Chapter 61

Again, I don't own any of these characters

"But Cody...I don't need to go to the emergency room!"

Cody just smirked at her. "And how did you respond to me when I said the exact same thing twice before?"

Bailey paused and pouted. "But that was different..."

"Bails, if the situation was reversed right now, would you let me get away with not going to the emergency room?"

Bailey just sat there and said nothing. She knew as well as Cody did that there was no way she wouldn't make Cody go. "But Cody...I haven't had a shower..."

"Sweetie...If I help you take a shower, will you give up all other protests about me taking you?"

Bailey sighed. Deep down, she was a little worried about the severity of her injury herself. "Alright...A shower and I'll go.."

Cody smiled at her. "Good...Let's get you undressed and cleaned up..."

About an hour later, Bailey found herself sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV on the way to the emergency room. Once parked, Cody helped her into the ER entrance and over to a seat. After that, he signed her in and provided all of the necessary insurance information. Once that was taken care of, it was just a matter of waiting to be called.

Forty-five minutes later, Bailey's name was called. Initially, she was going to refuse to use a wheelchair to get back to the examine room, but Cody insisted. Bailey finally relented, and he pushed her back to the right exam room. Once there, Cody helped her up onto the exam table and helped slip off the pair of shoes he had gotten her to wear.

A little while later, a doctor finally came inside the exam room.

"I'm Doctor Diane Pepper...Yes, I know...I am really Dr. Pepper. So, it says here we have an ankle injury..."

Cody nodded. "Yeah, she fell yesterday. We tried to elevate it and ice it down to keep the swelling down last night, but it wasn't any better this morning. So, I brought her in..."

"And you are?"

"I'm her fiance..."

The doctor nodded. "Alright...Well, let's take a look, shall we?" She proceeded to examine Bailey's ankle and began to nod. "Wiggle your toes for me..."

Bailey proceeded to do just that.

The doctor nodded again. "Well, the blood vessels don't appear to be severed then. That's good."

Bailey looked at her. "Just a sprain, right?"

"Could be, but I want to take an x-ray just to make sure..."

Bailey asked nervously. "An x-ray?"

The doctor smiled. "Standard procedure. Besides, don't you want us to get this right?"

Bailey sighed and nodded.

"Good." The doctor turned to Cody. "Can you wheel her down to radiology? Go to the end of the hall and take a left."

Cody nodded. "Sure..."

The doctor turned back to Bailey. "You're pretty lucky, you know that?"

"I am?"

"Your fiance did everything he was supposed to do last night. Thanks to him, you didn't injure it worse than you could have..."

Bailey nodded as the doctor left the room.

Cody walked over and helped her get back into the wheelchair. "You ready to go to radiology?"

"Yeah...Cody?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry if I was being stubborn and hardheaded last night and this morning..."

Cody knelt down and smiled at her. "You acted the same way I did when I didn't want to go the ER either. Besides...Remember, your stubbornness and hardheadedness are two things I love about you..."

Bailey smiled. "And I love your willingness to always try to take care of me..."

"Come on...Let's go get that x-ray..."

Cody wheeled Bailey down to radiology, and sat with her as they waited for the radiologist to show up. Finally, he did, and Bailey was wheeled in for her x-ray. Cody waited outside as Bailey was laid back on the table and the x-rays were aimed at her right ankle. A lead apron was placed over the rest of her body, and the x-ray was taken. Once she was done, Cody wheeled her back to the exam room where they waited and waited.

Finally, the doctor returned to the exam room with the x-ray in hand.

"Alright, you want the good news or the bad news?"

Bailey sighed. "Let me hear the bad news..."

"You have a broken ankle..."

Bailey slumped back into her chair. The doctor smiled though. "But the good news is that its not so severe that you need surgery. And in the long run, you are better off having a broken ankle then a severe high ankle sprain..."

Bailey was confused. "How is that?"

Before the doctor could answer, Cody did. "Because the bone will heal a lot easier than tendons will..."

The doctor smiled. "He knows his stuff...Anyways, I'll have someone come in and place a cast on your ankle and have you fitted for crutches. After that, I want you to see an orthopedist in three weeks. I'll give you the name of someone over at Yale Student Health..." She turns to Cody. "Make sure she stays off her feet as much as possible. Keep her ankle elevated as much as possible too. I will write her a prescription for some pain killers too. Any questions?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah. I know to get a handicap parking pass, we would have to have a doctor sign off on the need for one. Will you do that?"

The doctor smiled. "Of course...I'll have a form signed for you before you leave."

The doctor left the room, and Bailey was still slumped back in her chair. Cody noticed this and tried to cheer her up. "You heard what the doctor said. In a few months, you'll be up and around like always..."

Bailey nodded. "I guess..."

Cody knelt down in front of her and held up his left wrist. "Hey...we've survived a cast before, haven't we?"

Bailey sighed. "Yeah, I guess we did..."

"And my wrist is just fine right now, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"See...You're going to be just fine..."

"Cody, I've never been on crutches before..."

Cody smiled at her. "I have. I'll show you all the tricks to using them..."

"How am I supposed to get around campus now? How am I supposed to do anything now?"

"Well, we're going to get a handicap pass so you don't have to go too far. Plus, you've got a fiance who's going to take care of everything else..."

That finally brought a smile to Bailey's face. "What would I do without you?"

"Fortunately, that's one thing you don't have to worry about..."

Bailey was about to say something, when a technician came in to put on her cast. After the cast was administered, a pair of crutches were brought in along with the form the doctor had signed. The technician warned that Bailey wasn't supposed to get her cast wet, and he suggested using trash bags and duct tape to do that.

Bailey looked up at Cody. "Trash bags and duct tape?"

Cody laughed. "Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but I'll show you how you do it..."

Bailey shrugged. "Alright..."

"You ready to go home?"

Bailey nodded. "More than...I understand why you don't like coming to the ER now..."

Cody grinned. "You get used to it...Besides...I'm looking forward to a chance to work on my beside manner..."

To be Continued...