Page 18 of The Man Next Door
Gram broke her leg.
What???
She’s in the hospital in San Pedro. I’m going to get her now.
Coming with don’t leave, came the reply.
Zona didn’t turn down the offer. Having Bree along for moral support for both her mother and herself sounded like a good idea. She quickly ran to Stater Brothers grocery store and picked up a bag of Godiva dark caramel chocolates for Louise. Chocolates were small consolation for missing a cruise and spending the summer in a cast, but they were better than nothing.
By the time she got back to the house, Bree was there and waiting in her car. She joined Zona in hers and off they went.
“How did Gram break her leg?” Bree asked.
“She fell. That’s all I know.”
“You don’t even know how she fell?”
“No. All I know is instead of being on the cruise ship she’s in the emergency room in a cast.”
“Oof. Poor Gram. She was so excited about her cruise.”
There was nothing to add to that, so Zona kept quiet.
An hour later they were standing next to Louise’s emergency room bed, keeping her company while she waited for someone to come discharge her. The diagnosis: tibial plateau and condylar fracture. Complicated terms for stuck in a cast. It would be sponge baths—doctor’s preference—and then an even more cumbersome cast and shower assists with proper precautions. Help with meals during the day. Help with dressing? Possibly. How were they going to manage with Zona working?
“I have to pick up crutches on the way out,” Louise said. “My consolation prize,” she added bitterly.
“I’m sorry, Gram,” said Bree.
Louise sighed heavily. “I was sure having fun. Till I wasn’t.”
“So, what happened?” Zona asked.
“I tripped,” Louise said with a frown.
“Slippery floors? You could sue the cruise line,” offered Bree.
Louise shook her head. “I didn’t slip on anything. We were doing the Cupid Shuffle, and I tripped and fell over a deck chair.”
Bree began to laugh, and Zona gave her a motherly glare. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just so weird. Like something out of a movie.”
“Oh, it was a movie moment all right,” Louise said bitterly. “I’m probably all over social media by now, the star of my own comedy. Except it wasn’t funny,” she finished, her voice wobbly.
Zona saw the tears in her mother’s eyes and hurt for her. She took Louise’s hand. “I’m so sorry this happened, Mom.”
“It’s what I get for showing off,” Louise said. Then she added with a half smile, “I had the moves.”
“I bet you did,” said Zona.
The smile fell away. “But look at me now. Here I am stuck in a cast. How am I going to do anything?” She laid her head back on the pillow and shut her eyes. “I feel old.”
Zona and Bree exchanged looks. This wasn’t the Louise they knew and loved. She never cried, rarely complained. Even when Zona’s father had died Louise had worked hard to keep a positive attitude, being thankful for the years she and her husband had enjoyed together, thankful that he was no longer in pain.
It was as if the real Louise had escaped and left this sad shell of a woman behind.
Keeping her spirits up was going to be a challenge. Louise was not one to sit around. There would be no line dancing for her, no garage sale bargain hunting, no walking Darling around the neighborhood and visiting with the neighbors. She wouldn’t be cooking or cleaning in the near future, either.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you back to feeling young,” Zona assured her mother.
