Eye Exam

"Oh, thanks. I haven't done much to it in the last couple of years, but I suppose it still works."

The truth was their was no money to do anything to it even if she wanted to.

"Everything is so well coordinated," Addison told her as she noted the color scheme and choice of fabrics.

"Listen to you!" Mercedes said. "Are you sure you're only eight?"

Addison giggled then said, "I'll be nine in four months. Does that make any difference?"

"Hmmm. That must be it," Mercedes told her as she grabbed her things. "Okay. I'm ready unless you need to maybe use the restroom or get a drink of water."

"No. We're fine," Dex told her as he tried not to stare.

As she walked by, he said rather quietly, "Actually, you look fine."

Mercedes laughed and thanked him, but his kindness truly touched her as had his daughter's.

As he let her go by, Dex thought she'd always looked nice at work, but it was a more of a 'professional nice' whereas this was just—nice. Very nice.

Within seconds of getting in the car, Addison started asking questions.

"Can you cool stop?"

"Oh, my. I'm not sure. What does that mean?"

"You know, instead of just stopping, you glide then spin around," Addison explained.

"Oh. Um...I'm not sure. It's been a few years so I don't really know."

"Can you weave?"

"Like in and out of cones?" Mercedes asked.

"Uh-huh."

"I used to be able to. Can you?"

"She's a pro," Dex said answering for his daughter. "And it sounds like you're pretty good, too."

Mercedes laughed then told him how many years it had been since she'd gone roller skating.

"Get out of here!" Dex said in disbelief.

"No, it's true."

He realized he was Addison's age the last time she went and that Mercedes had been 25. For a brief moment, the age difference reared its ugly head, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"I'm sure it's just like riding a bike," Dex told her.

Mercedes laughed then said, "Let's see. How long has it been since I rode a bike?"

"My dad bought me a new bike for Christmas. You should come over and ride with us," Addison said.

"I don't even have a bike anymore, honey," she told the young girl.

"That's okay. We still have my mom's."

Mercedes waited to see how Dex reacted, and when he didn't even wince, she said, "Well, we'll have to see, okay?"

"You didn't say 'no'. I kind of like the sound of that," Dex said as he glanced her way and smiled.

"How about we make sure I don't break a leg or something tonight? If I don't then maybe we can talk about riding bikes," Mercedes suggested.

"You won't break a leg," Addison assured her. "You just have watch out for the bombers."

"The bombers?"

"Oh, there's a small group of boys who are maybe 14 or so. They like to see how fast they can go, and although they're very good, I've nearly been taken out by them a couple of times."

"Oh, so you two go to the skating rink often?" Mercedes asked.

"How often do we go, sweetie?" Dex asked.

"Like...once a month maybe?" Addison said.

"Oh, my. I'm going to be in big trouble, huh?"

"Not at all," Dex assured her. "We just go to have fun."

It wasn't busy at all when they arrived, and Mercedes was grateful. She went to rent a pair of skates, but Dex stepped in and said, "Excuse me? I thought we had an understanding?"

He plopped his credit card down and said, "Two adults, one child, and a pair of skates for this beautiful girl."

He smiled at Mercedes before going to sit down and put his own skates on as Addison was already busy doing that with hers. Dex's smile had really touched her, and when he called her a 'beautiful girl' it did that and something more.

She sat down and pulled on the white, size-7 women's skates then laced them up.

"I'm surprised these aren't velcro," she said as she put the extra laces inside the shoe tops.

Dex laughed, and when he did, Mercedes looked over at him and Addison. Both of them had velcro-only skates, and that made her laugh, too.

"Ah, okay. I got the old-school style."

She paused, smiled, then said, "How appropriate, right?"

"Okay, that's the last 'old' comment I want to hear out of you, young lady!" Dex told her as he grabbed her hand raising her up, then kept pulling until they were out on the rink.

Addison had grabbed her other hand, and Mercedes was laughing the entire way. Once they got out there, Dex suggested they do a couple of laps together, and three of them took off holding hands.

"It is like riding a bike!" Mercedes said as they came around to complete their first lap.

"Let's go faster!" Addison said.

Feeling good, Mercedes agreed, and the trio sped up then slowed around the corner then increased their speed again on the straightaway.

At the end of the second lap Addison let go and said, "Come on!"

