Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Watching Tilly jump from her swing looked like so much fun that Carrie followed with her own flying dismount.
And it was fun to soar through the air.
Until she landed on uneven ground and her right ankle twisted hard as she landed. Sharp, fiery pain immediately shot up her leg as she collapsed to the ground. Carri began to cry as she curled into a ball, holding her leg just above the ankle with both hands.
“Carri? What’s wrong, little artist? Where are you hurt?” Rooker’s voice was gentle yet concerned as he knelt beside her.
Though it was difficult, Carri tried to calm down enough to answer her Daddy’s questions. It took several breaths before she could speak.
“My ankle,” she finally gasped.
“All right, babygirl, let Daddy look at it.”
Rooker gently pulled her hands away from her leg before examining it. He touched the rapidly swelling skin over her ankle, which didn’t hurt too bad, but when he moved it, the pain spiked, and she could not help but cry out.
“Ow, owie, ouch!” she cried as she jerked her leg from his hold.
“Can you wiggle your toes for me?”
Carri wiggled them, but moaned with the increased pain the action caused.
“All right, little artist, looks like we’ll be taking our pizza to the urgent care. We need to get a picture of that ankle.”
Carri looked from her Daddy to her sister who stood nearby with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Tilly.”
Tilly knelt on her other side and took her hand. “It’s okay. You do what your Daddy tells you and I’ll see you in the morning. There’s a restaurant right next door to the hotel we’re staying at. I’ll get something there.”
Carri wanted to argue, but knew the last thing Tilly wanted was to go to a doctor’s office with her. While none of the Smith sisters liked going to the doctor, Tilly had a true aversion.
Leaning up while trying not to put weight on her foot, Carri kissed Tilly’s cheek and squeezed her hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t tell Lottie, okay? She’ll go crazy.”
Tilly smiled as she wiped her cheeks to clear away her tears. “I won’t, but that will just make her madder when she finds out tomorrow.”
Carri shrugged. “Better tomorrow than right now.”
“All right. I’ll see you in the morning,” Tilly said before turning her attention to Rooker. “You’ll take care of her? Real good care?”
“Of course. I am a trained physician, after all.”
Tilly nodded and pushed to her feet. “All right, I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”
“Take the pizza with you,” Rooker ordered gently. “You need to eat dinner.”
Tilly nodded and collected the pizza before heading to the parking lot where her SUV was parked. Carri took a deep breath before turning to face Rooker. “I screwed up, didn’t I?”
“Accidents happen, little artist. But I think we should get an x-ray of your foot to see how badly you hurt yourself.”
With that, Rooker scooped her up before standing, once again impressing her with his strength. She wrapped her arms around neck and held on as he headed across the park to where his car waited.
Carri sniffed as tears tried to press forth once again. He was being so cold, and she didn’t understand why. Was this his doctor mode? Or was he having second thoughts about being her Daddy?
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to hurt myself. It just looked so fun when Tilly jumped that I wanted to fly, too.”
Rooker did not respond as he set her down next to the passenger’s door. “Lean against the car and don’t put any weight on your boo-boo foot.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Carri positioned, bending her knee and resting her injured foot on her uninjured one.
Rooker tried not to allow his Little girl to see how much her injury had scared him.
Seeing her on the ground had him immediately shifting from Daddy mindset to that of detached physician.
Though the examination of her foot proved she wasn’t hurt too badly, he was having a hard time tearing down the wall that flew up to contain his emotions.
After opening the truck he lifted Carri and carefully set her on the seat.
Then he retrieved their things from the picnic table and set them in the backseat.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, he glanced at Carri. She looked pale and in pain with tears glistening in her eyes. Reaching across her, he pulled the seatbelt over her lap and secured it before doing up his own belt.
Ten minutes later, he parked in front of the clinic he had connections with. He hoped they would be in and out quickly, and afterward they would hit a drive-through and head back to the house where he would take care of his sweet Little.
“Are you sure we need to go in there?” Carri asked as he released both their belts. “Can’t you just wrap it up and I’ll promise not to walk on it too much?”
“No, sweetheart. We need to make sure you didn’t break anything.” With that, Rooker climbed out and walked around the front of the vehicle. Opening her door, he lifted her out. “Close the door, little one.”
