Chapter Two
Trying to move her foot as little as possible, Zoe searched the side of the road for a stick, or anything she could use as leverage to push herself vertical. She knew she wouldn't be able to put any weight on her ankle, but maybe she could hobble along if she could just get up. Though there were branches aplenty on the forest floor, just off the road, none had conveniently landed where she could reach them. And crawling over the loose gravel (some of which had already, painfully, embedded itself in her knee) was not an option.
She didn't have her phone; she usually only took it with her when running at night or if her route took her through the woods.
Although Zoe counseled herself not to panic, and tried to take deep cleansing breaths, the thought of a truck barreling down the road, unable to see her, made her heart race and a cold sweat break out on her forehead. What the hell was she going to do?
Just then, she heard the pounding of feet on the road, and Wade's voice: "ZOE! You OK? Don't move!"
The relief that washed through her was so powerful it made her dizzy. Thank God for Wade. Sunlight haloed him as he raced back toward her, his muscles straining, a grimace of worry on his face.
"What happened?" he gasped, getting down on one knee. She didn't respond right away, only threw her arms around him, choking back a sob. Get yourself together, the doctor in her demanded, but his strong arm around her felt so good, and he was saying, "I got you, baby. I got you" and she let herself slump against him, just for a second.
"We gotta get you out of the road, Doc, and get you some help." He scanned the empty stretch of highway. "Might as well go on down toward Waffle World—if nobody picks us up, we can call from there. C'mon…"
"It's OK—if you can just help me up, I can—"
"What're you gonna do, hop the whole way? This'll be quicker." He scooped her up, and the movement of her leg caused her to gasp. She hid her face in his neck, so he wouldn't hear, but he still said, "Sorry, darlin'. I'll keep you as still as I can."
He took a few steps down the road, and then stopped to adjust his hold slightly, so she was closer to his body and her ankle didn't swing so much. "How far is it?" Zoe asked faintly, trying not to focus on the pain.
"Only about a half-mile."
"Wade! You can't carry me a half-mile."
"I ever tell you about that time I carried a keg for the last lap of the Bridgehead Beer relay? Couldn't have weighed much less than you."
Zoe had the feeling he was trying to distract her, and she was inclined to let him. "Tell me about all the other crazy contests you've won."
So he recounted his victories in log-rolling on the Blakeley River, pole-climbing in Spanish Fort, and a surprising win for strawberry jam over in Fillmore ("It was my nana's recipe—we used to make it all the time when I was a kid."). By the time he was done, she could see Waffle World up ahead, just on the other side of the road.
The parking lot was full, she saw with relief; surely someone would be willing to drive them back to Bluebell or on to the clinic in Daphne. Wade lumbered up the brick walkway to the restaurant, and set her down carefully on a bench outside. As he stood up, his eyes went wide. "Uh—Doc—somethin' you should know…"
"Zoe!" screamed a young girl, and Rose Hattenbarger shot out from the entrance to Waffle World as if from a cannon. "What happened? Are you OK?"
Wade stepped in to prevent Zoe from being smothered—or worse, having her leg jostled. "Hey, kiddo, be careful there—the Doc needs a little space. "
"What are you doing here, Rose? I'd have thought everybody was at church," Zoe said.
"Oh, we're all here." Rose gestured to the restaurant. "It's Service Sunday, and we meet for waffles and then go do projects." Turning around, Zoe could see that the windows were filled with curious Bluebellians, all of whom must've witnessed her ignominious journey to the bench. She shared a quick glance with Wade, who shrugged and looked apologetic. "I'll be back in a sec—gonna get you some ice. Hey, is Brick in there?" he asked Rose.
"I'm right here," said the doctor, coming up to the bench trailed by Tom, Wanda, Big, Ethel, and assorted other townsfolk. "Now Dr. Hart, what did you go and do?"
"Ran into a pothole."
He hovered professionally over Zoe's ankle. "I probably don't have to tell you that it doesn't look too good. You're gonna need some x-rays—see if it's broken, or just ligament damage."
"I know," Zoe winced. Just then, Wade came back with a towel filled with ice, and handed it to Brick, who laid it gently on Zoe's swollen foot.
"Looks like it's lucky Wade found you when he did," commented Brick.
Zoe opened her mouth to say—she wasn't sure what, but Wade cut in loudly—"Yep, sure was lucky." He looked up defiantly at the now-substantial crowd, where Big Ethel was murmuring something to Shula, and Wanda's eyes were narrowed suspiciously, taking in the fact that they were both wearing running clothes.
Brick said to Wade, "She'll need to go over to Daphne—we don't have the right x-ray machine at the practice. Let's get her in the back seat of my Explorer."
"That's mighty nice of you, Brick. I can drive her over, and then bring your car back, if that suits you," Wade replied. There was a buzz of speculation—what did this mean?—from behind Zoe.
Brick put his hand on Wade's shoulder. "That's OK, son, I'll go with her, make sure she gets treated right."
Zoe could see that Wade wanted to go with her, but he wasn't going to put himself forward—wasn't going to stake a claim she might not be willing to acknowledge. Suddenly, she recognized everything he had done for her, today and for many days before that, recognized the true feeling underneath his wisecracking and bluster, and something in her pushed her to speak up. "Hey! I'm right here, you two. Brick, I appreciate it, but—I…want Wade with me."
A huge grin lit up his face—he didn't miss the double meaning of her words, and neither, it seemed, did Brick, whose eyes sparkled as he said, "Well, Dr. Hart, that's just fine. Now let's get you settled—"
"Wait!" Zoe said, and yanked on Wade's tank top until he bent down to her. "Thank you," she whispered, pulling him in for a long, sweet kiss that temporarily chased the pain away. Dimly, she could hear cheers and whistles in the background, and as they broke apart, she declared, "There! Is everybody happy now?"
"I sure am," came Wade's answer, low in her ear.
Some things you just can't run from.
THE END
Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter of "Christmas in July" should be up soon…I promise!