AllFreeNovel
Share Us
NINE
It wasa little after nine the next morning and Lily was sipping her coffee in her grandparents’ kitchen. She heard the car pull up and was peacefully waiting for the door to open so she could finally confront her grandfather.
In the distance, she heard the front door open, and she stood and smoothed her hand over her hair and calmly walked to the entryway.
And froze.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “And what are you doing in my grandparents’ house?” There, standing before her, was the mystery woman she’d seen her grandfather with.
“You’re Lily, right?” the woman asked before finally introducing herself. “I’m Wendy Scott. I’ve been working with your grandfather. Is he home yet?”
Lily eyed her suspiciously. “Working with him on what?”
Wendy looked wildly uncomfortable for a moment before she seemed to resign herself to answering. “I’m a nurse and I take it your grandfather hasn’t told you what’s going on.”
“He has not,” she said firmly. “And I’d really like to know because nothing makes sense around here!”
“It’s not really my place…”
“And yet here you are in my family’s house and I’m the only one here,” Lily challenged. “I get that my grandfather clearly wanted everyone away for whatever’s going on and I showed up unexpectedly, but I’m here and I’m not going anywhere!” She hated how hostile she sounded, but her level of frustration had finally hit its limit.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Wendy suggested.
“Fine.” She led them into the kitchen and offered her a cup of coffee. “Is my grandfather okay?”
For a moment, Wendy didn’t respond. She simply cupped her mug in her hands and stared down into it. “I told William that he needed to talk to you about this and I’m a little disappointed that he didn’t. I’m not allowed to talk about a patient without their consent.”
The huff of annoyance was out before she could stop it. “Okay, I get that. You can’t give me specifics, but you have to give me something. I don’t know what time he’s going to be home, and I have a feeling he’s going to keep using his avoidance tactics about what’s going on with him.”
Wendy laughed softly. “Yes, I’ve witnessed firsthand how crafty he can be.” She paused. “And how are you doing? I heard you had two doctor appointments this week and…a third tomorrow, right?”
“Wow. So I can’t know about him, but he’s telling you all of my private medical stuff? How is that fair?”
Another laugh. “He’s not a medical professional,” Wendy explained. “And he wasn’t doing it maliciously. He’s genuinely concerned about your injury. So? What did the doctors say?”
It was obvious that she wasn’t going to get the information she wanted. They had to kill some time here, so she told her about all the results.
“They’re all telling me the same thing,” she said levelly. “It’s just not what I want to hear.”
“That’s understandable. No one actually wants to have surgery.”
“Especially not in this family,” Lily murmured. “I’m not even sure I’ll go to the appointment tomorrow. I mean…what’s the point?”
“Maybe just for your own peace of mind. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder if they were the one with a different treatment plan.” She took a sip of her coffee. “For what it’s worth, from everything William shared with me, it seems like you’ve done everything right up to this point. If the injury was going to heal, it would have by now.”
She nodded. “I know. It’s very disappointing. I wasn’t doing anything overly taxing. I’d done leaps like that a million times since I started dancing. I feel like my body betrayed me.”
The look Wendy gave her was full of sympathy. “The funny thing about our bodies is that sometimes it’s that repetitive action that ultimately breaks us. But…you know that after the surgery, all of this could go away and you’ll be back to your old self.”
“Or…I could have the surgery and not be back to my old self and have to change how I dance.”
“But you’d still be dancing,” Wendy countered. “This isn’t a career-ending injury, Lily. Not everyone is fortunate enough to say that. From what I’ve heard, you excel in all areas of dance. So you don’t leap anymore? Is that a reason to never dance again?”
“No, but…”
“Lily?” her grandfather said as he slowly entered the room.
Lily took one look at him and wanted to cry. He looked pale and frail and suddenly so much older than he was. She was instantly on her feet and rushing over to him. “Oh my goodness! Come sit down! Should you even be walking?”
