Page 37 of His Christmas Star
Heaven kicked the leg of an empty chair and pointed to the seat. I plopped my butt down in it and was glad for the moment off my feet. “Guys, I have to get to chores.”
“Not like that, you’re not,” Amity said with a shake of her head. “I’ve run a ranch for more years than you’ve been alive, and you have a problem.”
“I’m taking care of it, and I’ll be fine,” I promised, patting her hand.
Amity pointed down the hallway. “To the bathroom, now. I’m going to check it. If you need to go to the clinic, there’s still time.”
“Seriously, it was just a blister, and it’s healing. It rubs a little in my boots, but it’s all bandaged. No big deal.”
“You’re hiding something,” Dawn said. “Heaven and I know the signs. We’ve known it for some time.”
“Guys, I’m not comfortable showing you, so just let it go, okay? It’s not going to impact my work, so it shouldn’t matter.”
“It matters to us when you’re in pain, and every time you step on that foot, you grimace,” Heaven said. “That tells me doing your work is going to worsen the problem.”
I held up my hands. “Fine. I need to go to Duluth to see the doctor. Is there anything I can pick up for the dance while I’m there? It would save time and gas that way. Heaven, if I take your truck, I can even take the trailer.”
“I’m sure the clinic in Wellspring can handle a blister, Tobi,” Amity said, cocking her head in confusion.
I sighed and noticed Heaven smirk. “Listen. I’ve worked here a lot of years, right?” All four heads nodded. “And my work has never suffered because of my hands? Well, other than last fall.”
“Not your fault,” Cece said. “You were trying to save a toddler.”
I held up my hands and sighed. “Fair warning then. My feet are worse than my hands.”
Heaven stood up and leaned on the table. “Wait, your feet are split too?”
“Not exactly.” I unzipped my boot and pulled my ‘foot’ out.
“What is that?” Amity asked with wide eyes.
“It’s a custom-made foot prosthesis. I only have one toe on this foot, so they have to create the rest of it.” I unlaced the leather around my ankle and pulled my foot out.
Amity gasped. “Tobi, you’re bleeding.”
I grimaced, thinking she was gasping at how grotesque my foot was, only to realize she was right. I was bleeding. Heaven handed me a towel, and I wrapped it around my toe. The ulcer had gotten more extensive in the last two days despite my attempts to protect it.
Amity picked up my prosthesis and looked it over. “I have never seen anything like this.”
“Well, you’ve probably never seen anything quite like my feet,” I replied. My right foot doesn’t have any toes, so my foot ends where your midfoot would be. They use a wooden prosthetic foot and attach the leather gauntlet to fill in the space where my toes would be. For the left one, I use my big toe for balance and the prosthetic foot for the rest.”
“But it doesn’t fit well anymore?” Heaven asked. “You’ve never been limping around like that before. I would have noticed.”
I sighed. “Why can’t you guys just be oblivious to these things? That would make life so much easier.”
Amity raised a brow. “Would it, though? We love you, Tobi. You don’t need to be in pain to work here.”
I hung my head and nodded it a few times. “I know, Amity. I love you, too. That’s not what I meant. I just like to fly under the radar with things, and now you guys and Joe all know. I kept it a secret from Joe our entire life! Or I thought I did. It turns out Cody had already told him.”
“Why did you keep it a secret?” Dawn asked with confusion.
“Look at that,” I said, motioning at my foot. “As if my hands aren’t bad enough. I look like an alien. I don’t even like looking at them. Imagine a kid seeing that.”
Sammy started crying, and Dawn held up her finger and disappeared down the hallway. Amity took the protective sock I wear over my foot to the sink to rinse the blood out, while Heaven leaned over the table. “Cece, would you run to the bunkhouse and find someone to do her chores?”
“Already on my way,” Cece said, standing and grabbing her coat from the hook by the door.
“No, I’ll just put clean bandages on it and go. No one else needs to do my work.”
