Medical leave (a Mirandy fanfic)

Chapter 2: The accident

Andy had been working restlessly through the morning so that Miranda's day would go smoothly and December's issue would be published withouth the whole art department being fired. Honestly, she understood the Editor. Now that she was given greater responsibilities as first assistant, she could see that sometimes the staff seemed to become kindergarten children who couldn't deal with the slightest setback. Miranda wouldn't settle for anything other than perfection. And at the end of the day, it all seemed to drop on Miranda's shoulders. 

But what Andy really couldn't bear were the hideous monikers the Editor was given. Everyone felt so entitled to call her a bitch when the only thing she wanted was that they did their freaking jobs! Seriously, if it was a man we were talking about they'd surely say that he was stern, ambitious and carreer-driven, but when it came to Miranda it turned out to be that the woman was a selfish, cruel Ice Queen who put her carreer before her own daughters.

-"Ridiculous, if only they knew..."- Andy mumble for herself-

If only they knew the Miranda that Andy had the pleasure of seeing. Since she started spending some evenings at the townhouse, and sometimes even having dinner with the Priestly women, Andy could see what a loving and caring mother Miranda was, aside from the capable and succesful editor and the powerful and amazing woman she already knew. 

-"Mother?... The twins! " - she exclaimed, it was 12:35 and Roy would be there in a few minutes to go pick up the twins. Andy gathered her belongings and threw them carelessly in her purse, she'd have time to organise them in the car, and rushed to the elevator. Descending the 14 floors, she stepped outside right when Roy appeared among the neverending wave of cars. She opened the door and jumped inside.

-"Hi, Roy!" - she gave the man one  her warm smiles-

-"Hi, Andy. You ready?"

-"Yup, step on it!"

-"Of course, ma'am" - Roy replied as Andy rolled her eyes in amused response

Twenty minutes later, the sleek black Mercedes pulled up in front of the Museum and Andy got out and walked towards the door to wait for the girls. Not long later, a pair of readheads came rushing towards the brunette to envelop her in a feisty hug.

-"Andy! Andy!" - they both chorused. They really liked Andy and Andy really liked them. They were wonderful girls, of course they were naughty and liked to play pranks on her mother's new assistants. But when you got to know them, they were the most wonderful children Andy ever had the pleasure to meet. They were both a mini copy of the Editor, attentive blue eyes, her characteristical eyebrow arching, even the lips pursing and of course, observant and quick-witted minds. And maybe a knack for making people nervous. But Andy had grown inmune to their little tricks, she had never thought of having children (not even in the best moments of her past relationship with Nate) but for some reason she could totally see herself parenting this two rascals.

-"Hey, girls. What's up? How was the excursion?"

-"Meh, we've been here a dozen of times. Just came because of our friends" - Caroline answered shrugging.

-"Well, I think the butterflies exhibition was cool" - Cassidy added

-"Oh yeah, that was the only new thing to see"

-"Oh, I love butterflies exhibitions. You know, as a child I wanted to be an entomologist"

-"What's that?" - Caroline asked

-"An entomologist is someone who studies insects, sweety. But I eventually realised that as such, I couldn't only study butterflies but also other insects which I disliked quite much. So, I chosed journalism"

-"We could come back to see the exhibition. I will be here until next month, so..." -Cassidy offered shily-

-"That would be great, girls. Of course, if you don't mind seeing it all over again..."

-"Of course not" -Cassidy replied hastly-

-"We could be your guides. We come here since we were little, mom likes it too!" - Caroline stated confidently

-"Oh, a tour by the Priestly twins themselves! It'd be an honor" - Andy said in an exagerated bow-

-"Of course it would!" - the twins rolled their eyes and giggled at Andy's hijinks

-"Ok, girls. Let's go to the car, I'll drop you at the townhouse and wait until Cara arrives"

-"Okaaay" - both responded in unison as the each took one Andy's hands.

As they crossed the street the girls chatted excitedly, filling Andy in about school and their new activities. Andy listened intently, they were precocious girls. Once Miranda had confessed Andy that she had been sick with worry about their development when they were born prematurely at seven months. But they were little fighters and soon, made it out of incubator and manage to go home. Cassidy was the most calm and cultural of both, with a deep love for books and a slight inclination towards math and science. Caroline, on the other hand, was the artist. She loved painting and had discovered a hidden fascination for soccer. But both agreed on a two things: their love for Harry Potter and for music. Whereas Cassidy had devoted to piano, her sister rampaged through a wide variety of instruments. The orchestra girl, as Miranda had decreed one day, when Caroline barged in the den claiming that she'd be a flautist.

Andrea was enthralled in conversation when out of the tail of her eye, something moving fast towards them caught her attention. Andrea Sachs was anything but slow, and all those years of handball at the University team paid off on her reflexes. All happened in the blink of an eye. Clutching Caroline's arm, she threw the girl towards the sidewalk with as much force as she could gathered, fortunately Roy (always the reliable one) was already leaning forward to catch her in his arms. And with the resulting inertia of this, she propelled herself in the same direction, right in time to avoid the speeding car being chased by the police.

Although not so lucky as Caroline, Andy protected Cassidy from the fall, her body colliding with the gutter and her right half taking the brunt of the impact. Andy screamed and felt a pang of pain coursing through her body.

-"Ah! Damn it! Ugh, Cass, darling, are you ok?" - she said holding the girl tightly and in no time, Roy and Caroline were at her side. 

-"Yes" - came the whispered response and an almost imperceptible nod

-"Oh, thank God. What kind of maniac was- Ah! Damn! - the pain shot through her right arm up to her breastbone and her thigh ached throbbing

-"Andy, are you hurt?" - Roy inquired

-"Ugh, yeah, I think I might have strained my shoulder or something. Aaah, hurts a lot" - Andy said grimacing. Roy helped Cassidy out of Andy's arms and then helped her get up.

-"Ouch, Roy, be careful"

-"Sorry, let me have a look. When I was in the football team this happened a lot" - he said giving her a reassuring smile and trying to distract the young woman- "Does it hurt if I bend it like this?" - he hadn't finished his sentence when Andy whined and contorted in pain.

-"Ah! Yes! Please, no more touching!"

-"Andy, we should go to the hospital. I believe it may be broken"

-"Oh, great" - she muttered under her breath as Roy helped her inside the car and the girls held the door opened. It was just Monday and her week had started with her getting a fractured arm. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.