Page 135 of Learn Your Lesson

Ava writhed in pain as Chloe soothed her with a hand on her head, and when I finally made it to them, they both looked up at me.

Like I had the answer.

Like I would know what to do.

I should have. Ishouldhave known what to do. I should already be moving.

Whycan’t I move?

I stood there frozen, blinking at where Ava’s ankle was already swelling before I dragged my gaze to her face, her wailing like a muted cry now against the beating of my heart in my ears.

Finally, I looked at Chloe, who had her brows pinched together, her eyes flicking between mine.

Silently, she reached out for me, her hand wrapping around my wrist.

She squeezed it, something in her eyes soft and reassuring.

“It’s okay,” she mouthed.

And then she turned back to my daughter and saved the day.

“Okay, my little angel bug. Look at me. That’s it. Hi,” she said with a smile. “Did you fall off the bars?”

Ava nodded, crying harder.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Chloe said, smoothing a hand over Ava’s hair. “It’s alright. Show me where it hurts.”

Ava pointed to her swelling ankle, her voice garbled when she said, “It popped.”

My heart raced double time, but Chloe just nodded, her hands slowly, softly, coming to the injured area. “That happens sometimes. Can you tell me how bad the pain is. On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?”

Ava sniffed, and as if the question calmed her, like it gave her something else to focus on, she leaned back on her palms, taking one long, slow breath.

“I don’t know. Maybe seven?”

“Seven,” Chloe repeated. “You’re so strong. Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to pick you up, okay? We’re going to go get your leg elevated and put some ice on it. We’re going to wrap it up with some fabric I have in the car, to give it some compression. And we’re going to go see the doctor. Okay?”

Ava’s lip wobbled. “Am I going to die?”

I felt like I was living an out-of-body experience as Chloe bit back a laugh, and she swept my daughter’s hair out of her face, framing her cheeks.

“Not today, angel bug. You’re okay. I think you might have sprained your ankle, but we will let the doctor take a look at it. Right now, I want you to know you’re being so brave and so strong. And your dad is here, and so am I, and we’re going to get through this together. Okay?”

Ava sniffed and nodded, and then she was letting Chloe take her in her arms.

Chloe looked back at me after a few feet to make sure I was following.

Just like she said, Chloe did all the steps she should have, repeating them out loud as she performed each taskso Ava knew what was happening. She checked in on the pain. She told Ava how good she was being. And before I knew it, we were in the SUV, Ava strapped into her booster seat with her ankle wrapped in fabric holding ice from our cooler in place. She sniffed, her tears dry now, but she was still groaning in pain, wincing and clearly uncomfortable.

Chloe was in the driver seat.

She fired up the engine, turned to me and laid her hand on my forearm. “You good?”

Her words brought me back to life.

I felt everything snap into place, like the fall had knocked me out of orbit and Chloe’s hand on my arm, her words, her eyes were the gravity that brought me back home.

It was the same two words I often asked my teammates when I knew something was off. It was the familiarity of them that had me nodding, that had me squeezing her hand in return before I angled myself over the seat and looked back at Ava.