked, as he walked with her down the long, brightly lit hallway.

      “None who don’t have full-time jobs,” Megan said gloomily. “I guess I’ll have to ask my mother to step in. Much as I hate to do that.”

      Tyler cleared his throat. “I do have one suggestion.”

      She glanced up at him, but he was staring straight ahead, his jaw set at a grim angle. “What’s that?”

      “I could take care of you.”

      She almost laughed out loud. “You? I don’t think so. But thanks.”

      His light blue eyes were full of indignation when he looked at her. “I’m quite capable of taking care of you. I have some leave due to me. I never take it, so it’s adding up. I could put it to good use helping out until your arm is healed.” He nodded at an arrow that pointed the way to the pharmacy. “It’s down here.”

      She followed him, finding it hard to believe he was serious. Arriving at the counter, she handed over the prescription to a young man, who told her it would be about ten minutes.

      She sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs and watched Tyler lower himself into the other. “That’s very nice of you to offer,” she said, still not quite sure if he was joking, СКАЧАТЬ