“We’ll see,” Rooker said as he started walking to the clinic.
As they approached, an older man was leaving and held the door open for them.
“Thank you,” Rooker said as he stepped into the building.
“Welcome,” the man said as he released the door and walked away.
Walking to the reception area, Rooker smiled at the nurse behind the desk. “Hi, Margaret.”
“Doctor Rooker! What are you doing here?”
“This young lady twisted her ankle pretty badly and I was hoping to get some pictures to make sure she didn’t break anything,” Rooker answered easily.
Margaret nodded and grabbed a clipboard before standing. “Come on around, and I’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, I’ll need you to fill out the paperwork, Miss.”
The door beside the desk opened as they approached and in minutes Rooker set Carri down on the table in the radiology suite. The technician greeted him with a handshake and one-armed hug before getting to work. Carri remained quiet throughout the entire process, not speaking until she was sitting on the table in an exam room with both legs straight out in front of her.
“How do you know all those people?” she asked softly, looking up from the paperwork on the clipboard she’d begun to fill out.
“I used to work with them. The medical field is a fairly small community and if a doctor wants to be effective, it’s good to know the nurses, technicians and support staff.”
“Uh-huh,” Carri said, turning her attention back to the paperwork.
Rooker remained quiet, allowing her to concentrate, though he really wanted to take the clipboard and fill it out for her. That way he could learn about her medical history while dealing with the red tape involved in dealing with the clinic, but for now he would allow her a bit of privacy.
She had just signed the last form when the door opened and the on-duty doctor walked in, the x-rays in hand. He walked over and clipped them to the lightbox before turning it on.
Rooker followed and studied them. After a moment, he said, “I don’t see any breaks.”
“Neither do I,” the doctor agreed as he flipped off the light and looked at Rooker with a smirk. “I assume you know how to treat a sprain?”
Rooker nodded. “I do. Thanks for getting us in and out so quickly.”
“Thanks for being the easiest patient of the day,” the doctor said before taking the pictures and walking out. “I’ll have Margaret get you an ice pack and elastic bandage.”
“Does that mean I’m okay?” Carri asked once the door closed behind him.
“That means there’s no broken bones. But you twisted it pretty badly and you’ll need to rest your ankle as much as possible. Which means not running, walking or skipping for a week.”
“But how will I sell my critters tomorrow if I can’t walk?”
“You’ll sit in a chair with your leg propped up on a box, though I’d rather you not be there at all.”
“But I have to sell the rest of my critters!” Carri insisted with tears filling her eyes. “Otherwise Lottie will dump them in the trash or leave them by the side of the road or something equally horrible.”
Rooker frowned. “She wouldn’t really do that, would she?”
Carri brushed away the tears that were falling once more. “No. Tilly would make her take them to the hospital and donate them for the patients.”
“If you can promise me that you won’t walk around any more than absolutely necessary, I’ll allow you to finish out the convention. All right, little one?”
Carri looked like she wanted to argue, but he raised one eyebrow in the universal Daddy ‘look’ and she reacted as he’d expected she would.
Her eyes wide, she took a breath and nodded. “You’re not going to give up on me, are you, Daddy?”
“Give up on you? Why do you ask that?”
Carri dropped her gaze from his eyes to his chest. “You’ve been so cold and distant. I know I messed up by hurting myself, but I don’t want to lose you.”
