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“The fool woman is lucky to have only broken her leg and not her neck,” he grumbled.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed, my shoulders slumping in relief that it wasn’t anything more serious. “How bad is it?”
“Well, we’re currently sitting in the emergency room, waiting to talk to an orthopedic surgeon because she managed to snap her tibia and fracture her fibula,” he explained.
I cringed, feeling a twinge of sympathy pain in my leg. “Ouch.”
“They’ve given her the good drugs, so she’s not feeling much of anything at the moment.”
Although the situation was serious, my lips curved into a little grin as I imagined the kinds of things she was probably saying right now since she had always been sensitive to painkillers. “That’s good, at least.”
“It’s the only good thing that’s happened since her screams woke me a couple of hours ago. The ER doctor said she might need surgery to repair the break.”
“Oh, no,” I cried, grateful for the timing of my mom’s mishap. “Thank goodness I’m on spring break. I’ll hop on a plane so I can help.”
“You don’t need to do that, kiddo. I can take care of your mother just fine all by myself,” he protested.
“I know I don’t need to, but I want to be there for both of you,” I insisted. “I won’t be able to enjoy any of my time off anyway. Not while I’m worrying about how she’s doing.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d be stubborn about this.”
My smile widened. “I get it from you.”
“That you do,” he conceded. “But if you’re going to hop on a plane at the last minute, I’m paying for the ticket. Get a direct flight so you don’t get stuck spending the whole day traveling.”
“Will do,” I agreed, wondering how quickly I could get to the airport. There tended to be a lot of early departures between six and seven o’clock. If I rushed, I might be able to make it onto one of them. “I’m going to call Naomi while I’m on the way and ask her to search online for the best flight. I’ll text you the details as soon as I know when I’ll be there.”
“Okay, kiddo. I’ll see you soon.”
It was a good thing I had left for my blind date straight from my study group last night. I kept a set of workout clothes in my backpack, so I wouldn’t have to wear my dress to the airport. I even had the pair of gym shoes I’d worn while walking to the train.
Glancing toward the bedroom door, I considered waking Nixon up to let him know what was going on. But I wasn’t sure what all he had going on today and didn’t want to make him miss a workout or anything. I knew how important football was to him. And it wasn’t as though we’d professed our undying love for each other last night. We hadn’t made any promises to each other about the future, and I didn’t want to assume that what had happened between us meant something more than it really was. Like he’d want to hop on the plane with me.
I’ll take care of you. Part of me wished he’d meant more than just making my first time amazing—and boy, had he—but I had to keep a firm hold on reality if I didn’t want to end up with a heart shattered beyond repair.
Besides, I was already feeling emotional about my mom’s accident and wasn’t sure I could handle an awkward morning-after scene with Nixon. So instead of going back into the bedroom, I headed to the living room to grab my backpack. Before I changed into my workout clothes—except for the shirt because I liked the idea of wearing Nixon’s more—I pulled up my rideshare app to request a ride to LaGuardia.
By the time I made it outside, the car was waiting for me at the curb. As soon as I climbed in the back, I called my best friend. Her voice was sleepy when she picked up and said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Naomi. It’s me.”
I heard the murmur of a deep voice in the background before she assured, “It’s just Ember. She probably wants to tell me about her hot date with Jordan and couldn’t wait any longer to keep all the juicy details to herself. Go back to sleep. If I’m on the phone too long, I promise to take a nap later.”
Prentice didn’t sound happy with her answer, but Naomi came back on the line a minute later. “Sorry about that.”
“You’re not the one who should be apologizing. I am. I wouldn’t have called you so early except I need some help.”
“Do you need advice on how to handle a sexy football player of your own?” She clapped, and I could picture her bouncing up and down in excitement over the possibility that I’d fallen head over heels for Jordan as quickly as she had with Prentice. “Are you just getting home? It must’ve been an amazing first date.”
“That’s not the kind of help I meant,” I muttered, trying to come up with an explanation for why I canceled on Jordan last night that she would accept without asking too many questions. Then it hit me that the reason I was calling was bound to distract her so much that she’d forget about my blind date. For now, at least. The subject was sure to come up later…like when Jordan mentioned it to Prentice. But that was a problem for another day. Right now, I had more important matters to worry about. “My mom fell down the stairs and broke her leg. The doctor said she might need surgery, so I’m going to fly home just in case she or my dad needs me.”
“Oh, no.” Her cry echoed mine from earlier. “Your poor mom. How can I help?”
“I’m already headed to the airport, but I didn’t want to waste any time searching for a flight. I can do it on my phone, but it would be easier from a computer. Is there any chance you could look for me and book the earliest direct ticket you can find? My dad said he’s paying and not to worry about the cost. Just let me know how much, and he’ll send you the money to cover it.”
“Of course, I can help you book a flight. Don’t worry. I’ll find something and have a boarding pass to your phone in no time at all,” she assured me.
I knew I could count on her, but my shoulders still slumped in relief. “Thank you so much.”
