Page 6 of Summer Escapes on the Scottish Isle

‘I’m the one who should be sorry, hen. I didn’t want to drag you all this way. I asked them not to bother you.’

‘They were right to phone me,’ Freya said once again. She narrowed her eyes. ‘When exactly did you fall?’

‘Tuesday night. I got up and went downstairs because I couldn’t sleep, and tripped over my own feet. Rhona heard me calling when she let her cat out in the morning. She phoned for an ambulance, and they took me to Broadford.’

‘Why didn’t you ring me straight away or ask Rhona to?’ she demanded, appalled to think that he’d been lying on the floor for hours and he’d had to pray that his next-door neighbour heard his calls for help. It broke her heart to think how much pain he’d been in, and how scared he must have been.

‘I was hoping it wasn’t too bad, but they did an X-ray and told me I needed to go to Raigmore because they couldn’t do the surgery at Broadford.’

‘But why didn’t you ring me?’ she persisted.

‘My mobile’s in the house, by my bed. I haven’t got it with me.’

‘Dad, that’s no excuse. Thank God someone had the sense to call me.’

Her father’s eyes were downcast, and she abruptly realised that the reason he hadn’t wanted to ‘bother her’ was because he hadn’t wanted to spoil the opening night of the exhibition. It pained her that he’d felt he wasn’t able to call on her. It made her feel like the worst daughter in the world.

It didn’t help that she lived so far away. It wasn’t as though she could pop in every week to check on him. She relied on him to tell her how he was, in between visits.

Now wasn’t the best time to have this out with him, but they’d definitely be having a wee chat once he was back on his feet again.

Freya sighed with exasperation. She could seriously do without across-examination from Hadrian.

‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘I’ve only just got here. Days, probably.’

‘Days?’

‘He’s fractured his hip,’ she repeated. Had her boyfriend not listened to a word she’d said?

She knew what was wrong with him – he was sulking because they were supposed to be going out to dinner tomorrow evening with someone Hadrian wanted to impress. What did he expect her to do? Hightail it back to London tonight?

‘Yes, butdays?’ he repeated.

She huffed out an irritated breath. ‘It could be longer.’ Freya wouldn’t know until she’d spoken with the doctor and found out how long her dad’s recovery might take. ‘Hang on, I’m putting you on speakerphone,’ she said, and sat on the edge of the bed to undo the laces on her Doc Martens.

‘Where are you exactly?’ he asked.

‘Inverness. I’ve just booked into a hotel for the night.’

‘What are you doing inInverness?’

Freya kicked her boots off. One of them flew across the room and landed with a thud. ‘That’s where my dad is.’

‘I thought he lived on Skye?’

‘He does.’ She took pity on him and explained, ‘Inverness is the nearest hospital to Skye that can perform hip operations.’

‘But that’s like a hundred miles away,’ he protested, and she guessed he was looking it up as they spoke.

‘The Highlands isn’t like London. Look, I’ve got to go. I haven’t eaten a thing all day and I need a shower.’

‘I wish I could join you in it, babe.’ He chuckled.

Freya rolled her eyes. ‘Good night, Hadrian. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.’

She ended the call and flopped back onto the bed. She was too worn out to move, but she knew she’d have to eat, and she would definitely feel better after a shower.

Thankfully, the hotel had room service. She’d have a quick shower, order some food, then settle down in bed and scour the internet. After all, forewarned is forearmed, and she wanted to find out as much as she could about fractured hips before she spoke with the doctor tomorrow.

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