It was Estelle who nodded. ‘Everyone’s been cool. I asked if I could get a proper cast on and go home but they said I had to wait for you to come and see me.’
She glanced towards the window of her room. ‘It’s a great day. I know it’ll be a few weeks before I can get wet but if I got out now and didn’t have to go to school, I could at least go and watch the others.’
Her chin wobbled slightly as she looked at her mother. ‘Couldn’t I? You wouldn’t mind an hour or two on the beach, would you, Mum? Shane’s practising for the competition next weekend and…’
Her mother’s smile was strained. ‘Let’s see what Dr Matthews has to say first, Stella.’
Connor was looking at the long, tanned leg, which had been left free of the bed cover. Cradled in a plaster shell, the malformation of the fracture was clearly visible halfway down the shin.
‘How’s the pain?’
Estelle shrugged. ‘It’s fine if I don’t move.’
Her mother sighed. ‘She doesn’t admit to anything that might stop her getting near the sea. She dislocated her elbow a couple of years ago and still went back to catch another wave.’
Connor smiled at Estelle. ‘Surfing, huh?’
Estelle’s face lit up. ‘I won the thirteen and under section that year. That’s why I was up so early today. The waves are always good at dawn and I’m practising for this year’s competition.’
‘Wow.’ Connor shook his head. ‘The longest I’ve managed to stay upright on a surfboard was about ten seconds.’
‘It just takes practice. And good balance. Learning to dance helps. I started when I was about three and I still do classes whenever I can. Can you dance?’
‘Stella!’ Her mother sounded shocked. ‘You can’t ask Dr Matthews that sort of thing.’
Connor grinned. ‘Of course she can. And, yes, I like dancing.’
He’d always liked dancing but it hit him suddenly that he might not like it as much from now on. The way he’d felt dancing with Kate had been like nothing he’d ever experienced before, and he had this curious certainty that he never would again.
The way she’d felt in his arms.
That connection.
The sheer power of something sensual that was so big Connor couldn’t recognise it. So alluring he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. He’d tried to tell himself he’d imagined it, but what if he hadn’t?
What if there was something he hadn’t known was missing from his life because he hadn’t even known it existed?
And what if it only existed because the other half of the equation had been Kate?
Connor actually shook his head again to clear the fleeting distraction. Estelle’s mother noticed the subtle movement and drew in an audible breath.
‘There’s something wrong, isn’t there? That’s why Stella couldn’t just get plaster on her leg and go home?’
Connor had been planning on introducing himself, examining Estelle and then taking her mother somewhere for a private conversation. Both mother and daughter were staring at him now and then they looked at each other.
‘I don’t want you talking behind my back,’ Estelle said firmly. ‘It’s my leg and I want to know what’s wrong with it.’
Her mother caught Connor’s gaze. ‘Stella’s thirteen, going on thirty,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘There’s no point hiding anything. And it’s just the two of us. Stella’s dad died when she was a baby.’
With a slow nod Connor took an X-ray from the folder he was carrying. He held it up so that the light from the window shone through it.
‘You know you’ve broken your tibia, which is the bigger of the two bones in your lower leg. The fracture itself isn’t that serious, although it’s bad enough to need a pin to stabilise it. What worried the doctors in the emergency department initially was that it hadn’t been caused by any trauma. You were just climbing some steps, yes?’
Estelle nodded. ‘I heard it snap. It was really gross.’
‘You hadn’t had a knock from your surfboard or anything before that?’
‘No.’
