The Outer Edge of Heaven by Jaclyn M. Hawkes Page B

shoulder was dislocated. They call it separated. It's highly painful, but should heal fine. The splint for a week or so and then therapy and you should be good as new. But as soon as it doesn't hurt so badly you need to be moving it. Apparently if you don't start using it after about a week, it will begin to lose mobility permanently. He said it should start to feel better within a few days but those first days are going to be bad. Sorry."
    "But no surgery or torn tendons or any of that ugly stuff?"
    "No. Which is good. He said shoulders can be tricky, but you were in great condition." He grinned again. "Or maybe what he said was that you had a great figure. Maybe I'm getting it all mixed up."
    She swept up her crumbs and picked up her dishes. " Just so you know. I'm planning to be mad at you when I feel better about teasing me when I'm snockered. That's not very fair."
    "Who said I was teasing?" He looked at her with a deadpan face for a second and then smiled and headed back into the office and said over his shoulder, "Madge took the kids to a museum for the afternoon, in case you are wondering. For the time being we’re not going to expect you unless we see you, so you can take your time until you feel up to small people. I'll be here in the office all day if you need anything." She heard him chuckle as she went back to the bedroom to change.
    Glad Tyree was gone and she could walk straight home, she headed back to her little house. Lindie was in her parents’ garden as she went by and she hugged Charlie and told her how sorry she was for what had happened as she went by. When Charlie got back to her cabin, she dressed in her own comfortable jams and lay back down. Her shoulder was ridiculously sore and she was grateful for the medicine, even if it did make her snockered. As she fell asleep, she thought again about Luke teasing her. She hoped she hadn’t truly done something questionable last night.
    ****
    She was fighting the bad dreams, trying to wake up again, and needing more pain medicine when Fo knocked on her door and let himself into her house with a steaming plate of dinner. Dragging herself up, she put on a robe and walked out of her bedroom to greet him. She knew she must look a sight when he laughed and said, “Man, Chuck, you looked wasted! You look like you’ve been partying for days.” He gave her another grin and added, “It’s too bad Dr. Nichols can’t see you now. He said hi, by the way.”
    Wondering again what had happened at the hospital; she shook out a pill and tossed it back with a glass of milk as she eyed the plate he was carrying. He handed it to her and held her chair for her at her table before going back to the drawer and bringing her silverware. As she began to eat, she admitted to him, “It’s no surprise I look wasted. I keep having these nasty flashback nightmares about Tyree. It must be the medicine. If I didn’t need it so badly, I’d go without just to be able to sleep decently.”
    He pulled out a chair across from her and sat down. “Give it some time and hopefully it’ll get better. I was talking to my mom and she told me to tell you hi and to take really good care of you.” He paused for a minute and then continued soberly, “She said something like this could be a big deal emotionally, Charlie. How are you? Honestly?”
    She tried to shrug her one good shoulder and act nonchalant about it, but the tears welled up in her eyes unbidden and she had to be more honest with him. “It shook me up so much more than I thought it would.” She started to wipe at her tears with her hand and he got up and handed her a napkin. “Sorry.” She wiped her eyes and was embarrassed as the tears continued to fall as she tried to eat. Finally, she whispered, “I was so scared, Fo. He was so strong. I couldn’t get away from him. That’s the most vulnerable feeling you can ever imagine. It was awful.”
    He stood up and came over to stand beside her and rub her good shoulder as