Teresa Southwick - Her McKnight in Shining Armour

“Finally.” Now that it was here she was dreading the results.

The two brothers stood side by side, and the family resemblance was obvious. The shapes of their faces were identical right down to the strong chin and rugged cheekbones. Their coloring was slightly different; the doctor’s hair was lighter. Alex was just a shade taller, broader in the shoulders. His hair was darker, his brown eyes more intense. When he made no move to leave, Ben cleared his voice.

“Obviously you two are friends, but I need to talk to Ellie privately. It’s a patient confidentiality issue.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Alex set the plastic glass and straw on the counter beside the soda can and left the room.

When the door closed behind him, Ellie didn’t know whether to be relieved that he’d listened to his brother or to miss his reassuring support. But this mess wasn’t his baby to rock.

“Okay, then. What’s up, Doc?”

He shoved the X-ray films on the viewer box and even the untrained eye could see the bones of the foot, ankle and lower leg. Using his pen as a pointer he indicated an irregularity.

“I’m sorry, Ellie. I know you were hoping it was just a sprain, but that’s not the case. There’s definitely a fracture here.”

“Okay.” She took a deep but not very calming breath. “So what now? You put it in a cast. Maybe the walking kind,” she said hopefully. “So I can get back to work.”

“I’ll put a cast on it so you don’t make the injury worse while we wait for the swelling to go down.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. “What happens then?”

“I need to do the repair in surgery. It will require a plate to hold the bone together while it heals. But here’s the thing...”

“What?” The knots in her stomach pulled tighter.

“When the clinic addition is finished, a procedure like this can be done here, on an outpatient basis, but you can’t wait that long. We need the hospital and it’s pretty far away.”

Close to that cute little airport where she’d flown in from Dallas. “How much work time will I lose?”

“The day of the surgery, then one or two after because there might be some discomfort from the procedure.”

“And can I work in the meantime?”

“Yes, if you can do what you need to on crutches. You can’t put any weight on the leg, and common sense is essential. Keep the foot elevated as much as possible to get the swelling down. The sooner the surgery is done, the sooner you’ll be back on your feet.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have any other questions?” There was sympathy in the doctor’s dark eyes.

“Not right now, but I’m sure I will.”

“When you do, don’t hesitate to ask.”

She nodded numbly.

Ellie figured she was in shock. It was the only explanation for her state of calm through the process of getting the cast on. When it was done, Ginny gave her crutches and instructions, then helped her into a wheelchair. She was on her way to the clinic waiting area and about to ask the nurse for the favor of a bit longer ride to her car in the lot by the construction trailer. Before getting the words out, she spotted Alex sitting in a chair.

Ginny wheeled her closer and said to him, “Here she is.”

“Thanks, Ginny.”

Ellie heard the squeak of the woman’s sneakers on the wooden floor behind her as she walked away. She couldn’t believe he was still there. More important, she didn’t want to get used to it.

She shook her head. “You shouldn’t be here.”

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