Page 73 of State of Suspense

Vernon put an arm around her and half carried her inside.

“Thank you, Vernon.” She used her chin to point to the chair. “Is that necessary?”

“Can you walk the thousand or so steps to the clinic?”

She scowled at Harry and carefully lowered herself to the chair while pulling her coat hood up over her face so there’d be no photos. “Be quick about it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She wanted to tell him not to call her that, but she bit her tongue as he propelled her deeper into the White House, down a ramp and around several corners before arriving at the clinic. No way could she have walked that far. “What’re we hearing about Lindsey?”

“Nothing yet. They’re waiting on test results.”

“Are you worried about her?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Let me know what you hear.”

“I will.”

“We’re ready for you, Mrs. Cappuano,” a nurse said, smiling.

“Thank you. Please keep this private.”

“Of course. We won’t say a word.”

“Everyone here is under an NDA,” Harry said as he delivered her to an exam room and handed her a gown.

“Do I really need a gown?”

“Yes. Do you need help changing?”

“I can do it.”

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

Working with a bum hip and arm, she struggled her way out of her clothes and into the gown that tied in the back. Since she couldn’t tie it with one hand, she held it together as she sat carefully in the chair. God, it hurt to sit, to stand, to breathe. If her hip was broken again, she didn’t know what she would do.

She’d forgotten how painful it’d been to get X-rays the first time she injured her hip. The tech was super gentle, but even still, she was in tears by the time she was delivered back to the exam room, where Harry waited to talk to her.

“Nothing’s broken,” he said.

“You already know that?”

“Yep.”

“So why can’t I walk on it?”

“You should be able to in a day or two.”

“I have the state dinner tomorrow. I have to be able to walk!”

“I can give you a cortisone shot to get you through the event.”

“What does that entail?” she asked warily.

“I stick a needle in your hip and fill it with a steroid that will take the pain away while it heals from this latest trauma.”

---