Mia's Recipe for Disaster (14 page)

“Do you have a headache, sweetheart?” she asked.

“No, I have a nose ache,” I said.

“Do you feel queasy?”

“Not really.”

“Good,” said my mom, patting my arm.

“Can I look in a mirror?” I asked.

“No,” said everyone all at once. Then they laughed nervously, but I didn't.

“That bad, huh?” I asked.

The Cupcakers smiled supportively, but I caught Jake nodding before Matt spied him and quickly tapped him on the back of his head. Then Jake started shaking his head.

“Oooh.” I groaned. “Good thing I don't have any modeling jobs lined up. Hey, how were the cupcakes?” I asked.

“We didn't have the stomach to try them . . . ,” explained Sam.

“I ate one! I thought it was delicious!” said Jake.

Mia smiled at him and gave him a sideways hug, “You're our best little customer, aren't you?”

He nodded, in heaven. “Can I have another?”

Mia laughed. “And an opportunist, too! Sure, come on, let's go get you another.”

“Hey, wait up!” called Sam. “Feel better, Em,” he said with a wink, and he headed into the kitchen.

Matt trailed behind them, and my mom went to call the doctor again. I was left with Alexis and Katie. “How bad is it?” I whispered, now kind of dreading seeing it.

“Oh, you know . . . ,” said Katie vaguely.

Alexis set her lips in a grim line. “You're going to look awful for a few days. But then it will be fine. No permanent damage.”

“Alexis!” said Katie, shocked at her bluntness.

“What?” said Alexis, huffy now. “It's true. Why should I lie to her?”

“Hey, no. It's fine. I wanted the truth,” I said. “It's better to know. I'll see it, anyway, sooner or later, right?” I reached up to try to feel around, and I could definitely feel the swelling all across my face. “Ugh.”

“Yeah, better if later,” agreed Alexis. “Rather
than sooner, I mean.” She glanced guiltily at Katie, who just shook her head.

My mom came bustling back in. “Okay, the doctor can take a look at you if we head over now. Are you okay to try to sit up?”

I swung my legs over the side of the sofa and sat up tall, but I suddenly got a head rush, and things were a little spinny for a minute. I glanced at my mom, and her face was really worried, so I tried to pull it together for her sake, anyway. I took a deep breath.

“Okay,” I said.

Soon I was up on my feet and walking a little wobbly out to the car, the Cupcakers trailing behind.

“We'll just clean up here, then head out, so you can come home and rest,” said Alexis from the back door.

“And we'll walk Jake to his playdate,” added Mia. My mom thanked her.

“No, feel free to stay. I won't be long.” We were supposed to head to Scoops ice-cream shop for grilled cheese and milkshakes later. “We can go after.”

Alexis grimaced. “I don't know if you're going
to want to go out when you get back,” she said, shrugging helplessly.

I sat down in the backseat of the minivan. “Oh boy,” I said.

Alexis gave a sigh. “Just don't look in the mirror.”

She was right.

On the way to the doctor's I couldn't face my reflection. I was worried if it looked really bad, I wouldn't want to get out of the car. The doctor was supernice, and he gave me all sorts of funny tests, asking me things like what the date was a week ago on Thursday and to do some simple puzzles and stuff, and he concluded that I did not have a concussion, which was my mom's main concern.

“The site of the impact is a factor,” he told my mom. “And noses absorb a lot of impact. Two inches higher . . .” And then he shrugged. “One thing's for sure, Emma. Your brain should be grateful to your nose. It really took one on the chin today!” Then he laughed at his own bad joke.

I smiled. “I guess,” I said. “But how bad is this nose going to look and for how long?” I tried not to whine, but I was worried.

He shook his head. “Hard to say. You'll probably
reach maximum swelling through tomorrow, and then that will start to calm down, but don't be surprised when the black eyes appear tomorrow or the next day. Those can take a while to fade, too.”

“Oh, great,” I said sarcastically.

He looked at me sympathetically. “I know. It really is a drag, but it could have been a lot worse. Your nose didn't even break. You've been drinking your milk!”

He looked at his watch, and we all stood up.

Then he continued, “I'm very glad you don't have a concussion, Emma. I've had kids out of school for weeks because they'd get a migraine every time they looked at a white sheet of paper. And that meant while they were home, no TV, no computer, and no phone. Nothing to overstimulate or irritate the brain. Trust me, it's just awful. I hate to see it.”

“I know. I'm glad about I avoided that too.”

“Just ice the nose a lot, drink tons of water, and take aspirin, and you'll be just fine.”

We thanked him and headed out to the car.

In the car, my mom said, “Well, that's a relief.”

“I guess,” I said, lowering the visor and flipping open the mirror. I took a deep breath through my mouth and braced myself.

And then I took one look at my bashed-up face and burst into tears. It was awful. I had a huge bump across the bridge of my nose, and the skin was broken and bloody, and a huge dark blue bruise was smeared across my nose, and even starting under my eyes. But what was worse was the swelling. I looked like an alien. The center of my face, including my nose and the area between my eyebrows, was so swollen that the space between the inside corners of my eyes had doubled.

“OMG.” I began to sob, which of course made my nose hurt more and my face look even uglier. “I'm not going to be able to leave the house for weeks!” I wailed.

My mom put her arm around me and hugged me tightly. “I think you're going to have to wear a hat and maybe some sunglasses for a few days,” she whispered into my hair.

“More like for the rest of my life!” I whimpered.

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