“Three whole days?”Her eyes went wide.
“Weeks, honey.Three weeks.That’s twenty-one days.”She looked at Ian and at him.“How possible is this going to be?”
“Im—.Don’t you think?”JP asked Ian.
“I’m completely going with ‘im’ as the answer, but we’ll attempt low key.”
“Especially the first few days, yeah?And if she runs into any problems, come right back, okay?”She waited for him and Ian to nod before continuing.“The nurse will be by with a sheet of discharge instructions.I’m not giving you any prescriptions, so that’s all you’ll need.Children’s Tylenol for pain, and if that’s not enough, bring her back in because it means something else is going on.Okay?”
“No problem.Thank you.”Ian nodded and rocked Peter.“You did so good, ladybug.”
“I am the bravest.”
“You are.”JP had been a baby – a grumpy baby – when he’d gotten hit.His little girl was stunning.
“I love you, Dad.I want to go home and sit with you and Daddy and Petey.Now.”
“Yeah, I want that, too, sweetie.”He hugged her carefully.
“The nurse will be along soon to discharge you.It was nice to meet you.Hopefully I won’t see you again.”She gave them a smile before heading off.
“Do you want me to carry you, baby?”Ian asked her.“Dad needs his cane.”
Ian handed his cane over, kissed his cheek.
“Oh, thank you.”He hadn’t even given it any thought yet, but now that he had the cane, it made him realize that his leg was aching.
The nurse came in, bustling and busy, getting Ian to sign the discharge papers and giving them a handful of instruction papers.
“You take care of your little girl now.”
“So we can go?”JP just wanted to get Tori home, almost as much as she did.
“You can go.”
“Let’s go.You can sit out front, and I’ll grab the car, okay?”Ian took Tori, and Peter walked with JP.
JP sat on a bench outside of the hospital, Peter sitting next to him.“How are you doing, son?”
“That was scary.”Peter glanced back in through the doors.“They helped her.I like that.”
“That’s what hospitals are for – helping people.”He hugged Peter to him.“It was scary, but we made it through, didn’t we?”
Peter nodded.“Doc McStuffins helps toys.”
He blinked a couple times before he realized it had to be a cartoon.He hadn’t seen that one yet.“That’s good.”
“Uh-huh.I fix things too.”The urge to warn Peter not to touch his sister’s cast was huge.
“I know you do.You’re very smart, and you’ve got good hands.”
“Uh-huh.I am smart.”His son glanced up at him, worried.“Iam.”
“Yes, you definitely are.”He tried to figure out why Peter was worried about this.
His little lips pursed.“So, I will fix sister when she’s a hockey pucker.I will learn how.”
“Oh…” Wow, that was big.Was it fair to Peter to have his sister’s needs dictate what his future was going to hold.“Do youwantto be a doctor?”
