“Does it hurt bad?” Erik asked Daisy.
“I’ll be all right,” she said dully. Her jaw twitched a little. Erik could see how hard she was thinking, calculating recovery time and contingency plans. He kept his palm flat between her shoulder blades, not patting or stroking her. Such caresses would only make her crazy. Everything and everybody just needed to be still so she could think.
He watched as Lucky unwrapped the ice pack from Daisy’s hand. Her little finger was red and swollen. A bit of bloodied gauze fell away and Erik winced when he saw the nail torn to the quick. Lucky whisked the gauze away and wrapped a fresh one around the fingertip. “Put the ice back on, honey,” she said.
Erik kissed Daisy’s head again. “I’ll get the car. Be right back.” He stood up, motioning to Will, who followed him out into the hall.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m gonna kill him.”
“I’ll handle it.” Will’s arms were crossed, the fingers of one hand drumming nervously on his bicep.
“I thought you were handling it.”
“Fish—”
“Don’t ‘Fish’ me, all right? I’ve stayed out it. I’ve been sympathetic. I’ve minded my business. But now he’s screwed up over you to the point of coming to rehearsal high and injuring my girlfriend. Now the sympathy ends and it starts being my business.”
“I’ll take care of this.”
“I don’t want him anywhere near her.”
“I don’t either but I can’t control this, Fish. Thinking he was high doesn’t prove he was. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. What he’s going to dance or who with.”
Erik looked at him a moment, at the crossed arms and twitching fingers, knowing Will didn’t fidget unless he was upset. “You gonna rough him up?”
Will didn’t look away. “I’ll do what I have to.”
“Jesus.” Erik exhaled, rolling his eyes. “I gotta get my car.”
*
The ankle wasn’t broken or sprained, just badly wrenched. Ice and a week’s rest were prescribed. A bone in her little finger had a hairline fracture. All they could do was tape it tight to the ring finger to stabilize it. The torn-off nail was more painful.
Everyone waited to see what, if any, disciplinary action would be taken against James. It turned out to be unnecessary: four days after Daisy was injured, mid-semester grades came out. Once again, James came in under the required 2.0. No appeal this time. He was dismissed from his roles and put on academic probation. Shunned and shamed, he skulked from class to class, head down, hugging the wall. Erik didn’t know if Will had roughed him up or not. He didn’t care. He was too worried about Daisy.
The fall had spooked her badly. John was going to learn James’s part in “The Man I Love” but rehearsals didn’t go well. Daisy was tentative on her ankle, hesitating at key moments. She couldn’t mesh with John and it made him nervous and balky. He zigged and she zagged. Then he was terrified she would fall and he would grab at her, throwing her off. After an agonizing and frustrating week, John knocked at the door of Jay Street, looking for Daisy.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he said. “And I’m going to Marie tomorrow and telling her what everyone already knows.”
“Which is?” Daisy said.
“You need to dance ‘The Man I Love’ with Will.”
Will got up from the couch. “Ope, come on. You can dance it.”
“I know I can dance it, but it won’t be what it should.” He saw Daisy about to get up and pointed at her. “You sit. Stay off that ankle.”
Daisy’s lips twitched as she suppressed a laugh. John had matured considerably the past few months. He was standing taller, exuding confidence. Looking and acting a lot like Will, Erik thought.