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“That sounds about right,” Ryan concurred.
“What’s all this?” Juniper asked as she cut up some potatoes for Billy.
“Georgie’s having surgery. We’ll pick her up from here in the ambulance and take her to the oval. William needs to get permission to have his helicopter land there, but that should be no problem. A few short hours to Melbourne and she’s all set.”
“Oh, that’s amazing.” Juniper smiled at Georgie. “So, rehab?”
“Yeah. Just where to do it.”
“She can’t do it here?” Juniper asked Ryan.
“She could, aye. We just need walking space, a bit of privacy and probably a ramp for the steps to her cabin.”
“Honey, you can sort the ramp?”
“I can do it, Juniper,” John put in before William could respond.
“Great, thanks John. Sounds like it’s all sorted.”
“You can’t want me doing all that from here, surely,” Georgie protested.
“Why not? You’re not going to be climbing the walls or running after the other residents. Or making a disturbance in any way whatsoever. Plus, it’s much easier to organize a care roster from here. We’ll set up a cleaning schedule. Probably restrict visiting hours so we aren’t all turning up at once. That sort of thing. I assume you’ll have a diet plan?” At Ryan’s nod, Juniper continued. “We can split the meal prep. One day each, or meal by meal, or someone does all breakfasts, someone else lunches, etcetera. Between me, Nora, Leah, Callum and Rafe, that will be very easy. And you’ll say yes this time, young lady.”
“I’ll organize all the shopping,” Brandon put in.
“That’d be great.”
“What about me?”
“We want to keep her alive, Mik. You can be in charge of corn chips.”
“That’s probably for the best, Junebug.”
As laughter rippled around the table, Georgie felt overwhelmed. Tears clogged her throat and stung her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of everyone. They were all being so kind. She pushed back from the table, murmured, “excuse me” and headed inside. As she stepped through the sliding door into the lounge room, she felt someone behind her. Turned to see Ryan. She leaned into him when he put his arms around her. She liked it that he didn’t say anything. That he just understood. He ran his hands up and down her back in long, soothing strokes.
“I’m not going to cry.”
“Okay.”
She pulled back a little to look at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” With one arm still around her waist, he pushed her hair back from her forehead. “When?”
“As soon as possible. I don’t think I can handle waiting now that it’s decided.”
“It could be as soon as tomorrow. Fly to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon, surgery the morning after. If William can organize the helicopter.”
“I didn’t even know he had a helicopter.” Taking a deep breath, she ignored her stuttering heart. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.” It was so much easier to say when she was leaning on him. “Yes,” she said again, more definitively. Because she knew, with absolute certainty, that shecouldlean on him. They went back out and took their seats at the table.
“When are we doing this?” Mikayla asked.
“Tomorrow, if we can get the helicopter,” Ryan answered.
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” William said.
