“I'll come right over. Where are you?”
“I'm in the emergency room at Marin General.” It was certainly a familiar place to them both by now, and he drove there at full speed. He pulled in just as Andy was being carried out of a car by a teacher. And he was quick to reach him. The boy looked frightened and pale and as though he was in pain, but he was very definitely conscious, and in no apparent danger.
“What are you doing here, young man? This place is for sick people. You look fine to me.” Trygve examined him with his eyes as they chatted.
“I hurt my arm …and my back … I fell off the jungle gym,” he said wanly as Trygve held the door open for the teacher. He looked like the P.E. teacher, in sweats and tennis shoes with a whistle around his neck, and he looked worried about Andy.
“Your Mom's inside waiting for you.” He smiled gently, and followed them in, and he saw Page immediately. She looked terrible and she couldn't stop shaking. She started crying the moment she saw him. All the strength she had had for Allie had suddenly left her. Trygve put an arm around her and pulled her close to him, to stop the shaking, as the teacher carried the child into an examining room where a nurse was waiting to check his vital signs and examine the damage. She was cheerful and nice. At first she carefully examined him with her fingers. She could see that he had broken his arm and dislocated his shoulder. But she also looked into his eyes with a flashlight to check for a head injury.
“Wait a minute here,” Trygve teased, “you're as big a mess as Chloe. She can't walk, and now you've got a broken arm …boy, you two. I'm going to let Bjorn take care of both of you.” He grinned and Andy tried to smile through the pain, but the arm hurt a lot. They put him on a gurney to take him to X-ray, and Trygve stayed with Page every minute.
“He's going to be all right, Page. Take it easy.” He reassured her when they were doing the X ray.
“I don't know what happened,” she said, still looking deathly pale and shaking. “I panicked …I'm really sorry I called you.” But it was all she could think of when she'd heard. She needed Trygve to be there with her, just as he had been in those first nightmarish days with Allie, and ever since then. It was Trygve she wanted with her, not Brad, and realizing that surprised her. But she knew she could count on Trygve. And he was happy to be there.
“I'm not sorry you called. I'm just sorry this happened. But he'll be all right.” The teacher had gone back to school by then, and Trygve stood with Andy and held his hand when they put his shoulder back in place and set the arm, which was pretty painful. They put the arm in a sling afterward and gave him something for the pain. They wanted him to go home and stay in bed for a day, and after that he'd be as good as new. The cast had to be on for six weeks. It was a pretty nasty break, but at his age they didn't think it would cause any long-term problems.
“I'll drive you two home,” Trygve said quietly. He wouldn't have trusted Page with a tricycle at that point, let alone a car. Page agreed, but first she went back to ICU to get her bag and tell them she was leaving. Trygve also stopped by Chloe's room to give her a quick kiss and tell her he'd be back later. He told her what had happened to Andy and she sent him her love, and marveled at the bad luck that seemed to be following all of them lately.
“Tell him I'll sign his cast when I see him.”
“I will … see you later …” Trygve hurried back to the emergency room and carried Andy out to the car. He was already half asleep from the shot they'd given him, and Page had pills to take home for him. He was going to sleep away the day, which was the best thing for him.
Trygve carried Andy into the house, while Page opened doors, and he helped her undress the boy and put him to bed. He scarcely woke up while they did it, and he was asleep before his head touched the pillow. But it wasn't Andy Trygve was worried about, it was Page. She looked awful.
“I want you to lie down, too. You look like hell.”
“I just got startled, that's all … I didn't know what to expect … I thought …”
“I can see what you thought.” She looked gray. “Come on …where's your bedroom?”
She led the way and he waited until she lay down on the bed with her clothes on. “I feel silly … I'm fine.”
“You don't look it. Do you want a shot of brandy? It might do you good.” But she smiled as she shook her head, and then sat up on her bed and looked at the man who had dropped everything and run to help her.
“Thank you for being a good friend. I didn't even think before I called you. I just knew I needed you there.”