Cole came running up, followed by Erika and Gregory. “Darb, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” she snarled. She was in agony! “I think my nose is broken. And even worse, I’m getting blood on my coat,” she howled.
“Crap,” he muttered. “Come on, I’ll take you to the emergency room.”
“Good luck in your mission,” said Gregory.
Erika just stood there, saying nothing.
Whoever wrote that song about it being nice to be home for the holidays was deluded. So far this was turning out to be anything but nice. Darby’s sister had built the Berlin Wall between them, and her brother had tried to take her out with a snowball. Oh, yeah, what a fun visit this was turning out to be.
Sure enough, her nose was broken. The emergency roomdoctor examined it and assured her it wasn’t severe—only a minor fracture—but warned that she’d have swelling.
“Put an ice or cold pack on it for ten to twenty minutes at a time but don’t apply too much pressure,” he told her. “Acetaminophen for pain.”
“Sorry, sis,” Cole said for what had to be the hundredth time as they walked back to the truck.
She scowled at him. “You are such a brick brain.”
Once inside the truck she turned on the dome light and checked out her face in the visor mirror. “I look grotesque,” she said with a groan.
“You do look a little, uh, dinged up,” he said. “I really am sorry.”
He sounded downright miserable. Good. Let him. She said nothing and they rode back to the house in silence.
But by the time they pulled into the driveway, she was feeling as ugly on the inside as she looked on the outside. She laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry I was a jerk. I know it was an accident.”
“And we can always forgive accidents,” Cole finished with her.
It was one of their mother’s favorite sayings. If only a certain accident with a glass ballerina could be forgiven.
She shoved aside the thought and returned her attention to her brother. “Anyway, I’ll live. But you owe me big-time,” she added, not wanting to totally let him off the hook. “So you’ll be on dish patrol when it’s my turn to load the dishwasher?”
He grinned. “You got it. Come on, we’d better get some ice on your face.”
The party was long over, and their parents and Erika were in the living room watchingIt’s a Wonderful Life. “Your poor face,” Mom cried at the sight of Darby’s swollen nose.
Darby almost said, “It’s ruined.” But she was aware of her brother right behind her. “It’s okay.”
“And you have blood on your coat. Give it to me. I bet I can get that out with baking soda. Cole, get the cool pack. You go lie down,” Mom commanded Darby. “Erika, help your sister upstairs.”
First a broken nose, and now some cozy one-on-one time with her sister—who probably wishedshecould’ve been the one to break Darby’s nose. Happy holidays.
Chapter5
“Does it hurt?” Erika asked as she walked upstairs with Darby.
“Yes,” Darby said. Of course it hurt. What a dumb question.
“You’re going to look really bad tomorrow,” Erika predicted.
“Going to?” She already looked like she should be designing her own personal Phantom of the Opera mask.
“Poetic justice,” Erika murmured.
Mom appeared with painkillers and water, and Cole arrived with ice for her schnoz. He apologized yet again, and Darby eased his conscience with a “Don’t worry about it.” Mom laid her out with the ice pack, kissed her cheek, and promised to come back and check on her. Then all three abandoned her to suffer alone. Solitary confinement.
She pulled her journal out of the pocket of her carry-on and began to write.
