"Do you want to get stung by a scorpion?"
"No. But I also don't want my brother's party to be ruined by a bug the size of a coin."
And then, Luke appeared on the zip line. I don't know how he'd gotten down from the climbing wall, but suddenly he was there, hanging from the rope with one hand on the handle and the other in the air, shouting like an action hero.
"I'm going to catch the scorpion!" he shouted, and launched himself.
The rope carried him in a perfect arc toward the shaved ice machine. The scorpion was there, still, as if waiting for him. Luke reached out his hand, opened his fingers...
And slipped.
It wasn't the scorpion. It was the beads. The cursed plastic beads Claire had put on the craft table for necklaces were scattered on the ground like a minefield. And Luke landed right in the middle.
His foot slid forward, his body tilted back, and his arm—the same one he'd used to hang from the zip line—bent at an angle it wasn't supposed to bend.
Luke's scream was drowned out by Claire's scream as she came out of the kitchen just in time to see him fall.
"Luke!"
"I'm fine! It's nothing!"
But his arm hung in a way that wasn't normal, and his face was pale, his teeth clenched.
"Call an ambulance!" Phil shouted from the ground, still trying to get up.
"It's not necessary!" Luke shouted back, his voice pure fury. "It's just my arm! I'm not going to die!"
But Claire was already with him, and Gloria too, and Jay, and all the adults who had been hiding from the reptiles suddenly materialized as if they'd been waiting for an emergency.
Alex jumped off the table. I jumped after her.
"Is he okay?" I asked.
"I don't know. But it's going to get worse if we don't do something."
We ran to where Luke was. His arm hung, but his smile was still there. Crooked, pained, but there.
"See?" he said, showing me his arm. "Now I have a story to tell at school."
"You're going to have a story to tell for years," I said. "But first you have to go to the hospital."
"Are you coming?"
"Of course I'm coming."
Luke smiled. It was a smile that didn't hide the pain, but also didn't let the pain win.
"Well, then it's not so bad," he said.
The Hospital
The hospital waiting room was full of Dunphys and Pritchetts when we arrived. Phil sat in a chair, hair disheveled, with an expression of guilt he couldn't hide. Claire was beside him, her hand on his knee, a gesture of comfort meant more for him than for her.
Jay stood in the corner, arms crossed, trying to look tough but with moist eyes. Gloria was beside him, her hand on his arm, in that gesture she used when she wanted someone to calm down.
Mitchell and Cam had arrived with Lily, asleep in her stroller, oblivious to the drama. Haley was with Dylan, who had brought a bag of gummy bears from the vending machine "to lift the mood."
And Alex was beside me, her fingers intertwined with mine, not letting go.
"He's going to be okay," she said, her voice firmer than her eyes reflected.
"I know."
"Luke is like a cat. He always lands on his feet. This time he landed on his side, but he's still going to be okay."
"That's not a very scientific metaphor."
"It's the only one I have."
I smiled. She did too.
The emergency room door opened, and the doctor came out with an X-ray in his hand.
"Family of Luke Dunphy?" he asked.
Everyone stood up at once.
"Fracture of the ulna and radius," the doctor said, pointing to the X-ray. "He'll need a cast. Six weeks, maybe eight. But he'll be fine. The bone is clean; there was no displacement. In a few months, he'll be as good as new."
"Can I see him?" Claire asked.
"Of course. But only two at a time. The room is small."
Claire went in first, with Phil behind her. The rest stayed in the waiting room, with a calm that wasn't calm but the silence that comes after a storm.
Alex approached the door, looked inside, and smiled.
"He's making a castle out of the bandages," she said.
"What?"
"They gave Luke a roll of bandage to play with while he waits for the cast. He made a castle with towers and everything."
"And what are the others doing?"
"My mom is crying. My dad is trying not to cry. And Luke is telling them it was the best birthday of his life."
"Really?"
"Really. He says a cast is better than any gift. He can sign it, scratch it when it itches, and have a story to tell at school. It's the most Luke that Luke has ever been."
I approached the door. Luke was on the gurney, his arm wrapped in temporary bandages, and on his face was a smile of pure happiness.
"See, Leo?" he shouted when he saw me. "Now I'm a superhero! I have a bionic arm!"
"You're missing the cast," I said.
"But it's coming. And everyone's going to sign it. When they take it off, I'm going to have colored marks on my arm forever."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"Why would it bother me? It's like a tattoo, but free and without needles."
Alex appeared beside me. "He's the only kid in the world happy to have a broken arm."
"He's not happy to have a broken arm," Luke said, with a seriousness I didn't know he had. "He's happy because everyone is here. The party, the disaster, all of it. This is the best birthday I've ever had in my life."
Claire started crying again. Phil hugged her. And Luke, from the gurney with his arm wrapped in bandages and a smile that lit up the room, raised his thumb.
"See?" he said. "It's not so bad."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed it, leave a Review and Power Stones.
✅ Early access to 22 new chapters
Join LEGEN - DARY Level on Patreon
👉 https://[email protected]/cw/Day_bluefic
@=a
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Luke launched himself from the zip line to catch the scorpion. He slipped. He fell. He broke his arm.
And he smiled. Because now he had a bionic arm. Because it was the best birthday of his life.
In the hospital, with his electric blue cast, Luke gave a thumbs up and said: "It's not that bad."
Did you like that Luke was happy about breaking his arm? It's a little absurd, but very Luke of him, don't you think? 🏥💙😄
Thanks to everyone who reads, follows the story, and supports with power stones. You're tougher than a cast! 🚀💎
Comment, follow, and support with power stones. 🏠🏥💙