Ohgodohgodohgod.
‘Niall.’ Charlie smiled at him, reassuringly. ‘Auntie Libby’s absolutely fine. She bumped her nose and sometimes when you do that, it bleeds a little. It’s swollen because of the bump – that’s why it looks a bit funny at the moment.’
Funny?
Niall looked at Charlie and then at me, then back at Charlie.
‘She’s going to be OK?’
‘Of course. I’ll make sure of it. I promise.’
Niall thought for a moment. ‘You promise?’
Charlie nodded. ‘I do.’
‘OK,’ Niall said quietly before climbing up on the sofa next to me and snuggling in for a cuddle. I mouthed the word ‘thank you’ to Charlie and he gave a little smile.
Liam returned from the bathroom with a cold flannel and the first-aid kit. Charlie thanked him and took it from him, before very gently wiping my face with the cloth.
‘Do you want to take your brother and watch your film for a bit whilst I clean Libby up?’
‘OK.’ Liam nodded and held out his hand to Niall. ‘Come on, Niall. Let’s go and watch Gru.’
Niall wavered. He looked at Charlie, his big green eyes full of concern. ‘You’re going to look after Auntie Libby?’
‘I am.’
‘You’ll make her all better?’
‘Promise.’
Niall studied Charlie for a moment then took his brother’s hand and they headed off to sit on the other sofa in front of the TV. A few seconds later, the sounds of the film starting filled the silence.
‘I’m just going to rinse this. I’ll be right back.’
I nodded once gently.
‘How are you feeling?’ Charlie asked when he returned, gently laying the clean, cold flannel on my face.
I squirmed a little at the painful touch.
‘Sorry.’
I tried to shake my head but, thanks to the pounding headache I had also now acquired, I opted for a little hand-wave as a gesture instead.
‘That was quite the impact.’
‘Mmm hmm.’ I paused. ‘Is my nose broken?’ I asked quietly, doing my best to keep calm.
Charlie’s hands were cool as he gently felt around my increasingly sore face. ‘No, I don’t think so. I think you just gave it a good whack. You have quite the egg on your forehead too. You don’t do much by halves, do you?’
‘Not my style,’ I said, my hand gingerly touching my nose.
‘You’re very lucky you didn’t break it.’
I raised my eyebrows in agreement then decided not to do that particular action again for a bit until the pain subsided.
‘I’m no doctor but I think I can patch you up for now and your brother can check you out properly later. You managed to break the skin on the bridge of your nose and it’s still bleeding a little. I’m going to put some butterfly stitches on it.’
