When I try to talk, it feels as if someone is slamming my face with a brick. I groan, and Mom turns around and hands me a bag of frozen peas. I’m so out of it, I didn’t even know we had stopped at a store. “This will help,” she says. “We’re going directly to the U Dub Medical Center. I called my friend Janet and told her what happened. She’ll be waiting for us.” “You called Janet? Why?” I mumble. I sound drunk. I wish I was. “She’s an ER doctor,” Mom says. “She can fast-track us. She said you should try not to talk until you’ve had some X-rays. And that you should take some Advil and ice your jaw.” First Lucy’s ankle, and now this. Two medical emergencies in one day. Must be some kind of record. Or maybe that’s what big families are like. Mom hands me a bottle of water and a pill. I manage to swallow it, even though opening my mouth is excruciating.
