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Chapter Eleven
Olivia
I did my best to shield my fear from Charlie when he was wheeled out of the x-ray room. I knelt in front of my little boy. “Hey, how’d you go, Charlie?”
“It was awesome, Mom! Have you ever seen an x-ray machine before?”
“I have. I broke my arm when I was twelve.”
“You did?” His voice rose in pitch.
“I’ll tell you all about it later.”
I stood back up and Dr. Wallace smiled at me. “He was a brave boy. Nurse Robertson, maybe you could find Charlie a lollipop as a reward for his bravery while I speak to his mom? How would you like that, Charlie?”
“Yes, please!” he said with a huge grin.
We laughed and she led me into a small, dark room.
“I have his x-rays right here.” Dr. Wallace pulled the x-rays up on her computer monitor and angled it towards me.
Using a pen, she indicated where the fracture was. I didn’t understand much of what she was saying until she said something about surgery. “Surgery?”
“I’m afraid, with this kind of fracture, we need to realign the bones and hold them in place with a screw or two.”
The room began to spin. I would do anything for my little boy. He was the most important thing in my life. He was more important to me than me! This was going to cost me a fortune, but it would be worth it to have Charlie healed. Ramen noodles for the next six months it is, then.
“Ms. Davis? Are you alright?”
“Yes. Sorry. Please go on.”
“I’ll book the surgery for tomorrow and find a bed for him in the children’s ward. I’d like him to stay for the minimum two nights.”
“Sure. Whatever it takes.”
“He can have dinner tonight if he hasn't done so yet. However, he has to fast for a minimum of eight hours before his surgery. I’ll try to get one scheduled for nine in the morning.”
It was lucky I’d done a double shift today because I wouldn’t be going to work tomorrow. My boss could deal with it. My son needed me more than he did.
We all headed up to a room in the children’s ward and the nurse and I helped Charlie get comfortable. The nurse said goodbye to us and left us alone.
I stroked my son’s dark brown hair. “How are you feeling, sweetie?”
“I’m hungry,” Charlie complained.
“Okay. I’ll order you some dinner.” As I left my son alone in the room and went in search of the nurse’s station, Emmett’s words rang through my mind. As if I wasn’t already feeling guilty enough about our way of life, he had to go and rub it in. I knew from the first date what his career entailed. I had jeopardised everything by following my heart instead of putting an end to things right after that night. Now things were complicated. Not only did I sleep with him, but I began to let my guard down. I began to trust him and develop feelings for him. My heart clenched in my chest.
I quickly caught myself against the nurse’s station. “Excuse me. I’d like to order food for my son.”
“Sure. What would you like to order for him? We can have it delivered to the room for you.”
I shrugged. “I guess the standard meat and vegetables will be good enough.”
“Of course. I’ll take care of that for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
When I got back to the room, Charlie was sound asleep. So much for being hungry. I finally noticed a room phone, which I used to cancel the food order. Then I pulled up a chair and stroked his hair. To me, Charlie was the most precious thing in the world. Getting the phone call from him shook me to the core. But if I let the doctors do their thing, he’d be back to normal in no time.
