Page 17 of The Man Next Door
Louise threw herself into the song and movements, grinning alternately at the men on either side of her. The band should have been playing “It’s Raining Men” because it certainly was. She was sure she was going to find romance on this boat. Let the Ursulas onboard beware. They had competition. Hehe.
After “YMCA,” the band started in on the “Cupid Shuffle.” Louise knew the dance to this one. She’d done it at line dancing at the senior center and she had the moves.
She was happily displaying them when Ursula arrived and sandwiched herself in between Louise and Wayne. So rude. Well, Louise could dance circles around the woman. So what if Louise was older? Age was just a state of mind. And she was of a mind to outdance this middle-aged import.
Oh, yes, moving in that little quarter turn, she showed off her hip action big-time. How fun was this! And shuffling to the right and the left, she still had the moves for that, too. She’d probably pay for showing off later when her bursitis kicked in, but a nice massage would take care of that, so she kept right on showing off. The early-evening sun was still on hand and the sky was blue. She felt thirty again, joyful and in love with life.
Until her dancing went as south as the ship was heading.
Whether it was that second drink or gremlins that caused her to stumble, who knew. But stumble she did, pitching forward and knocking poor George off-kilter in the process. He at least stayed upright and tried to catch her, but she was beyond catching. She fell over a nearby deck chair and landed on her leg in a way no leg should ever be landed on.
She wasn’t sure what was worse, the sudden excruciating pain or her embarrassment.Old lady goes down doing the “Cupid Shuffle.”She was sure people had their phones out and were recording the whole mortifying fall.
One of the staff rushed up to her, right along with George and Wayne, and all three helped her up. She’d sprained an ankle a couple of different times, but this wasn’t her ankle, and it was the worst sprain she’d ever had. She couldn’t put weight on her leg without crying out in pain.
“I think I sprained something,” she said.
“I think you did worse than that,” said Wayne, pointing to the bit of bone poking out.
That was the last thing Louise heard before little bells started ringing in her ears and the world went black.
Chapter5
ZONA HAD FINISHED PARTYING WITH CARYand Audrey and had settled in bed withFix Your Finances, when the call came in.
“I’m at the hospital,” Louise informed her.
Zona sat up so suddenly the book went flying. “The hospital? What? Where?”
“I’m at Little Company of Mary in San Pedro,” Louise clarified.
“What happened? Did you have a heart attack?”Please, God, don’t let it be that.
“No,” Louise said irritably.
She didn’t exactly sound feeble, so not at death’s door. That was good.
“What did happen? You should be on your way to Hawaii.”
Louise sniffed. “I know I should. I fell. I broke my leg,” she added, her voice teary. “They took me right off the ship and carted me here to the emergency room and I’ve been here forever.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“That makes two of us. They’re putting this temporary cast on me and then, after the swelling goes down, I have to get a bigger and uglier one. It looks like I’m going to be stuck in it for the whole summer. I can’t believe this is happening,” Louise added miserably. “Anyway, I’m going to need a ride home sooner than I thought. Can you come and get me?”
“Of course. I’m on my way.”
“Thanks, darling,” Louise said.
Louise was normally a cheerful woman. At the moment, she sounded like she’d been drained of all happiness.The bad luck vampire strikes again.
Zona did a quick mental search for some words of comfort. All she could come up with was “It’ll be okay, Mom.”
“It will,” Louise said, resigned. “It could have been worse. I could have broken my back, fallen overboard, drowned in the pool. I need chocolate,” she finished. It was followed by a tiny sob.
“I’m on it. Be there soon,” Zona promised.
She texted Bree.
