The nurse gave a little chuckle.
“I cried all the way to the hospital,” Isla whispered, looking almost embarrassed at her confession.
“Crying’s okay,” Rich assured her. “I would have cried, too.”
“And screamed,” the nurse said, giving Meghan a wry smile. “He’s definitely a screamer.”
Isla giggled, and it made Meghan’s heart feel warm. “You don’t scream, do you?” she asked Rich.
His eyes met Meghan’s, and a familiar shot of electricity pulsed through her. Dammit, why did he have to be so good looking?
She was trying to start a new life here.
“I prefer not to scream,” he said, pulling his gaze away. “It frightens the neighbors.”
Isla started to laugh again. “I’m your neighbor, silly.”
“You’re neighbors?” The nurse looked at Meghan for confirmation.
Meghan nodded. “We moved in the other week.”
“Nice.” The nurse placed a little sticker on Isla’s top. “You got your own hot doc next door.”
Rich rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
Meghan tried not to laugh. Or to tell him that’s how their neighbors described him, too. He looked embarrassed enough at the nurse’s words.
“Okay. You need to keep the wound dry for a couple of days,” the nurse said, passing a leaflet to Meghan. “And Mommy will need to keep checking it to make sure there’s no infection. Keep it clean and no swimming until the sutures come out. If there are any problems, you can call us or…” she glanced at Rich, “just knock on your neighbor’s door. He knows what to do.”
“Are you trying to reduce my billable hours?” Rich asked her. Then he looked at Meghan. “But yeah, just hit me up.”
“Can I walk on it?” Isla piped up.
“Not for a little while. You need to keep your weight off of it to help it heal,” Rich told her. “We can give you some crutches to help you move around. They’re a little more useful than hopping.”
Isla laughed again, her eyes shining as she stared up at him.
A knock at the door made them all jump. The receptionist pushed it open. “Miss Hart? Your father’s here. Is it okay to send him in?”
Meghan’s chest tightened. She’d sent a message to her parents as soon as they’d arrived at the hospital. She knew they’d be worried about Isla.
“Sure.” She nodded. “He can come in.”
“Grampy’s here?” Isla asked, beaming. “For me?”
“I guess so.” Meghan tried to smile. She hadn’t seen her parents since their embarrassing visit last weekend. And now she was all too aware that she hadn’t apologized to Rich for their behavior. Maybe if she was lucky, he’d leave now and she could face her father alone.
But instead he lingered, even as the nurse started to put everything away.
When he walked in, Meghan’s dad headed straight for Isla, kissing her cheek and stroking her hair, asking how she was feeling.
“I stepped on some glass at the beach,” Isla told him, her face animated n
ow that her wound had been sewn up. “It went right up inside my heel. The doctor had to take it out. And then I went for a ray.”
“An X-Ray,” Meghan corrected softly. Her dad didn’t look at her at all.
“And now I’m all better except I have to have crutches. Everybody’s going to think I’m so cool at school.”