She huffed a sigh as she pushed the door closed. When he didn’t immediately start walking, she looked up at him. “Daddy?”
“Most Littles don’t like seeing the doctor, but we need to make sure you didn’t break anything. They’ll take pictures of your foot and ankle, and then I will decide what needs to be done to help you heal as fast as possible. Okay?”
Carri heaved another long sigh before slowly nodding. “Okay, Daddy. But after, I think we should get ice cream. Over there.” She pointed to the ice-cream parlor at the corner of the parking lot.
“We’ll see,” Rooker said as he started walking to the clinic.
As they approached, an older man was leaving and held the door open for them.
“Thank you,” Rooker said as he stepped into the building.
“Welcome,” the man said as he released the door and walked away.
Walking to the reception area, Rooker smiled at the nurse behind the desk. “Hi, Margaret.”
“Doctor Rooker! What are you doing here?”
“This young lady twisted her ankle pretty badly and I was hoping to get some pictures to make sure she didn’t break anything,” Rooker answered easily.
Margaret nodded and grabbed a clipboard before standing. “Come on around, and I’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, I’ll need you to fill out the paperwork, Miss.”
The door beside the desk opened as they approached and in minutes Rooker set Carri down on the table in the radiology suite.
The technician greeted him with a handshake and one-armed hug before getting to work.
Carri remained quiet throughout the entire process, not speaking until she was sitting on the table in an exam room with both legs straight out in front of her.
“How do you know all those people?” she asked softly, looking up from the paperwork on the clipboard she’d begun to fill out.
“I used to work with them. The medical field is a fairly small community and if a doctor wants to be effective, it’s good to know the nurses, technicians and support staff.”
“Uh-huh,” Carri said, turning her attention back to the paperwork.
Rooker remained quiet, allowing her to concentrate, though he really wanted to take the clipboard and fill it out for her. That way he could learn about her medical history while dealing with the red tape involved in dealing with the clinic, but for now he would allow her a bit of privacy.
She had just signed the last form when the door opened and the on-duty doctor walked in, the x-rays in hand. He walked over and clipped them to the lightbox before turning it on.
Rooker followed and studied them. After a moment, he said, “I don’t see any breaks.”
“Neither do I,” the doctor agreed as he flipped off the light and looked at Rooker with a smirk. “I assume you know how to treat a sprain?”
Rooker nodded. “I do. Thanks for getting us in and out so quickly.”
“Thanks for being the easiest patient of the day,” the doctor said before taking the pictures and walking out. “I’ll have Margaret get you an ice pack and elastic bandage.”
“Does that mean I’m okay?” Carri asked once the door closed behind him.
“That means there’s no broken bones. But you twisted it pretty badly and you’ll need to rest your ankle as much as possible. Which means not running, walking or skipping for a week.”
“But how will I sell my critters tomorrow if I can’t walk?”
“You’ll sit in a chair with your leg propped up on a box, though I’d rather you not be there at all.”
“But I have to sell the rest of my critters!” Carri insisted with tears filling her eyes. “Otherwise Lottie will dump them in the trash or leave them by the side of the road or something equally horrible.”
Rooker frowned. “She wouldn’t really do that, would she?”
Carri brushed away the tears that were falling once more. “No. Tilly would make her take them to the hospital and donate them for the patients.”
“If you can promise me that you won’t walk around any more than absolutely necessary, I’ll allow you to finish out the convention. All right, little one?”
Carri looked like she wanted to argue, but he raised one eyebrow in the universal Daddy ‘look’ and she reacted as he’d expected she would.
Her eyes wide, she took a breath and nodded. “You’re not going to give up on me, are you, Daddy?”
“Give up on you? Why do you ask that?”
Carri dropped her gaze from his eyes to his chest. “You’ve been so cold and distant. I know I messed up by hurting myself, but I don’t want to lose you.”
“Oh, little artist, I’m sorry. I’ve been accused of being too distant when I’m in doctor mode. And my fear for you flipped me into doctor mindset and cut off all my emotions. How about we have some ice cream to prove I’m back to being Daddy?”