Page 36 of Rebel Moon

She gave me one of her sweet smiles. “Hey, tough guy. Let me see what you’ve done to yourself.”

I hopped back to the bed and sat with both legs hanging over the side.

She knelt on the floor, lifted my foot into her lap and started working her fingers around the joint, watching my face instead of the ankle. “Hurt?”

I winced and drew in a breath. “Yep. Pretty bad, actually.”

She kept working. “It’s a sprain. Grade two, maybe. Ice it, elevate it, stay off it as much as you can. It’ll be fine in a couple weeks if you baby it for a while.” She reached in her bag for a wrap and started winding it around my ankle. “You can walk on it, but you cannot skate or sled or do anything that could potentially injure it further, though. I’m sorry.”

“This mean I get to skip the cooking lessons?”

“No, you can participate, but you’ll have to do it seated.” She tucked the end of the wrap in and gave me a level look. “I made a call to Doctor Moon in town and he’s going to send out a pair of crutches and a bag to put over your foot for when you shower. He’s the town doctor.”

“How many Moons are there?” I asked, feeling grumpy at the thought of having to use crutches for the rest of the month. How was I supposed to dance with Madeleine if I couldn’t put weight on my left foot?

Dancing? Where had that thought come from?

“Five, I think,” Luci said.

“Five what?”

“Moon brothers.”

“Oh, right.”

There was another knock on the door. We’d left it unlatched, so Rhett poked his head through without Luci having to get up off the floor. “Is there a fallen soldier in here?” He came all the way into the room, carrying a pair of crutches and a bag of baked goods that smelled of butter and cinnamon. “Finley asked me to bring these crutches over, courtesy of Doctor Moon. And I brought you some breakfast.”

“Thanks, man,” I said.

“How’s our patient looking?” Rhett asked.

“He’s fine. Just a sprained ankle.” Luci stood. “But he has to behave himself for the next few weeks. We want him upright for your next gig.”

“This sucks,” I said under my breath.

They both looked at me with surprised expressions, as if they hadn’t expected a grown man to dislike being hobbled for the holidays.

Hobbled for the Holidays. Might be a good title for a Christmas song. I tucked that one away for later.

“Okay, I’m off to breakfast,” Luci said. “Rhett, you might want to stay and help him get to the bathroom. And if he decides to shower, make sure you guys take the wrapping off his ankle. We don’t have a plastic bag yet to cover it. And the water shouldn’t be too hot or it’ll worsen the swelling.”

“Yes, doctor,” Rhett said.

“That’s right, I’m a doctor, not just Jack’s little sister,” Luci said, smiling.

“I’ll look after him,” Rhett said.

“Thanks, Luci,” I said.

“No worries. It’s what I do.” Luci packed up her bag and left the two of us alone.

“Hand me those,” I said, pointing to the crutches. “And you don’t have to help me in the bathroom.”

“Thank God.”

I used the crutches to get me across the room. They did their job. I was able to get in and out without putting any weight on my left ankle.

Rhett was still in my cabin when I came out. He’d made coffee, put scones on a plate, and was waiting for me at the small table.