The adults followed her to the center of the rink where there were a dozen cones lined up. Addison was already zig-zagging through them at a pretty good clip.

"I wanna try that!" Mercedes said as she let go of Dex's hand.

She went quite a bit slower, but managed to make it through all of them without a hitch.

"Woo-hoo!" she hollered as she cleared the last one.

Addison was there waiting for her and offered Mercedes a high five before hugging her again after she came to a stop.

"You're really good!" Addison told her.

"I'm gonna be really sore!" she said as she laughed.

She free skated with Dex for another couple of minutes then said, as she tried to catch her breath, "I need to take a break."

"Yeah. Me, too," he told her even though he wasn't even breathing hard.

They went to the sitting area and found a bench and watched Addison tear it up.

"Is there anything she's not good at?" Mercedes asked after watching her fly around the rink, 'cool stop', and 'toe touch' numerous times.

"She's pretty awesome," Dex replied.

He looked over at Mercedes then said, "You are too, by the way."

"Me? Ha! I'm am so out of practice!" she told him.

"You couldn't tell by watching you," he said.

He smiled again then said, "And believe me, I was most definitely watching you."

Mercedes saw the way he looked at her when he said it, and although he was mostly kidding, she could tell he was letting her know he really had been 'watching' her in a way that wasn't simple observation.

Not sure what else to say, Mercedes said, "There isn't much to see."

Dex hadn't taken his eyes off of her then said, "I disagree. Totally."

Whatever she'd felt a few minutes ago was back and much more intense; intense enough to cause her to have to look away.

Just as she did, Addison called out, "Come on, you guys!"

"You ready?" Dex asked her with a smile and an outstretched hand.

"Oh, my. Okay. Yes. Let's go!" she said, as she took it as he led her back onto the rink.

Around eight o'clock, there was suddenly a lot of noise near the front counter.

"Uh-oh. It's the 'bombers'," Dex said to Mercedes.

"They look harmless enough," Mercedes replied. "I was expecting tattoos and cigarette packs rolled up in their sleeves."

Dex laughed then said, "I don't think kids have done that since..."

Mercedes held up a hand and said, "Oh, no. Don't you dare say 'since I a kid'."

She was clearly teasing, and Dex continued laughing. That made Mercedes laugh, and when she did, Dex told her she was beautiful when she smiled.

The laughter stopped, and the smile faded, and that feeling returned just as he said, "Come on. Let's get in a few more spins before the 'biker gang' runs us out of town."

The two of them held hands as they made several, slow turns around the rink, laughing and having fun the entire time. They were just starting their third lap when the 'gang of seven' thundered onto the rink. One by one they pushed off and started building up speed, and in short order had lapped Dex and Mercedes.

"You had enough for one night?" he asked as they passed the entry and exit area.

"I think so. Let's finish this lap and call it a night. If I can still walk tomorrow I'll be very happy!" she called out over the noise of the boys yelling and flying around them.

Addison caught up them, and her dad let her know this was their last lap.

"Okay," she said without any argument, something else that impressed Mercedes.

"Wow. Just 'okay'? That's very..."

They were slowing down as Addison skated up ahead then did a 'cool stop'.

Mercedes had done that many times years ago and decided to give it a whirl. She started sliding and just before she began turning her toes, one of the 'bombers' didn't notice what she was doing and clipped her left leg just as she was starting to turn it.

The impact unexpectedly turned her body causing her to lose balance. That, in turn, caused her left ankle to roll as she went down hard.

The boy stopped and came back to apologize just as Dex was kneeling down to see if she was okay.

"I'm really sorry!" the boy said as she grabbed her ankle.

"It's okay," Mercedes told him. "It was an accident. I'll be fine."

Satisfied with her answer, he got up and jetted off leaving her there on the floor.

"Let's get those skates off you and see if you really are fine, okay?" he said.

He helped her stand, but she couldn't put any weight on it, so he had her drape her arm over his shoulder while putting an arm around her waist. Addison was on the other side so Mercedes could put her hand on the girl's shoulder and take a little more pressure off of the ankle.

Dex slowly unlaced the shoe, pulling each 'rung' out wide in order to minimize touching the area that was already badly swollen. It was turning black and blue, as well, and Dex said, "We've gotta get this looked at."

