Page 52 of Big Island Sunset
“It can’t hurt you,” the nurse told her. “Watch this.”
She put the buzzing saw against her own skin, where it vibrated but didn’t cut.
“Itonlycuts through the cast. Okay? Not skin.”
“But Mom,” Olivia said, looking up at Lani, “your art!”
“It’s okay,” Lani said with a laugh. “We’ll make more art on canvas, on shoes, wherever you like. The important thing is that you’ll be able to use your arm and your hand again.”
“Are you ready to hold still?” the nurse asked in a kind voice.
Olivia nodded again, and her grip on Lani’s hand tightened.
“It tickles!” she said as the saw cut through the top layer of the cast.
Working quickly, the nurse cut a straight line down one side of the cast, and then another line down the opposite side. Olivia watched, fascinated, as the tool cut through Lani’s drawings of dolphins and hibiscus flowers.
“Okay,” the nurse said, “now we cut through the next layer. These scissors won’t hurt you either, see? The ends aren’t sharp.”
“Like baby scissors!”
“Yep, just like that.” She cut through the soft layer of bandages with long, blunt-nosed scissors and then opened the cast up like a book, revealing Olivia’s forearm.
Olivia stared with fascination at the tan line that the cast had left and the moon-pale skin underneath, fully flexing her fingers for the first time since the car accident that had broken her arm.
“All done!” the nurse chirped.
“Thank you so much,” Lani said.
“No worries.” She looked back to Olivia and said, “Your arm might feel stiff for a while. Just keep moving it, and it will be back to normal soon.”
“It’s smaller than my other arm,” Olivia marveled, holding them side by side.
“Yep, that happens. When we don’t use our muscles, they get smaller. We’ll send your mom a link to a video of some exercises that you can do to get your strength and flexibility back sooner. Sound good?”
“She’s not really my mom,” Olivia said, and Lani’s blood pressure spiked in surprise. “She’s my stepmom. My mom had yellow hair like me, but she died. My dad was supposed to come with me, but Chris called in sick, so my dad had to go to work at the cafe and Lani got me from school early instead. Rory wanted to stay because they’re gonna do a water fight later.”
“Okay,” the nurse said, unphased. “We’ll send your dad and Lani some videos of exercises you can do at home. If you do them every day, your arm will be back to normal in no time.”
“Thank you,” Lani said again, more awkwardly now.
The nurse gave her a sympathetic smile. “Want a lollipop?” she asked Olivia.
“No thanks,” she said morosely, sliding down off of the exam table.
“You two take care. Aloha.”
“Bye,” Olivia said, slouching towards the door.
“Mahalo,” Lani said quickly to the nurse, following her stepdaughter.
She took Olivia’s hand as they walked out into the misty drizzle of the parking lot. She wanted to say something to her about what she had said inside – not to chastise her, but to better understand what she was dealing with – but she had no idea what to say.
“Hey Mom?” Olivia asked, looking up at her.
“Yeah?”
“Can we get cheeseburgers?”
