Chapter Ten #4
her rib cage. Were her ribs broken? That was something else to worry about. “A couple of months? Are you kidding me?” She
closed her eyes. “My leg hurts like hell. Everything hurts, but the leg is the worst.” She lifted a hand to the side of her
head, sucking in her breath sharply. “Damn it, I hit my head, too. Is it bleeding?” She turned her head so they could all
see.
“No blood,” Olivia said. “That’s good, right?” She still sounded tearful.
Sela turned to her cousin. Carol was settled, for now, and Olivia needed reassurance, she needed her own kind of care. “Honey,
your gran is going to be fine. She’s ornery as ever, and that’s definitely a good sign.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
Barb placed a hand on Sela’s arm. “I have some pain pills left over from my surgery last year.” She hurried away, but when
she reached the stairway she slowed her pace, taking the stairs up to her room with extra caution.
Olivia dropped down and very gently rested her head on Carol’s stomach. “You’d better be okay,” she whispered.
Carol stroked Olivia’s head, and that was when Sela saw the scrape on her forearm. It was a minor injury, but another one
that needed to be tended. Carol had taken quite a fall, and if the broken leg was her only serious injury they should count
themselves lucky.
Mike said, “I’ll go fetch Terry.” Terry Morris was a medic with the volunteer fire department. “Be back as soon as I can,”
he said as he went out the door.
“I’ll definitely be okay, sweetie.” The bite was gone from Carol’s voice as she continued to stroke Olivia’s hair. “I’m just
pissed that I fell.”
And still not herself, if she’d use the word pissed in front of Olivia.
Barb returned, still taking extra care on the stairway. They all needed to be extra careful, now that medical care wasn’t
readily available. She detoured to the kitchen to get a cup of water, then handed a single pill to Carol, who raised herself
enough to toss it back and chase it with water.
Sela said, “Olivia, get that wet towel, and a dry one to put under her leg so we don’t get the blanket wet.” This time, Olivia
darted off to get the requested items.
Sela focused on what needed to be done next. What could they use for a splint? Someone in the neighborhood would have crutches,
and she was pretty sure Mrs. Armstrong had had one of those portable toilets when her mother had lived with her. Maybe it
was still around. Prosaic matters, but the prosaic had to be handled, too.
All this, and more, was whirling through her head when Carol said, “You’ll have to take over.”
“Take over what?” Did Carol want her to move in? It would probably be a good idea, at least for a few days, so she could help
Barb and Olivia take care of the patient while she was in the most pain.
“Everything,” Carol said in a weak voice. “I know, I was the one elected, and you were just supposed to help, but let’s face
it, I’m not going to be able to make the meeting tomorrow, or the one next week.”
Before Sela could voice her instinctive protest Carol added, “My leg really does hurt like hell. I didn’t want Olivia to see,
but I expect I’ll be taking Barb’s pain pills for a while, so I won’t be in my right mind.” Gingerly she touched the sore
spot on her head. “I don’t know how bad the head injury might be, but the fall knocked me out. It’s probably not smart for
me to make any decisions for a while.”
Instinctively Sela began, “Someone else can—” then stopped herself, bracing for the inevitable.
“You want Teddy in charge of Wears Valley?” Carol snapped.
No. No she didn’t.
“You know damn well he’ll take any opportunity to bully his way into a position of power.”
That was assuming there was any power involved in the position, but it was the idea of being “in charge.” Yes, he would. “Just
for now,” Sela finally conceded. “I expect you’ll be back before you know it.”
“Oh, honey, I don’t think so.” Carol grimaced and closed her eyes and hissed a low and angry “Shit!” right before Olivia returned
with the cold wet towel.
Terry Morris came, carefully felt Carol’s leg, and said it was likely both of the lower leg bones were broken, but the good
news was they were simple fractures and the bones weren’t out of place. The leg needed to be immobilized, though. Terry used
two short pieces of plank for the splint, and Olivia sacrificed several old T-shirts that he cut up and used to tie the splints
in place. Carol cursed, mostly to herself, as she was moved from the couch to her bed. She usually watched her language around
Olivia, trying to be a good role model and all, but she was in a lot of pain and muzzling herself was something she thought
of only after she’d said something she shouldn’t—not that she’d said, or muttered, anything Olivia hadn’t heard before. The young girl just
hadn’t heard it from her.
Once she was settled, Sela went outside to talk with Mike and Terry, maybe tell them she was stepping into Carol’s position
for now.
The pain pill Barb had given her had already kicked in, thank the Lord, but though she was fuzzy she still had most of her
faculties. After Carol heard the front door close behind Sela, she took first Olivia’s hand and then Barb’s.
“I don’t want you two to worry too much. This is annoying, I am in a lot of pain and will be for a while, I won’t lie about that, but I’ll be fine.” Her mind began to swim a little, like
it did when she’d had too much wine, which didn’t happen often enough these days. She was kind of a lightweight in the alcohol
department and she had Olivia to think of, so she was extra careful when it came to booze of any kind.
“But Gran—”
She squeezed Olivia’s hand and forced a smile. “I promise you, honey, I’m going to be okay.”
Carol glanced at Barb, then, and caught her friend’s eye. “Here’s the thing, y’all. Sela should’ve been in charge of the community
organization from the beginning. I’m too old, and too cranky, and let’s face it, all the good ideas were hers. She just needs
a little push. If I exaggerate my disability while Sela is around, don’t be concerned.”
“Gran!” Olivia’s mouth fell open. “You want us to lie to Sela?”
“Not lie, exactly. Exaggerate,” Carol said again.
“You fell down the stairs, and your first thought is to use the accident to force Sela to do something she doesn’t want to
do?” Barb asked.
“Of course not. It was my second or third thought.” One thing this crisis had taught her was to make the best of a bad situation,
and that’s what she was doing now. “Maybe the fourth.”
“Your little bird needs to be pushed out of the nest.” Barb got it. She even smiled, her eyes crinkling.
The pain pill was really kicking in now. Carol closed her eyes. The entire world spun and swam. Maybe next time she’d take
half a pill. That should be plenty, and they’d last longer that way.
“Sela is stronger than she knows, and yes, she needs a little push.” Carol realized she’d be walking a fine line for the next
few weeks, pretending to be more feeble than she was without causing Sela to worry too much. If Sela didn’t step up, as Carol
was sure she would, then when the break healed she’d get back to it.
But if Sela proved to herself and everyone else that she was capable—well. That would be the best outcome, and almost worth
a broken leg.