F is for Finn (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

That didn’t stop me from feeling my heart jump a little when I walked out of the kitchen just before the dinner rush and saw a familiar little blond head at the counter. Olly was sitting on one of the stools, trying to spin around. I grinned and headed over to him, expecting to see Wendy right beside him. Instead, I saw another woman lean over and say something to him, then kiss him on the head and ruffle his hair.

She was beautiful, but not in the same easy way as Wendy. I didn’t recognize her, and I glanced around to see if maybe Wendy had gone to the restroom or to talk to someone at one of the tables.

“Misser Finn.”

I heard Olly say my name and turned to him. He was smiling at me, his feet kicking in front of him as he waved.

“Hey, buddy,” I said, walking up to him. “You here for some dinner?”

He nodded, and the woman beside him brushed her fingers through his hair and looked at me with a questioning expression.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Finn. Olly and I go way back.”

She looked like she wanted to laugh, but there was stress and worry etched all over her face.

“Deana,” she said.

I nodded. “Is Wendy here?”

She shook her head. “No. Haven’t you heard?”

Her question and the way she’d asked it made my stomach drop.

“No,” I said. “Heard what? What’s going on?”

“Wendy had an accident at work,” Deana said.

“An accident? What kind of accident? Is she alright?”

I knew I was sounding close to frantic, but I didn’t care.

“She’s in the hospital. She’s going to be alright, but she got pretty banged up. She has a broken wrist and a sprained knee. They kept her overnight last night for observation and decided to keep her tonight as well,” Deana said.

Before I could ask anything else, Helen came out of the office and walked straight over to Deana. She patted Olly on his back.

“Hi, honey. How are you doing?” she asked.

He sighed. “I want Mommy.”

Helen nodded. “I know. But she’s going to be just fine. Remember Mr. Everett? He’s making sure they take really good care of her. And we’re going to make sure you two have everything you need. Don’t you worry.” She turned her attention to Deana. “What are the doctors saying?”

Deana glanced over at me like she was questioning whether I should be standing there listening to the conversation but didn’t ask me to leave before continuing.

“She’s going to make a full recovery as long as she doesn’t overtax the injured areas, especially that knee. It’s a severe sprain, but that could get much worse if she exerts herself too much, too quickly. I think that’s the primary reason they’re keeping her. They want to try to keep her quiet and not moving for as long as they can. Like they think they can convince her that she can do it,” Deana said.

Helen scoffed. “Good luck with that. Everett says Wendy never stops when she’s at work. She does more work than some of the guys. Especially now that she’s training to do surveying too, she’s pushing even harder.”

“I know,” Deana said. “I’m worried about her.”

“She’s going to be okay. She’s got all of us looking out for her,” Helen said. “Like I told Olly, we’re going to make sure she has everything she needs and can recover the best way possible.”

“I’ll help,” I said, stepping into the conversation. “I’ll make some food and send it over to her.”

The news about Wendy being hurt was hitting me much harder than it should have. She was just a friend, really barely even that, but it made me feel sick to my stomach to think about her being injured. I had a strange, irrational urge, like I should have somehow been there to protect her.

“Really?” Deana asked.

“Absolutely,” I said. “You said they probably aren’t going to keep her much longer. But she’s going to need to keep recovering when she gets home. With those injuries, she’s not going to feel like cooking and she and Olly need to eat. Just let me make up some stuff for them and bring it over. It’s the least I can do.”

The woman looked hesitant but finally nodded. “That would be really great. Thank you. I love to cook, and I had the same thought that she’s going to need some help while she’s getting better. I was going to try to fill up her freezer for her, but my work has been kind of crazy, and now this. I’m honestly feeling kind of overwhelmed.”

“Don’t give it a second thought,” I said. “You said they’re going to keep her tonight?”

“Yeah, but I doubt they’re going to hang on to her much longer than that. They’ve had her under observation, but there isn’t much more they can do for her injuries there. It’s just a matter of waiting for them to heal at this point. I figure she’ll probably call me tomorrow and have me pick her up.”