Page 30 of Breaking the Ice
“Don’t move, Mom. Just stay where you are.”
“So cold,” she says.
I hurry out of the room and grab a throw off her bed. Going back to the bathroom, I wrap it around her as best as I can. “What happened?” I ask.
She groans again before saying, “I’m not sure. I came in here to go to the bathroom and then when I went to sit on the toilet, I got lightheaded. I must have fallen.”
“What time was that?” I ask her.
“About ten.”
“Mom, it’s after eleven! You’ve been unconscious for over an hour. We need to get you to the hospital.”
Before I can pull out my phone and call 911, I hear Zach call out, “Hello? Anyone home? I’ve brought the turmeric.”
As annoyed as I was at him earlier, I feel nothing but relief now. “Don’t move,” I tell my mom. “I’ll be right back.” Then I run down the hall toward Zach.
“Ellie, about this morning …” he starts to say, but I cut him off.
“Forget this morning. My mom fell and I need help getting her into my car so I can take her to the hospital.”
He looks alarmed. “We should call an ambulance.”
I shake my head. “I can get her there faster.”
“That may be, but you don’t know how badly she’s hurt. Why not let the professionals check her out first?”
I hate having to confess this, but I have no other choice. “The ambulance would probably charge me a thousand dollars to pick her up. We don’t have that kind of money.”
Instead of looking at me like I’m a monster for placing financial worries above my mom’s health, he simply says. “Let me see her.”
I lead him into the primary bath, and tell my mom, “This is Zach. He’s Troy’s brother and the man renting our cottage.”
My mom seems to have more of her wits about her because she responds, “I don’t normally take visitors in the bathroom.” She looks him up and down before appreciatively adding, “But I can make an exception for you.”
Zach laughs. “That’s very nice of you, thank you.”
“Her name is Elaine,” I tell him.
“Elaine,” Zach says, “do you hurt anywhere?”
“My head hurts,” she tells him. “I think I hit it when I fell.”
“How about the rest of your body?” he wants to know. “Any pain there?”
My mom gently moves her head from side to side. “No more than usual.”
Leaning down, Zach tells her, “I’m going to lift you up and move you to your bed. Is that okay?”
“Yes.” I know my mom must be embarrassed to be in this position, but she also seems to know that Zach is more capable of carrying her than I am.
Sliding his arms under my mom, Zach instructs, “Put your hands around my neck.”
After getting a closer look at him, she says, “You’re very handsome, do you know that?” Now, I’m mortified.
“I’ve been told that,” Zach says, “but somehow the compliment means more coming from a beautiful lady like yourself.”
My mom actually giggles—giggles!—before deciding, “You’re a flirt.”