Bianca watched as the nurse put a very large dressing on her foot. The nurse was explaining that she would have to come back to surgery daily to have the dressings changed… they weren't going to let her do it herself now. The size of the bandages made it unlikely that she would be able to wear her brace. The nurse was also talking about her wearing a boot to minimise her chances at catching her toe again. It was looking less and less likely that she would be leaving here without a wheelchair.

The longer she sat alone in the cubical, the longer she had to brood. It was fine putting on a show for Maggie but still… her damn leg had wrecked everything again…

…

In the next moment the curtains swished aside and Marissa was there carrying two coffees.

"A bit of an impromptu breakfast I'm afraid," she said handing Bianca a cup and dropping cake bars and a sandwich on her lap. "But you need to keep your strength up."

Marissa also noticed the size of the bandage on her foot.

"They aren't taking any chances are they?" she said.

"Not this time…" said Bianca, "I guess I will be needing the wheels."

"But not for long… we'll just go back to the hotel." Marissa's smile got wider. "That was our plan for today after all."

"…Until I ruined it." snapped Bianca, but she instantly regretted it. She was trying so hard not to be bitter about this.

"These things happen." said Marissa putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't…" said Bianca. She was finding the sympathy in Marissa's eyes grating again. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to be a subject of pity, not any more. "I'm fine… really."

Marissa didn't reply, but the look in her eyes was calling Bianca out as a liar… and she was lying. She wasn't all right. She was humiliated and frustrated and angry! She wanted the scream and throw and break things at the unfairness of it all. But she couldn't give in to the anger, it made her do ugly things, and she couldn't give in to the shame, that would make her weak and she swore she would never be weak again…

"We'll just go back to the hotel." said Bianca when she was able to eventually trust her tone.

"Good." said Marissa chirpily. "And I hope it's alright but invited Maggie to dinner tonight… you'd like to catch up wouldn't you… and it might be nice to get to know a new member of my family however distantly we're related…"

Bianca didn't know how to respond.

"I mean if you don't feel like it we can call a rain check?" added Marissa.

"No." said Bianca. "It would be nice to catch up… it could be fun."

'And it will be something else to distract me.' she added silently with her thoughts. She knew she was getting close to losing her temper again and she really didn't want to do that to Marissa.

No, an evening with Maggie would be an excellent diversion.

…