Joy rushed to the kitchen erratically, tears filled her eyes as she opened the fridge looking for ice, but she didn't find any, so she opened the freezer and found some ice cubes in the ice tray.
She looked around for a small ziploc bag on the counter, she grabbed it and ran.
"Oh Alfred, are you being serious right now? What do you mean you forgot your body isn't as able as it used to be?" Lulu scolded, she could see that Alfred was in pain even though he tried to downplay it.
"I was just playing with Joy and I tried to throw her up and then I heard a crack." he explained as Joy ran back into the room.
"Here, I got some ice." she said crying as she handed it to Lulu.
"Thank you darling." Lulu said as she put the ice blocks into the ziploc bag.
"Where does it hurt?" she turned to Alfred.
"Oh, just my lower back, down here, and also some parts of my shoulder." he replied.
"Oh Alfred, really, you could not have chosen a better time to get hurt." she said sighing as she helped inch Alfred forwards before placing the ice pack behind him.
"Ahh, that feels better." he said.
"Does it really?" she asked as he nodded.
"Alfred, you really need to be more careful, imagine if I hadn't come back home early? You would have been in serious pain." Lulu said scolding him.
"I am sorry Lulu, it is not my fault, I just got a little bit carried away." he said as they both suddenly heard a sniff causing them both to remember that Joy was still present.
Her big brown eyes were filled with tears that streamed down her face, she looked miserable.
"Oh my darling Joy, what's wrong?" Lulu asked as she walked to give Joy a hug.
"It's my fault, I made Alfred hurt his back because he was chasing me, I should have listened to him and stopped running." she cried.
"Oh Joy, no, it's not your fault, it's not your fault at all." Lulu said as she picked her up and rubbed her back.
"Oh but it is aunt Lulu, I should have listened to Alfred, now he's hurt because of me." Joy continued crying as Lulu tried to soothe her.
Lulu shot Alfred a knowing glance and Alfred frowned feeling sad, he did not want Joy to blame herself, it was not her fault at all.
"Oh but Joy, it's not your fault." he said as Joy looked at him.
"It's not?" she cried.
"Not at all, you just wanted to play, and I wanted to play with you, it's poor fortune that my back gave out at that moment." he said.
"My back has been aching me for a while now, but I've just been ignoring it, I guess that this is just a wakeup call that I need to take the pains I feel seriously." he said as Lulu gasped.
"Alfred! I cannot believe this, what do you mean you've been feeling pain for a while now? How could you just ignore us and not tell us anything?" Lulu asked as Alfred smiled sheepishly.
"It's not your fault Joy, please don't blame yourself, it's my fault for not being careful enough, so please don't be sad." he said as Lulu walked to him and put Joy down on the couch beside him.
"Really?" she asked sniffing as she stopped crying.
"Yes really, so don't be sad, I don't like it when you're sad, you're name is Joy, not sad, so don't be sad." he said as he carried her on his lap and wiped away her tears.
"Okay, I'm sorry Alfred, does your back still hurt?" she asked sniffing.
"It doesn't hurt as much now." he smiled as he gave her a hug.
"That's so sweet, now Alfred, you are going to explain to me when you turned into grandfather?" Lulu asked as he laughed.
"Oh no, don't play with me, it's grandfather that usually does this hiding his pain nonsense, and yet you always scold him when you're doing the exact same thing he did." she chided.
"I'm sorry Lulu, I really am, but I just did not want to worry anyone over some little pain." he replied.
"You're not worrying us, even if you are, we deserve to worry because we care about you, is it until the pain you feel aggravates into something serious that lands you in the hospital before you tell us?" she said.
"I know Lulu, I am sorry, forgive me." he said softly.
"Please aunt Lulu, forgive Alfred, he just didn't want us to worry." Joy pleaded on his behalf.
Lulu looked at them both and sighed, she was in a tight corner, a sweet lovely old man, and a cute little girl, there was no way she could remain angry.
"Of course I can't stay angry when the both of you are looking at me like that." she scoffed.
"Alright, fine, I'm not angry, but we're going to ask Doctor Henry to come over and check on you later." she said.
"Alright fine." he agreed as Joy giggled.
"I better call Natasha, she said I should call her if anything happens." he said as he winced trying to get his phone out of his pocket.
"Where is she?" asked Lulu.
"She had some important meetings to attend today." he replied.
"If that's the case then don't call her, we don't want her to worry now." she said.
"You're right, but she'll be upset when she returns and sees what happens and I did not call her." said Alfred.
"No, she won't be, not while I'm here to look after the both of you." said Lulu as she carried Joy off Alfred's lap, she knew that even if he did not say anything, Joy was heavy and causing him more pain.
"What are you doing home so early aunt Lulu?" asked Joy.
"Well, I saw my lovely brother had returned to work, so I decided to take the rest of the day off, and luckily I did, the two of you left on your own is a no no." she said as she pinched Joy's nose.
"I just wanted to run around a little bit, but I promise that I won't run anymore!" she said affirmatively.
"You don't have to do that Joy, running is not a problem, it's natural, but yes, you can learn to be a little more calm sometimes." she said as Joy nodded.
"Alright, so Alfred, do you feel well enough to move?" she asked as Alfred nodded.
"Are you sure?" she asked as he nodded again and she put Joy down.
"Alright, let me help you up." she said as she supported him up.
"That's it, nice and easy, slowly." she said as she led him out of Dom's office and Joy carried her handbag.
"And there we go." she said as they entered the living room and she helped him gently sit on the armchair.
"Thank you Lulu, you know, you could have been a nurse." he smiled at her.
"Oh, no way, I hate the sight of blood, and I only take care of people I love, so..." she said as he laughed.
"Alfred, should I make you some tea so you can feel much better?" Joy asked.
"Yes, that's a great idea, we'll go make Alfred some tea, you just sit here and relax." she said as she positioned the icepack securely behind him.
"Alright then." he smiled as Joy and Lulu walked to the kitchen.
Lulu boiled some water on the stove and Joy brought out a teacup.
"Is Alfred really fine aunt Lulu?" Joy asked as Lulu threw a teabag into the teacup.
"He's fine my dear, but you know when people get to that age it's really easy for them to hurt themselves, we just have to be more careful when we touch them, and he has to be more careful with himself." she replied adding some sugar.
"I felt really scared when I saw him in pain, thank God you came back home." she said as Lulu giggled.
"My dear, I can just imagine how you felt, but you don't have to worry Alfred is a really strong man and he'll recover in no time, we just need to shower him with lots of love and care." she said as she poured the hot water into the teacup.
"Yes, yes, we are going to do that aunt Lulu." Joy replied smiling as they walked out of the kitchen.
"Here you go Alfred, your tea, and a nice blanket to keep you warm." Lulu said as Joy covered Alfred up with the blanket.
"Thank you, I am so used to being the one serving that being served feels strange to me." he laughed.
"Well there's a time for everything, and right now you need to sit back and relax, I will call Doctor Henry, he should be here in the evening." she said as he nodded.
"Alfred, what would you like to watch?" Joy asked softly, holding the tv remote.