Detours Read Free Page A

foot out of the tub. No heat of any kind on this ankle for the next two days. After the first forty-eight hours, you can alternate hot and cold. And I mean it, baths, not showers. It’s too easy for her to lose her balance and slip in the shower.”
    She turned her attention back to Ellis. “Starting Tuesday, alternating hot and cold will increase the blood flow to the injury and help it heal, but for the first couple of days, only use ice. We want to get the swelling out of it.” She looked quickly from one to the other. “Any questions?”
    “What about the crutches?” Ellis asked. “How long do I have to use them?”
    “At least for the first week. Doctor Thackeray said it’s one of the worst sprains he’s seen. You’ve got to keep your weight off that foot. Don’t go hoppin’ on your good foot, either. You’ll end up with two sprained ankles, or worse.” She helped Ellis to a standing position. “Let’s be sure these are set right for you.” She fiddled with the adjustment screws on the crutches and had Ellis take a couple of practice steps.
    “Good. That should do. Next weekend, you can try to put a little bit of weight on it and see how it does. If it still hurts, keep using the crutches, understand?”
    She handed Mary two prescription sheets. “One of these is for pain, the other for inflammation. Instructions for how she should take them will be on the bottles.”
    Mary jammed the papers in the back pocket of her jeans.
    “Anything else I can do for you?” The nurse pulled a pen from the pocket of her smock.
    “No, I don’t think so,” Ellis said, barely able to force her lax jaw to form the words.
    “Then sign this release form, and I’ll wheel you down to the door.” She used one hand to hold the form in place on the supply table beside the gurney.
    Ellis scribbled her signature on the bottom of the page. Without so much as a single grumble, she accepted Mary’s help getting into the waiting wheelchair. The nurse placed the upper part of the crutches in Ellis’s hands and guided the tips onto the footplate between Ellis’s feet. She led them down the hall and through the lobby.

    ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

    Mary left the nurse standing behind the almost-dozing Ellis while she hurried to get Ellis’s truck from the emergency room parking lot. She pulled under the canopy and went around the cab to help maneuver Ellis from the chair into the passenger seat, then stowed the crutches on the floor of the backseat.
    “Good luck to both of you,” the nurse said as she leaned over Ellis and fastened her seatbelt. She lifted Ellis’s arm and moved it inside the cab of the truck. It flopped loosely onto Ellis’s lap. “That shot turned her into Raggedy Ann. Looks like she’ll be your Sleeping Beauty for the rest of the day.” She closed the door and waved at Mary through the rolled-up window. Mary waved back and pulled away from the curb.
    “I live up in Tucker, just the other side of North Lake Mall,” Ellis said.
    Because Ellis’s voice was so soft and her words were so garbled, Mary had to strain to understand what she said.
    “I’m taking you to my place, Ellis. You’re in no condition to be left alone.”
    “Won’t be alone. Sam’s there.” The words were so slurred it sounded more like, “Woan bee lone. Sam’s hare…”
    “Who?” Mary tried mightily to keep any trace of emotion out of her voice.
    “Sam. She’s the best. And she’s got the prettiest brown eyes. I’m so lucky to have her.” With a goofy grin on her face, Ellis turned to face Mary. “You’ll like Sam. She gives good kisses.”
    Mary laughed derisively. “I should have known this was too good to be true.”
    “Whaddya mean?”
    “I thought you were unattached. When we were getting out of that traffic mess earlier, and you came back to my car to ask me out…”
    “Sam won’t mind. She wants me to go out. She likes to have the apartment to herself. Watches Animal Planet and eats cookies in