Page 37 of Skylar

Her dad moved a chair over so she could prop her leg up, then he put the ice pack on it. Unfortunately, it didn’t help with the pain, which was pulsing strongly in her ankle.

“What happened?” her mom asked again as she brought two mugs of coffee to the table, then returned to the carafe for a third.

She settled across the table from Skylar as she recounted what had led to her injury. Skylar took a sip of coffee, feeling her rattled nerves begin to settle now that she was home with her parents.

“How are you feeling?” her mom asked. “Other than your ankle.”

Skylar had kind of hoped that her mom would forget about the fact that she’d shut herself off from everyone the night before. Her mom, however, never forgot things like that when it came to her kids.

Keeping her gaze on her ankle, Skylar said, “I’m okay. It was hard seeing Shiloh looking so sickly. The last time I saw her, she was so full of energy.”

“Yes. That’s really difficult,” her mom agreed. “I know the other kids are struggling with her being in the hospital.”

Skylar again felt bad that Charli and Blake were having to shoulder this burden that should have been hers. Their children were having to take on an emotional burden they might not have had to if their relationship with Shiloh had been that of a cousin.

“But Shiloh is getting the best care,” her dad said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “And Charli and Blake don’t view what’s happening as a burden they could have avoided had they not adopted Shiloh. That’s not in their thoughts at all.”

It was like her dad could read her mind. “But I feel like I should be the one going through this with Shiloh. That Charli and Blake shouldn’t have to deal with this when they have a large family who needs them.”

“You can still go through this with Shiloh and with Charli and Blake,” her mom said. “If you considered moving closer, you could do that.”

Skylar gave a huff. Her mom just wasn’t going to give up on her efforts to get her to move back to Serenity.

“Not sure what I’m going to do about work,” she said, then gestured to her ankle. “Since this makes it pretty much impossible to do my job.”

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want,” her mom said. “It’s nice to have someone else with us in this big old house.”

Staying with her parents hadn’t been as bad as Skylar had thought it would be. Aside from all the subtle—and not-so-subtle—comments about her moving back to Serenity, her parents had kind of just let her be. Which she greatly appreciated.

Right then, however, she wanted her parents. She needed her parents. And she knew with one hundred percent confidence that they would be there to support her.

“Let me make you some breakfast,” her mom said, getting to her feet. “And then we’ll go to the clinic.”

As her mom went to the fridge, her dad pulled out his phone. “I need to call Gareth.”

Skylar listened as he explained the situation to her oldest brother, while her mom fried up some eggs.

“Okay. We’ll be there at eight-thirty.”

When her dad hung up, Skylar asked, “Am I going to be able to take a shower before we go? I’m sweaty and dirty.”

“As long as you can balance on one leg,” he said.

“I think I can do that. I really don’t want to be out in public like this,” she said, gesturing to herself.

“You’ve got a few scrapes, too,” he told her, pointing to her leg.

Skylar bent over to look and frowned. “I guess I didn’t even feel those since my ankle hurts so bad.”

“A shower would help clean them up,” her mom said.

Once she’d finished her breakfast, her dad helped her up the stairs to her room. It took some effort, but she made it into the shower. The scrapes and bruises were more evident without her clothes on, revealing that she’d landed hard on her thigh and hip on the same side as her hurting ankle.

Though she would have liked to linger under the warm water, she didn’t take too long in the shower. Since Gareth was making the effort to get to the clinic early, she didn’t want to make him wait.

Still, everything seemed to take forever. It was a pain to move around, but finally, she was all cleaned up and in clothes more appropriate for going to the clinic.

She maneuvered down the stairs on her bum, then stood at the bottom of them, waiting for her parents.

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