Walking quickly into the ER, she scanned the lobby for Joey. He was just exiting the back and came over to her immediately, “We like just got here too, they just took him back, come on I’ll take you to his room.”
Joey explained to the nurse at the desk who they were and she buzzed them through the door. He led her to the door of JC’s room and told her if she needed anything to come get him, he would be waiting in the lobby. As he walked away, he mumbled an “I’m sorry” as he appeared to be laughing.
Pushing the curtain aside, she stepped inside, not sure what she was going to see. She certainly wasn’t prepared to see JC laughing with the older nurse who was taking his blood pressure. He was lying on the hospital bed, with his leg propped up and covered with an ice pack.
“Ahh, there she is, the love of my life.” He reached out a hand to her as she took in the scene before her.
“This one is trouble I think, you must be a saint to put up with him.” The nurse said before turning back to the patient. “Someone will be in shortly to take you to x-ray.”
“Thank you,” they replied in unison as the nurse starting entering notes in her computer.
“Are you alright? What happened?” She took his hand in hers as she stepped closer to the bed.
“Just a slight accident, I’ll be fine. I…uh…I… this is embarrassing.” She merely raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to finish.
“Ok, I can…I can do this. You see, Joey and I had just finished eating and were walking back to his hotel when we saw these kids with skateboards and …”
“JC you didn’t!” She choked out, bringing her hand up to cover the laughter, while her eyes were dancing with hilarity.
“Yeah, yeah I did. We were talking about how it had been so long and Joey said he thought I was too old and had lost all my skills so we borrowed the boards and,” he motioned to his leg.
JC hadn’t looked her in the eyes during his confession, so he was surprised when she yanked her hand out of his and used both hands to cover her face as she sank into the chair next to the bed. She was gasping for breath as she rocked back and forth.
“Laura, honey, I didn’t mean it. I’m not hurt really bad. I’m sure it will all be fine and even if it’s broken I should be out of the cast before the wedding. Please don’t cry. It’s okay.” He reached out a hand to try to move her closer as the nurse turned back to them in concern.
She lifted her head and he realized she was laughing. Her laughter was contagious and soon even the nurse was smiling.
Pretending to be insulted, JC pouted. “I’m hurt and all you can do is laugh. Is this how you’re going to treat me after we’re married?”
In a voice filled with mirth, she replied as she leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Aww honey, I’m sorry for laughing, but you’ve gotta come up with a better story than that to tell everyone once you’re out of here. I mean you’re my knight in shining armor so maybe you climbed to the top of the highest tower to rescue me and you fell while you were slaying the dragon.” She dissolved in laughter again and this time JC couldn’t hold back his.
Just as they were starting to get their laughter under control, an aide walked into the room to take JC for his x-ray. With laughter just under the surface, Laura told JC she was going out and tell everyone how he was doing and try and get Joey back for the accident.
Before entering the lobby, she composed her face into a very depressed look. With her head down, she looked through lowered lashes for Joey and her family. Spotting them sitting in a corner, she walked over to them before they saw her. Sitting down next to Joey, she put her head in her hands and shook her head when Joey asked how JC was doing.
“He…he is in so much pain, it’s such a bad break, they aren’t sure they can fix it correctly. He may never walk without a limp again. It could be months of therapy. What are we going to do?” She asked sobbing on Joey’s shoulder.
“What???!!!” Joey exclaimed in a panic. He had never thought it was this serious. “Laura I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault, I can’t believe this!”
She raised her head to look at him, laughter again bubbling out. It took a few moments for him to realize it had been a joke. Her mom and brother had caught the joke when she winked at them before sitting down.
“You…you… that was so mean.” Joey stammered.
“Yeah, well, how could you diss his ‘skills’?”
“So he’s going to be fine?” Her mom asked.
“Yeah, I think so. He was laughing when I walked in. They just came and took him back for an x-ray. I told him I wouldn’t be gone long, so I’d better get back, but I just had to deal with Joey.”
***
It turned out that his leg was broken, a simple fracture and he would need to wear a cast for a few weeks until his leg was healed. By the time he was ready to leave, JC had been poked and prodded and his face now showed the pain he was in.
Wheeling him out of the ER to the car in a wheelchair, Laura leaned over and whispered in his ear. “I would just like to point out that you who called me old a few weeks ago is now being pushed around by me, your much younger, gorgeous girlfriend.”
JC smiled in response, as he carefully maneuvered with Joey and Dave’s assistance into the passenger seat. Resting his head against the back of the seat, he hoped the pain medication they had given him would kick in soon.
Laura and her mom hopped in the back of Joey’s car after bidding Dave a good night. The ride back to his parents was quiet so JC could rest. Once there, Joey and Roy carefully helped JC up the steps into the house and into the guest bedroom on the first floor. After helping him change into warm up pants and a t-shirt, they left him alone. A few moments later, Laura tapped softly on the door, before cracking it open to see if he was awake.
Seeing his eyes open and his hand beckoning her in, she pushed the door the rest of the way open and turned to grab a tray with water and more pain meds.
“Are you ok?”
“I’ll be fine. I just have to remember I’m not as young as I thought.”
“I’m sorry, I know this wasn’t in your plans for the next few weeks, but maybe you’re going too fast and you need to slow down.”
“Maybe. Come here.”
She climbed up on the bed next to him and leaned against the headboard. He turned towards her careful not to bump his injured leg and rested his head on her stomach and an arm across her waist. Her hand settled automatically in his hair and rubbed soothingly while the other massaged his back and neck. It didn’t take long before he was asleep.
Laura sat there for a while longer before she tried to get up and leave him to sleep, but as she tried to extricate herself, he tightened his arm around her and mumbled in his sleep. Giving up, she grabbed a pillow from behind him and settled in for the night.
