Taken down by a ceramic hedgehog. Throughout her career, Meena Dave had aimed her lens at charging bulls in Barcelona. She’d hoisted herself up to the summit of Denali, followed a group of extreme kayakers in Costa Rica. From the Mawlid al-Nabi in Cairo to the disappearing glaciers on Kilimanjaro, from Tasmania to Transylvania, she’d survived with minor scratches.
A week in this apartment and she’d forgotten to take care. The searing pain through her wrist was a reminder to never let her guard down, but the sliver of paper she’d spotted on the bright-green figurine on the very top of the bookcase had tempted her. She was agile enough, or so she thought, to climb up the built-in shelves with toes and fingertips. She hadn’t counted on her foot slipping as she grabbed the tail.
“Meena, are you OK?” Sam knocked on the door. “I heard a crash. Your door’s locked.”
The pain in her wrist morphed into a throbbing ache. Meena lay in the scant floor space between the blue chair and the built-ins. Green ceramic pieces lay around her. “I’m fine.”
“I have a spare key,” Sam said. “Hang on.”
Of course he did. She’d noticed that Sam usually kept his door ajar, and the aunties only gave a short knock before going into his place.
Meena folded her left wrist against her body. Her skin bruised as it swelled. Pain radiated from the tips of her fingers to the top of her shoulder. Still she lay and stared at the ceiling. The crystal chandelier was too modern, too elegant for this room.
Son of a biscuit. Meena sat up and clutched her wrist. She had a flight in four hours. She needed ice and some aspirin. She looked around at the shattered pieces, careful not to add cuts to her other hand as she plucked out the piece of paper, her original goal. Using the floor to assist her, she unrolled it and hoped to see the familiar and precise penmanship.
Hedgehogs share an ancestry with shrews. Not the Shakespeare version, but the mammal. I’ve never seen one outside of pictures. Their spines are prickly but not poisonous. They roll up into themselves when faced with the unknown. I can relate.
Well, this note was unhelpful and clearly not worth the damage she’d done to her wrist.
“Meena, I’m coming in.” Sam saw her on the far side of the room. “Oh no, what happened?”
“Hedgehog.”
“Did you hit your head?”
Meena tucked the note into the back pocket of her jeans. “No, tried to reach for something and slipped.”
“Let’s take a look.” Sam squatted down.
“I’m fine.”
“Your hand looks like it’s swelling up,” he said.
“I can see that.” She sighed and tried to stand, placing her good hand on the floor for balance. She attempted different positions, unable to find support to get to her feet. Meena shifted again, a groan escaping as pain jostled her arm. She sat in frustration. “I just need an ice pack of some kind.”
“You need to go to the ER,” Sam advised. “It could be broken.”
“Don’t have time.” Meena placed her good hand on a chair and hoisted herself up. “I have a flight in a few hours.”
Sam stood with her. He was in gray sweatpants and a black long-sleeved jersey with an image of a robot from WALL-E on it. “Let me drive you to get it checked out first. Tufts ER is close.”
Meena didn’t want to add this to her growing list of things.
“I’ll figure it out,” she said.
He stepped back, gave her space. She could see concern in his dark-brown eyes. At the same time, she appreciated that he didn’t press her.
“I can call a Lyft.” Meena reached for her phone.
“If you prefer.”
What would it be like to just accept help? Meena wasn’t wired that way. Not for personal things. Professionally she relied on a network of other photojournalists, editors, guides, assistants, and local experts. That was in service to her career. When it came to herself, she managed things on her own. Sam was nice, but she didn’t want to be a burden. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time.
She did let him help her gather her things before she went out to wait for the car. He looked worried, so she gave him a big smile to hide the pain. “I’ll be back in a few. I’m sure it’s just a sprain.”
“Your X-rays show a Colles fracture,” Dr. Yan said. “It’s common when you fall on an outstretched hand. It’s isolated in the distal radial metaphyseal region with a dorsal angulation.”
“I don’t know what any of that means.” Her back against the medical table, Meena cupped her wrist and held it against her chest.
“See this?” Dr. Yan turned her tablet to show Meena the scan. “That little crack in your wrist is the primary injury.”
Her first broken bone of any kind. She knew the swelling was going to be bad but had held out hope for a severe sprain. “What happens now?”
“We’ll do a closed reduction to manipulate the bones in place and then fit you for a cast from the top of your hand to your elbow.”
“How long is this going to take?” Time was speeding by. She’d already waited for X-rays. “I have a flight in two hours.”
“That’s not going to be possible,” Dr. Yan stated.
She rested her head against the back of the exam table and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to reschedule again. She’d had everything arranged. A packing company, recommended by Clifton, was scheduled for the middle of the week to take everything to storage. Cleaners toward the end of the week, then the place would be listed. She had planned to do everything, including rental agreements, remotely.
She’d made peace. Decided that it was best to deal with this in a matter-of-fact way. It was enough to know that Neha had left the apartment to her. The notes were a nice distraction, that was all. Meena didn’t want it to mean anything more. She had a life, a career. Those were her priorities.