began to repack his bag. "I daresay it was broken then and some misinformed idiot didn't set it. It probably always gave him pain, and he learned to compensate by limping. The muscles on that side are sorely atrophied. When he fell, he broke it along the old fracture. I'd say, unless he wants to be permanently disabled, he'd better learn to exercise that leg while it heals."
Something in the doctor's voice jerked Evie from her reverie, and she turned to look at the man. "You mean if they'd set his leg at birth, he would be whole today?"
The doctor nodded. "Probably. Now the bone's grown crooked, and there isn't a lot I can do to straighten it. I've set it the best I can, and he's young; that's in his favor. But his muscles in that leg aren't strong enough to support a growing young man. In a week or so, I'd say he needs to start lifting that leg up and down. That will build the muscle. He can start slowly, but he'll have to keep increasing the exercise. He won't be able to get out of bed for some time. I don't want him walking on that leg until it's completely healed. But he can do various exercises while he's in bed. I'll be back to show him when the time comes."
The doctor scribbled out his bill, left it with Evie, and bustled out. The men who had carried Daniel had been slowly departing. The last one tugged his hat and left now. Angelina Rodriguez offered to sit with Daniel for a while, but Evie thanked her and sent her home to her children. Daniel would expect to see her here when he woke.
Not until the room cleared did Evie glance at the piece of paper in her hand. The bill was for almost exactly the same amount of coins remaining in her purse.
Chapter 14
She had to pay the hotel bill. There wasn't any way Daniel could be moved to the back of the newspaper office now.
Evie's stomach churned as she stared out at the leaden sky the next evening. She had given Daniel some laudanum, and he slept peacefully for the moment. She put her hand to her abdomen and stared at the rain-drenched streets. She knew what she had to do, but she was so scared that she couldn't think straight.
Crying hadn't helped. She had cried herself to sleep last night, but all she'd had to show for it this morning was reddened eyes. She had sent word that she wouldn't be able to teach today. It was Friday. That gave her two more days to come up with a few solutions. If she was going to do it, she had to start tonight. She had to be back in class on Monday or risk losing what little income they had. If Daniel couldn't work, their wages were practically cut in half.
She felt the pain in her insides, and she closed her eyes. She had sworn this would never happen to her. How could she have let Tyler do what he had done? She knew what it was to be a bastard. She had never meant to bear one. She couldn't. It was simply unthinkable, so she wouldn't think about it.
But as darkness settled over the scene below and lamplights twinkled up and down the street, Evie had visions of showing up in the classroom with rounded stomach, of whispers of horror as she walked through town, of people crossing the street to avoid her. She'd had enough of whispers and speculations in her lifetime. She couldn't endure it again. She wanted people to like her. She needed people to like her. To be an outcast was anathema to her soul.
She would be out of a job as soon as the school board discovered she was pregnant. There would be only one way left for her to support herself and Daniel if she lost that job. The horror of that squalid occupation almost brought up the lump of lead situated in her throat. She had hated it when Tyler had done that to her. How would it be to have countless men a night touching her like that?
Glancing over her shoulder at Daniel's sleeping form, Evie straightened her shoulders with renewed resolve. She would do what she had to do. There simply wasn't any choice.
She had already ordered the hotel management to carry her things to Daniel's room and set up a cot for her