Emma's Not-So-Sweet Dilemma Read Free Page A

“Ugh.”
    â€œYeah, better if later,” agreed Alexis. “Rather than sooner, I mean.” She glanced guiltily at Katie, who just shook her head.
    My mom came bustling back in. “Okay, the doctor can take a look at you if we head over now. Are you okay to try to sit up?”
    I swung my legs over the side of the sofa and sat up tall, but I suddenly got a head rush, andthings were a little spinny for a minute. I glanced at my mom, and her face was really worried, so I tried to pull it together for her sake, anyway. I took a deep breath.
    â€œOkay,” I said.
    Soon I was up on my feet and walking a bit wobbly out to the car, the Cupcakers trailing behind.
    â€œWe’ll just clean up here, then head out, so you can come home and rest,” said Alexis from the door.
    â€œAnd we’ll walk Jake to his playdate,” added Mia. My mom thanked her.
    â€œNo, feel free to stay. I won’t be long.” We were supposed to head to Scoops ice-cream shop for grilled cheese and milk shakes later. “We can go after.”
    Alexis grimaced. “I don’t know if you’re going to want to go out when you get back,” she said, shrugging helplessly.
    I sat down in the backseat of the minivan. “Oh boy,” I said.
    Alexis gave a sigh. “Just don’t look in the mirror.”

    She was right.
    On the way to the doctor’s I couldn’t face my reflection. I was worried if it looked really bad, Iwouldn’t want to get out of the car. The doctor was supernice, and he gave me all sorts of funny tests, asking me things like what the date was a week ago on Thursday and to do some simple puzzles and stuff, and he concluded that I did not have a concussion, which was my mom’s main concern.
    â€œThe site of the impact is a factor,” he told my mom. “And noses absorb a lot of impact. Two inches higher . . .” And then he shrugged. “One thing’s for sure, Emma. Your brain should be grateful to your nose. It really took one on the chin today!” Then he laughed at his own bad joke.
    I smiled. “I guess,” I said. “But how bad is this nose going to look and for how long?” I tried not to whine, but I was worried.
    He shook his head. “Hard to say. You’ll probably reach maximum swelling through tomorrow, and then that will start to calm down, but don’t be surprised when the black eyes appear tomorrow or the next day. Those can take a while to fade too.”
    â€œOh great,” I said sarcastically.
    He looked at me sympathetically. “I know. It really is a drag, but it could have been a lot worse. Your nose didn’t even break. You’ve been drinking your milk!”
    He looked at his watch, and we all stood up.
    Then he continued, “I’m very glad you don’t have a concussion, Emma. I’ve had kids out of school for weeks because they’d get a migraine every time they looked at a white sheet of paper. And that meant while they were home, no TV, no computer, and no phone. Nothing to overstimulate or irritate the brain. Trust me, it’s just awful. I hate to see it.”
    â€œI know. I’m glad I avoided that too.”
    â€œJust ice the nose a lot, drink tons of water, and take aspirin, and you’ll be just fine.”
    We thanked him and headed our separate ways.
    In the car, my mom said, “Well, that’s a relief.”
    â€œI guess,” I said, lowering the visor and flipping open the mirror. I took a deep breath through my mouth and braced myself.
    And then I took one look at my bashed-up face and burst into tears. It was awful. I had a huge bump across the bridge of my nose, and the skin was broken and bloody, and a huge dark blue bruise was smeared across my nose, and even starting under my eyes. But what was worse was the swelling. I looked like an alien. The center of my face, including my nose and the area between my eyebrows, was so swollen