She looked pale and really worried, which meant he needed to get in his firefighter head and keep her calm.
“Oliver fell playing ball on the playground. They think his arm might be broken. Can you take me home so I can go get him?”
“It’ll be faster if I take you right to the school.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
They got in his truck, and Hannah gave him directions to Oliver’s school. Fortunately, they weren’t far away. He pulled into the parking lot, and Hannah shot out of the truck, but Kal caught up with her.
“Hannah.” He took her arm. “Before we go in, take a few deep breaths. The last thing Oliver needs to see is you panicking right now.”
She breathed in, then out. “You’re right. Thanks.”
They walked down the sidewalk toward the front entrance.
“I broke my arm when I was six,” he said.
She looked over at him and frowned. “You did? I don’t think you ever told me that.”
He shrugged. “It’s because I was stupid. Who tells their girlfriend they did something dumb? Anyway, I was fine. And Oliver will be fine, too. Don’t worry.”
She nodded, and they went to the front office, then were directed to the nurse’s office, where Oliver was sitting with his left arm cradled against his chest. The nurse had made a sling for him. When Oliver saw Hannah, he started crying.
“It hurts, Momma.”
Hannah came over and sat next to him, cradling him against her. Kal knew from his experiences with his own mom after she’d adopted him that motherly love was the best medicine when you were hurt.
“Are you his father?” the nurse asked.
“No, I’m Mrs. Clark’s—” He looked over at Oliver. “Friend. But I’m a firefighter and a paramedic.”
She nodded. “It’s definitely broken. I can tell from the angle of his arm.”
“Got it. We’ll take him straight to the ER.”
Kal went over and crouched down in front of Oliver. “Roughing it up on the playground, huh, buddy?”
“We were playing kickball, and me and Jose were fighting over the ball. I slipped and held out my hand and then something snapped in my arm. It really hurts, Kal.”
Kal ruffled Oliver’s hair, then framed his face between his hands. “I know it does. We’ll get you to the hospital, and they’ll fix it right up.”
After thanking the nurse, Kal didn’t even bother trying to walk Oliver to the truck. He picked him up, and Hannah walked next to them. Oliver laid his head on Kal’s shoulder, and Kal felt such a tug of emotion he didn’t know what to do with all these feelings. What he did know was he didn’t want Oliver to hurt.
He buckled Oliver in the back seat, and Hannah sat back there with him while they drove to the hospital. They checked into the ER and waited for someone to call them. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long, and they were put into a room. He was surprised when he saw Carmen come into their room, looking efficient and totally in charge in her nurse’s scrubs. Even Hannah’s face brightened.
“Oh, hey, Carmen,” Hannah said.
“Hey, Hannah. I saw you two when they brought you in, so I thought I’d take your case. This must be Oliver. I’m Carmen Donovan, and I’m going to help take care of you today.”
“Nurse Carmen is a friend of ours, Oliver,” Kal said. “And she’s a very good nurse.”
“I fell in the playground and hurt my arm.”
“Poor baby. Let’s take a look.” Carmen untied the sling and examined Oliver’s arm. When Oliver winced, Hannah did, too, but Kal kept a smile on his face and nodded at Oliver, letting him know it was all going to be all right.
Kal could tell from the first look at Oliver’s awkwardly angled arm that it was broken.
A doctor came in as well and introduced himself as Dr. Lance before examining Oliver’s arm.
“Looks like you broke your arm, Oliver,” Dr. Lance said. “But we’ll need to get some pictures to be sure.”
“It hurts,” Oliver said.
“I’m sure it does.” He said a few things to Carmen, who nodded.
“I’ll be back soon to get you fixed up.”
After he stepped out, Carmen said, “We’ll need to get some pictures of your arm with our X-ray machine.”
Oliver looked up at his mom, his eyes wide with delight and pain momentarily forgotten. “I get to have an X-ray!”
“That’s very exciting, baby.”
Carmen rewrapped Oliver’s arm and kept the sling close to his chest. “I’ll be right back to get you some medicine for the pain.” She handed Oliver