Undone by the Star by Stephanie Browning Read Free Book Online Page A

Which made it easier to manipulate the bones.” Dr. Patel laid a reassuring hand on Alex’s forearm. “It was a clean break. We felt surgery was an unnecessary risk.”
    Given her grandmother’s unnaturally white face and the IV bruising on her frail hand, Alex was thankful. “How long do you think she’ll sleep?”
    “A little while longer,” said Dr. Patel as she rounded the hospital bed and checked her patient’s pulse. “She’s on painkillers as well,” she added, her eyes straying briefly to watch the steady ping of the heartbeat monitor. “But we’ll know better in the morning.”
    “Is she…is she in any danger, otherwise?” asked Alex. “They did so many tests.”
    Dr. Patel picked up the chart hanging at the end of the bed and scanned it. “I don’t anticipate any complications. Tests are done as a matter of course when a patient is older.” The doctor paused. “Once the fracture heals, your grandmother should be just fine.”
    “That’s good news, thank you,” Alex managed.
    They exchanged a few more pleasantries and then Dr. Patel left the room.
    Alex returned to her grandmother’s side. Frailty aside, she really was a strong woman. Other than a few quiet moans she couldn’t hide, she had not uttered a word of complaint. In the emergency ward, she had lain on the hard gurney with hands primly folded on her stomach, staring at the ceiling while she waited. Only when her bed was bumped slightly as the attendant wheeled her to x-ray, had Grannie let out a low gasp of pain, and even then she’d felt the need to apologize.
    “I should be so brave,” whispered Alex as she leaned over the bed, and dropped a kiss her grandmother’s forehead.
    Time to update her parents. Alex propped open the door to her grandmother’s room, then walked the few steps to the end of the corridor. It was now nine o’clock in Vancouver.
    Her father picked up on the first ring. “How is she?”
    “Resting comfortably, according to the doctor. They were able to set the bone without surgery.”
    “That’s terrific…here, your mother wants to speak to you….”
    Alex listened as her parents talked in the background and then Olivia Kirkwood came on the line. “Hi, sweetheart. Are they sure she’ll be okay?”
    “Dr. Patel seems to think so,” Alex replied. She told her mother everything that had happened; what the doctor had said, and reassured her that Grannie wouldn’t be discharged until they were certain she was ready to go home. “I’ll arrange for Helen to stay with Grannie.”
    “Good idea. But you will call immediately if there’s any change.”
    “Absolutely.” Alex heard her mother clear her throat on the other end of the line. It wasn’t easy for her being so far away, but they were retired now, free to travel and to spend more time at Whistler where Alex’s younger brother, James, was a ski instructor.
    “Can you tell Jamie for me?” Alex asked. “I’d probably blubber in his ear.”
    “And I won’t?”said her mother. They shared a brief laugh and then Olivia Kirkwood’s tone went into serious mode. “Your grandmother is a trooper, Alex, but you do know what this means, don’t you?”
    “Yes.” Alex stared out the window. Taking charge of the family business had always been her destiny. It was all she’d ever wanted to do, ever since she was a little girl. She’d had the full support of her family, but to have her dream come true because of her grandmother’s advancing age was a reality she preferred not to face.
    “I love you!”Alex heard her mother say. “And tell my darling mother I love her, too!”
    “I will. Love you, Mum,” Alex replied. “Bye.”
    She slipped her phone into her pocket and blinked back the tears. Her mother would have jumped on a plane if she’d asked her to, but they both knew there would be tougher times ahead. Today’s fall and broken ankle had been a not-so-subtle reminder that not even Grannie was going to live forever. Just thinking