Inspired by a Tumblr post:
Me: "Phew! After a fortnight of MiniMe's surgery, follow-up appointments, half term and all the rest, I can finally have a day to chill, maybe get some writing done..."
MiniMe: Mummy, my cast just fell off!
Me: ... ::blink::... 😱😱😱😱😱
Back to the hospital we go, I guess.😅
Gordon had a long and…complicated relationship with broken limbs and casts.
The first time he broke his wrist he was a little under two.
The safety gate had been bought when Scott was around a year old. It had become necessary to close off parts of the house, since he couldn't be trusted not to fling himself down the stairs in an attempt to fly.
Neither John nor Virgil had needed it, but Gordon…Gordon was just as bad as his eldest brother. The only difference was where Scott threw himself off things to fly, Gordon climbed things to get to the water. Whether that was the bathroom or outside.
That first time Gordon was climbing the safety gate in an effort to get up the stairs to the bath.
With the other boys at kindergarten and school, Lucy was able to take her screaming baby straight to the clinic. And by the time the boys came home Gordon was asleep - a very unusual occurrence for her most hyperactive child.
The others had made a fuss once he'd woken up and that had restored the sunny nature of their water baby.
Fifteen days later Gordon broke his cast in half tripping over. Lucy never did find out what had caused the fall…
This set a pattern that became so predictable the local clinic would book a slot for Gordon for some point during his second-to-third week in a cast.
And boy did Gordon need them. He wasn't accident prone per se, that honour was John's, but even his big brother hadn't broken his arms and legs as much as the family Fish had. Only Scott held the record for more breakages, and that was due to the times he dove in head-first to save a brother.
By the time Alan was two and he was six, Gordon had had a grand total of eight broken bones and the clinic staff now sent him birthday cards…
This time, however, was different. Very different.
Gordon had fallen over and broken his arm at the weekend. This meant Grandma was around to sort him out. Scott had freaked out a little more than was usual for the undisputed Smotherking, and Gordon was eternally grateful that Grandma had stopped fussing (which meant attempting to feed) him and had begun to fuss over his biggest brother.
But then no one could blame Scott. This was the first time one of his brothers had seriously hurt themselves since their Mom had gone, and, while Grandma was now playing a more active role in helping Scott and John care for them all, with their Dad's continued absence a lot still fell onto the oldest two's shoulders.
So when, three weeks after he had first broken his arm, Gordon tripped while walking beside Scott – skipping, Gordon. You were skipping. Since when have you ever walked anywhere? – and the cast had literally fallen off his arm, Scott went DEFCON 1.
Grabbing Gordon's backpack and slinging it over his own, Scott picked the seven-year-old up and carried him on his hip as if he were Alan. Which, if Gordon could think over the pain, would have upset him far more than the knowledge that he'd miss more swimming.
With his other hand he was calling up John, directing him to pick up Alan from daycare, and they set off at quite a pace to the clinic. As Scott was almost running, Gordon soon forgot his arm was hurting him and begun to enjoy the ride. It wasn't often that he got to spend time alone with Scott outside of swimming, and he was almost sad when they arrived at the clinic.
The nice lady on reception took one look at who it was and immediately ushered them to sit, pretending that she was breaking the law by giving Gordon a lollipop before he'd had any treatment. Wide-eyed, Gordon took the proffered sweet and sat there with it in his mouth while Scott filled in the necessary paperwork.
Of course, when it came down to signing said paperwork…that's when they ran into trouble.
Scott wasn't old enough to sign a consent form. Grandma was out of town for the day and wouldn't get back until very late tonight. And Dad…who knew where Dad was.
Gordon watched as Scott paced the floor in front of him, one hand holding the phone to his ear and the other gesturing wildly, as he tried to contact their father.
The lollipop was eaten, the sun was setting and Gordon was asleep on Scott's lap when Jeff finally skidded into the clinic, looking like a wild man with his hair and suit all over the place.
Ignoring the receptionist, Jeff made a beeline for his boys, wincing slightly as Scott sat up straight and fixed him with a frown. But his eldest didn't say anything, and Jeff carefully lifted Gordon off Scott's lap and carried him over to finish dealing with the bureaucracy so Gordon could finally get treated.
They arrived home with pizzas, knowing that John and Virgil wouldn't have gone to bed without their brothers home.