"No. It's just sprained," Mercedes told him. "It'll be fine."

She didn't have benefits other than optical and a trip to the ER be devastating.

"Sorry. A sprain is often as bad as a break and you may need a cast or at least need to be taped. If we don't, you could have permanent damage."

When he wouldn't take no for an answer, Mercedes let go of her pride and explained why.

He was still kneeling in front of her, and when she finished speaking, he reached up and took her hand without asking.

"Look, I invited you here. This is my responsibility. You can't go home without having it looked at, so we're taking you up the road to the Orange Park Medical Center, and that's all there is to it."

"Dex. You don't understand. I can't pay for that," she told him just loudly enough so only he could hear it.

"You're not paying for it," he told her. "Not one penny."

"No. That's not right," she said. "I'm not your responsibility, and I can't let you do that."

He squeezed her hand, smiled again, then said, "I like taking care of you, okay?"

Before she could answer, he said, "I have the only car, remember? You're in no condition to walk, so it looks like you're going with me, and I'm going to the hospital."

He stood up, then reached for her other hand, and helped her up.

As she stood there right in front of him, her ankle raised off the floor, the way Dex was looking at her made her forget how much pain she was already in as their eyes briefly danced.

"You ready?" he asked.

She wanted to answer, but her voice wouldn't work. She wanted to tell him 'yes' or at least thank him, but all she could do was stare.

"Come on. Addison will take your skates back, and you and I can head out."

Addison dropped Mercedes's skates at the desk, then picked up hers and her fathers and caught up with them just as they got to the main door.

"I'll get it!" Addison said as she backed into it and opened it for them.

As Mercedes limped by, the young girl smiled at her, and suddenly her sprained ankle no longer mattered. What did matter was the love and concern this broken family was showing her.

The hospital was only a couple of blocks away toward Middleburg, and they arrived in less than five minutes.

It took nearly two hours for her to be seen, but it was well worth the wait as Mercedes had some ligament damage. One of them had been severely stretched and another had been slightly torn.

The doctor asked a nurse to put ice on it to reduce swelling before giving her something to help with the pain before wrapping it.

"You're going to have to stay off of it as much as possible for the next 4-6 weeks, okay?" the ER doctor told her as he wrapped it.

"I have to stand up at work," she told him. "And taking time off isn't an option."

"Okay, we'll get you some crutches on your way out. You'll need to use them religiously for at least the first week or so, then when you see your primary care provider, ask if you can switch to a cane at some point. But in the meantime, especially for the next 48 hours, stay off of it completely."

"Primary care provider," Mercedes thought to herself.

She had one, but she limited visits to the greatest extent possible to save money. Going in for a follow-up would be at least $100 for the office visit then who knew what for whatever else she might order.

Dex excused himself just before the doctor finished and went back to the check-in window.

"Where would I go to pay for her bill?" he asked the woman who'd checked them in.

"No one's there this time of night, but the administrative offices are down the hall and to your left. But this will all be billed to your insurance company, so you won't need to worry about that until you find out how much they did or didn't cover on your wife's treatment."

He started to explain the beautiful woman with him wasn't his wife, but instead he thanked her then went to see where the offices she'd mentioned were located so he could take care of the bill in the next day or two.

When he walked back in, Mercedes was standing up on crutches as the doctor asked how they felt.

"Are they still too high?"

"No. These are fine," she told him.

"All right. The nurse will get you checked out, and your prescription will be waiting for in the pharmacy," the doctor said before walking away.

As Mercedes hobbled along, she told Dex, "We don't need to pick up the medication. I have Ibuprofen, and that's more than enough."

"No, the doctor gave you three days worth of Hydrocodone because this is going to hurt like hell."

He realized what he'd said just as Addison was covering her mouth.

"I take you daddy doesn't use bad words very often," she said with a smile.

"Uh-uh," Addison told her as she tried not to laugh.

"Does it hurt bad?" Addison asked once the 'cursing drama' was over.

"Whatever they gave me in there is already working. So yes, it does hurt, but it's a lot better," she said. "Which is why we don't need to go to the pharmacy."

"They gave you Hydrocodone. That stuff is powerful, and that's why it doesn't hurt so much," Dex told her as he pointed to the sign that said 'Pharmacy'.

Mercedes stopped then said as quietly as she could, "I can't let you pay for all of this, Dex."

