Charming for Mother's Day (A Calendar Girls Novella) by Ardito Gina

Author:Ardito, Gina [Ardito, Gina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Victoria Ardito
Published: 2013-05-05T21:00:00+00:00

Lucinda

To his credit, Colin limited himself to one “I knew it” when he was ordered to take me to the emergency room. He also called Sidney, explained the situation, and asked him to keep Ariana busy away from the house until we got back. Once at the hospital, we cooled our heels for an hour or so before I was brought into an exam room and ordered to strip and put on the obligatory open-in-the-back dishtowel they called a robe. Another twenty minutes and I was wheeled to radiology for the x-ray. More time spent waiting, another trip in the wheelchair back to the ER area, and I sat and waited some more. Finally, Dr. Florentino, the E.R. doc on call, entered and introduced herself. She was younger than I expected—around my age, maybe a little older—and very pretty, with a slight resemblance to a young Julia Roberts.

“What brings you here today, Ms. Soto?”

I gave a brief rundown of my experience with the bus accident—again—and followed up with the stat center’s recommendation that I needed an x-ray to determine if I had actually fractured my rib.

“Okay,” she said. “Well, even if you have fractured your rib, it might not show up on an x-ray, but let’s start with the physical exam and we’ll take it from there.”

At her direction, I slid the hospital gown off my left shoulder and relaxed on the exam table. Although, maybe “relaxed” wasn’t the appropriate term. I reclined on the cushioned table, stiff as cheap tequila and waited for the inevitable questions. She didn’t disappoint.

Her lips pursed as her fingers trailed the white scars left by the knife blade so many years ago. “Ms. Soto, do you fear for your life at home? Are you currently being abused in any manner?”

“No,” I replied, fighting to keep from squirming.

Disappointment creased her features. “You do know the police have a list of all the victims involved in this morning’s bus accident, right?”

She was quick, I’d give her that. “I know what you’re getting at, Doctor, and I appreciate your concern. Let me see if I can move this along for us both. I was involved in an abusive relationship about eight years ago, but I got out. My hus—abuser is now dead. I really was in last night’s bus accident.”

“And the gentleman who brought you here today?”

“My boss.”

The creases relaxed, leaving her face flawless once again. “Well, that explains the older injuries I’m seeing here.” She flipped open the manila folder she’d dropped open on another counter. “And the x-ray findings in here. You did have a fractured rib. I’m guessing it’s more than five years old at this stage, based on the calcification, and healed as well as it’s going to. What you sustained in the bus accident is superficial.”

For the first time all day, I managed a smile. “So I can go to work?”

She wagged a finger at me. “Light duty for the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours.”

Once I’d shrugged the robe back into place on my shoulder, I hopped off the table.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.