Page 20 of A Convenient Ring to Claim Her

She was terrible, both dreading and urgent for the treatment. She knew the worst of the pain would subside to a dull ache afterward, but the transition would be insufferable.

The nurse came back, thankfully giving her an excuse not to answer. The woman tucked a blanket around Quinn that was so deliciously warm, she could have wept with gratitude and nearly did.

“The doctor will be along shortly. He’s reviewing your X-ray now.”

Quinn closed her eyes again, concentrating on her breathing and trying to relax muscles that were filled with flight chemicals, wanting to run to somewhere safe, away from this pain.

It felt like a hundred years, probably because she could feel impatience wafting off Micah every time footsteps passed beyond her curtain without coming in.

Finally, the doctor slipped in, apologizing for the delay.

“I’ve asked our orthopedic surgeon to consult. She should be here any moment.” He brought up an X-ray on a monitor that he pulled around so it was in Quinn’s line of sight. “There’s a lot of damage here, not all of it from today.” He pointed at the image. “There’s scar tissue here and this tendon has completely torn away. This has happened before?”

Quinn wanted to lie, she really did. Dredging through the past was her absolutely least favorite thing to do, especially with Micah standing there listening.

“Once when I was nine, once when I was fifteen,” she admitted. “But I do all my exercises very faithfully. It hasn’t given me any trouble until this happened.”Just put it back and let me go home.

Or rather, back to her hostel. Ugh. It was going to be a long, uncomfortable night and a hellish flight home that would probably cost the earth once she booked it. She already dreaded however many buses and trains and transfers it would take.

“Were those falls? Or sports...?” the doctor prodded with a concerned frown.

Why was he forcing this?

“The first one happened when I didn’t hear my foster father tell me it was time to get out of the pool. He caught my arm and pulled me out.” She’d been so unprepared, she hadn’t braced herself for the yank on her arm.

There was a choked sound off to her right that Quinn distantly realized was Micah, but she quickly got out the rest.

“The second time was in high school, when my PE teacher didn’t believe me when I said I was afraid I would pop my shoulder if I fell during the tumbling she insisted I try.” The teacher had given Quinn some potted daffodils the following week, when Quinn had sat on the bench doing her algebra homework with her wrong hand.

The doctor made a noise of dismay as he looked back at the X-ray. “This tendon needs to be reattached or this will continue to happen.”

“I’ll keep getting hit by bicycles?”

The doctor only blinked at her. She couldn’t even get a laugh right now? That put the cherry on her sundae of misery.

“I can’t get an operation right now. I have to go back to Canada,” Quinn told him.

“How do you plan to do that?” Micah asked tightly.

“I believe it’s called an airplane.”

“You can’t lift your arm, Quinn, let alone luggage. She’ll stay with me while she has the surgery and recovers.”

“Fun asthatsounds, no thank you.” She looked to the doctor. “Would youpleaseput my bone back where it belongs and wrap me up? I promise I’ll see my doctor as soon as I get home.”

“Ah. Here’s Dr. Fabrizio,” he said as the curtain hooks rattled.

A petite woman appeared. She had her hair up and diamonds dangling from her ears. She wore a white coat over what looked like an evening gown.

After a brief introduction, she and the emergency physician consulted in Italian for several minutes, pointing and circling things on the image.

Micah listened intently while Quinn was totally lost. She blamed the drugs, but it bothered her that they were all so serious. When Micah asked a question, their answer made him nod grimly. Her anxiety skyrocketed.

“I agree this can’t wait.” The surgeon finally spoke directly to Quinn in heavily accented English. “This joint needs to be stabilized and you look to have some nerve impingement from one of your previous injuries. Are you numb on the back of your arm?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted reluctantly, not revealing that she couldn’t put anything heavier than a hat into an overhead bin on an airplane.

“I have a full roster tomorrow so I’ll do it tonight.” The surgeon nodded at the hovering nurse, who promptly hurried away. “It might take a little time to get you in, but we will.”

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