He cocked his head slightly then smiled at her.

"What if I want to?" he said just as quietly.

He was staring into her eyes again, and maybe it was the pain medication, but Mercedes couldn't help tearing up.

"Hey. Is it really that bad?" Dex asked, sure it was pain-related.

"No," Mercedes said as a tear fell. "It isn't the pain. I'm...I'm just not sure how to deal with so much kindness."

Once he understood, Dex moved a little closer then told her, "By letting me take care of you, okay?"

Overwhelmed by it all, Mercedes could only say, "Okay," as the tears continued to fall.

Addison had moved around so she could see, and when she noticed Mercedes was crying, she put her arms around her again and buried her head in her chest.

"Don't be sad. We'll take care of you. I promise," the girl told her.

"Something tells me that's true," Mercedes said as she tried to hold herself up and hug Addison at the same time.

A few minutes later they had her prescription, and once they got to the car, Dex said, "Listen. I don't think it's a good idea for you to try and deal with this on your own."

He helped her get in, then went around to the driver's side and started the car.

"I don't have a lot of choices," Mercedes said quietly as she looked over at him.

"Yes, you do. You can stay with us for a day or two."

"I...I can't. I can't do that," she told him.

"Why? We can go back to your place and pick up the things you need for night or two along with some clothes for work, and you'll be all set."

"No. You...you have your own lives. You and Addison."

Dex looked back at his daughter who was kind of standing up next to Mercedes when she said, "But we love you, Mercedes. And we want to take care of you."

She was having trouble holding it together, but when the little girl reached around her seat and put her arms around her she lost it.

"Are you sure I won't be in your way?" she asked, barely able to speak.

"Positive."

"One-hundred percent!" Addison told her, her arms still around Mercedes.

"Okay. Thank you," she said as she squeezed the little girl's arms and looked over at her father. "You, too."

"It's our pleasure," Dex told her as he put the car in gear and headed south.

It was well after midnight when they got home, and Dex got Mercedes to the guest room and asked her to have a seat while he turned the bed down.

"Your house is lovely," she told him. "Everything is in such perfect order."

"Well, that's the way my wife kept it so we make sure to honor her by keeping it like the that."

He turned around, smiled at her, and said, "Or at least as close to that as we can, right, honey?"

Addison was doing most of the work getting things ready and enjoying doing it.

"I'll go get our icepack ready, okay, Dad?" she said once the bed was all set.

"Thanks, honey," he told her.

As she went by, Mercedes reached out for her hand. When she did, Addison stopped, hugged her again and said, "We just want you to get better."

Mercedes was tearing up again as she told Addison, "Okay. There is no way you are only eight years old!"

When the little girl giggled, her father said, "Well, well. I guess I'm not the only one having trouble believing a woman's age around here."

Now exhausted, Mercedes wanted to both laugh and cry. Instead she just smiled and tried to wipe her eyes.

"I'll bring some tissues with me, too," Addison told her as she skipped out of the room.

"I'm sorry for being so emotional," Mercedes said as she looked up at Dex.

"Please don't be sorry," he told her as he knelt down beside her again.

Mercedes saw the way Dex was looking at her again, and suddenly felt self-conscious about the way she looked.

"I'm a mess," she said as she looked away.

Dex slowly reached out and gently touched her face to turn it back toward him.

As their eyes met, he said, "You look beautiful to me."

Instantly, her eyes looked down as her foggy brain tried to understand what was going on.

"Addison is right, you know?" he told her as he ran a finger along her cheek.

"She is?" Mercedes said just above a whisper.

"Uh-huh. We do love you."

Somehow, she raised her eyes to meet his again, and when they met, Dex smiled at her. She was nearly certain he was moving her way to kiss her just as Addison came back in with the icepack. But her father just continued standing up and thanked her.

"You're welcome!" she said cheerfully.

"And it's long past your bedtime, honey. Can you give Mercedes a hug and tell her goodnight?"

"Uh-huh," she said very pleasantly as she reached out for one more hug.

As the little girl pulled away, Mercedes wasn't sure what made her say it, but she gently held Addison's arm then said, "I love you, sweetheart."

Addison smiled and immediately said, "I love you, too!" before giving her another hug.

She then hugged her dad and went to get ready for bed.