71
noticed that neither of them had eaten much, he made
no comment, but stoically left the room without a
word.
“Can he talk?” Renie asked, getting up and heading
for the bathroom. “Or does he consider us unworthy?”
“The latter, I suspect,” Judith responded. “Maybe if
you didn’t trash your bed so much, we’d get more respect.
Where did that Falstaff ’s grocery bag come from?”
“Falstaff ’s,” Renie replied, turning around at the
bathroom door. “It’s my back-up food supply. Fruit,
cheese, crackers, Pepsi, popcorn. We’ll share when I
come back to bed. Now I’m hungry.”
“How did you fit that thing into your purse?” Judith
asked.
“Easy,” Renie replied. “I have a huge purse.” She
went inside the bathroom and shut the door.
The outer door opened almost simultaneously as
Heather Chinn entered. “Time to get you on your feet,”
she said in a cheerful voice. “How do you feel, Mrs.
Flynn?”
“Not like I want to get on my feet,” Judith said. “I
thought we’d do this later in the afternoon.”
“It’s almost two,” Heather said. “The more you lie
there, the weaker you’ll become. Here, let me help you
swing around to the edge of the bed.”
It took Judith a few moments to sit up straight. Then,
slowly and unsteadily, she let Heather help her move
her legs. Pain spread out from her hip to envelop her
entire body. “I feel dizzy already,” Judith asserted.
“You’re doing fine,” Heather soothed. “Now lean on
me and try to stand up.”
Judith could both feel and hear the artificial hip
move. She was frightened. “Is that . . . ?” she gulped,
still dizzy.
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Mary Daheim
“That’s fine, keep coming. You’ve got all your weight
on your good leg,” Heather coached. “Now put just a little on the other leg, okay?”
The worn linoleum was rising up toward Judith in
tired, wrinkled waves. She felt as if she were falling
overboard, into a murky yellow sea. Suddenly her
world went dark, except for shooting stars and trailing
comets.
“Coz!” Renie had just come out of the bathroom.
Moving as quickly as she could, she went to Judith,
who had, fortunately, fallen backwards onto the bed.
Heather was looking more annoyed than frightened as
she took Judith by the hands.
“It’s nothing,” the nurse said to Renie. “Maybe she
isn’t quite ready to stand. Still, if she doesn’t try . . .”
“If she doesn’t try, she won’t pass out,” Renie cut in
tersely. “Let me get somebody to help you put her back
to bed.”
Though Heather was stronger than she looked, she
didn’t turn down the offer. The nurse was a short, slim
size four; Judith was a statuesque size fourteen. Another strong body was needed for the task. Renie found
the silent orderly just outside the door, stacking trays
onto the meal cart.
Judith’s eyelids fluttered open as the nurse and the
orderly got her back into bed. “Oh . . . What happened?” she asked, her mouth dry and her eyes unfocused.
“You had a little setback,” Heather said, tucking the
covers around Judith. “We’ll try that again later.” The
nurse began taking vital signs.
Renie was standing by the windows. “Damn,” she
breathed, “I think it may snow. I wish Bill and Joe
would get here soon, while it’s still daylight.”
SUTURE SELF
73
“Joe said he’d be by around three,” Judith said.
“Bill’s coming with him, I think.” She took a deep
breath before Heather popped the thermometer in her
mouth.
“Right, there’s no point in taking two cars,” Renie
said, looking down at the hospital entrance’s graceful
landscaping and the adjacent parking lot. “Boy, it
looks really cold out there. I can feel the chill through
the windows.”
Judith couldn’t respond with the thermometer in
her mouth. The dizziness had passed, but she felt
weak as a newborn lamb. The idea of trying to stand
up later in the day sounded impossible.
“I need some water,” she said in a thick voice after
Heather had removed the thermometer. “I’m so dry.”
“You mustn’t get dehydrated,” Heather warned,
proffering the plastic glass. “Remember how we’ve
told you to keep taking in fluids.”
“Hey,” Renie said, “I see Addison Kirby heading for
the parking lot. I wonder if he’s off to see Tubby Turnbull at the . . . Look out!” She shuddered as her good
arm reached out toward the window in a pleading motion. “Ohmigod!”
“What?” Judith sputtered, choking on the water.
Horror-stricken, Renie staggered around to stare at
Judith and Heather. “It’s awful,” she gasped, leaning
against the window embrasure for support. “A car just
came from out of nowhere and ran over Addison
Kirby!”
Heather Chinn ran off to get help. Renie stood
rooted by the window. “The car took off,” she said in a
shaky voice. “Poor Addison’s lying there in a heap.”
Judith had rolled over onto her side, though she
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Mary Daheim
couldn’t get a better view of what was happening beyond the window. “Is he . . . ?” she asked in a fearful
voice.
“No, he’s moving,” Renie said. “Sort of.”
“Damn!” Feebly, Judith swung a fist in frustration.
“I feel so helpless!”
“Here comes a guy in a white coat and another guy in
some kind of uniform.” Renie was trying to open the
window with her good hand, but it wouldn’t budge.
“The white coat may be a doctor. Yes, I think it’s what’shis-name—Garnett, the second in command. The guy in
uniform may be security. Here comes somebody else, in
civvies. He looks sort of familiar.” She gave up trying to
open the window and flexed the muscles of her left arm
before rapping loudly on the wavery old glass. “Hey,
he’s looking up. It’s Jim Randall,” Renie said, breathless. “Here come some more people with a gurney.”
“Double damn,” Judith muttered. “I feel like an
idiot. Why couldn’t I at least be in a wheelchair?”
“You will be,” Renie responded. “Huh. They seem to
be paying special attention to Addison’s left leg.
Maybe it’s broken. Poor guy.”
“Where’s the car that ran him over?” Judith asked.
“I don’t know. It hit Addison and kept going, toward
the parking lot.” Renie paused, staring down below.
“Dr. Garnett and one of the others are hovering over
the gurney. Jim Randall is walking away. The security
guy is wandering around, like he’s looking for someone or something.”
“The car, I suppose,” Judith said. “You’ll have to tell
him you saw it. What color and make was it?”
“It was sort of beige,” Renie said, “fairly new, but
from up here on three, I couldn’t guess what make. All
I could see was the roof.”
SUTURE SELF
75
“Do you remember if there’s an outlet from the
parking lot?” Judith inquired.
“No, of course not,” Renie answered. “We pulled
into the patient admitting area on the opposite side of
the entrance.”
“Oh.” Judith rolled over onto her back. “I forgot.
That anesthesia has muddled my brain.”
“It does that,” Renie allowed. “They’re all going inside now, including the uniform.” She waited a moment, then went back to her bed. “Shall I phone