I put one of her arms around my shoulders so I can hold one hand while my arm is around her waist. She's only a couple of inches shorter than me, and packaged pretty nice, so it's a little bit of a struggle getting her inside and into the elevator. I can prop both of us against the wall on the way up, and it isn't a very long haul from the elevator to her apartment.
I'm trying to hold Edith up and get her apartment unlocked – and not doing a very good job at either – when the door across from Edith's opens up and a woman comes out. She asks me what's going on, and I tell her who I am, and what happened. She immediately gets worried, and tells me "I'm Edith's best friend. Here, let me help."
She takes the keys away from me, and it isn't three seconds before the door is open. She leads the way back to the bedroom, and we manage to get Edith laid down on the bed. The woman looks at me and says "I remember who you are. Edith told me how you're the cabbie she calls whenever she has to work late. Do you have to be anyplace?"
I tell her I'm done for the night, and she says "Good. Go on and wait in the living room, would you? I'm going to get her undressed and make sure she's okay. Go ahead and make yourself something to drink, if you want. I'll be right there."
I tell her sure, and clear out – Edith is a looker, but I don't think she wants me looking at her too much, you know?
Back out in the living room, I get the chance to notice that it's a real nice place before I find the liquor cabinet. She's got my brand of rum, and mixers in a mini-fridge, so I make myself a rum and Coke. I'm quarter of the way through my drink and looking out the glass patio doors at the city when the friend comes in a while later.
She gives me a look and says "Thanks for bringing her home the way you did. I'll be right back." before she goes back to her place. She's back in a minute with a stethoscope and a couple of other things; she tells me "I'm a nurse, and I'm going to check her out. Please, stay, and make yourself another drink if you want."
Since the only one I've got at home is my cat Demosthenes, I'm not in any pressing hurry to leave. I've got time to finish my drink, and make another one before the woman comes out again. The stethoscope is hanging around her neck, and she's wrapping up some doctor-looking stuff when she tells me "She was definitely drugged. She's starting to come out of it, and she asked me to ask you to stay, if you will. Judging from what she was able to tell me when it started, and how she felt then and now, I'd say she's probably going to be pretty close to back to normal in an hour, or so. I'm Denise, by the way."
"Nice to meet you – except for the circumstances. I'm Jim.", I tell her.
She gives me a half smile and says "I think the circumstances are perfect. Edith has told me that you're the one cab driver she trusts when she has to work late, and you've shown she was right to. Let me put this stuff away, and I'll be right back."
She's gone just a couple of minutes, and when she gets back, she heads straight in to check on Edith. When she comes back out a bit later, she says "She's definitely coming out of it. She'll be out in a couple of minutes, so if you'd like to have a seat?"
I find myself a chair, and Denise takes a spot at one end of the couch. We make a little chit-chat, and a bit later Edith comes in. She isn't real steady, but she's moving under her own power, which is definitely a step up from when I saw her last. She's wearing this huge terry cloth bathrobe that looks like it sells for more than I make in tips in a week. Definitely not something you'd find in a suburban mall department store. Edith waves me and Denise both off when we start to get up to help her; her voice is pretty soft when she tells us she's okay. She really doesn't look all that okay, but she's definitely way ahead of where she was when we got her into the apartment; so I figure she'll BE okay, and that's what matters.
Edith gets herself parked at the other end of the couch from Denise and takes a deep breath before she tells me "Thanks for watching out for me, and getting me home safe, Jim. I don't know what that asshole put in my drink, but whatever it was, it was NOT fun. I could see and hear and feel and everything else; but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't seem to say or do anything. It was like the wires from my brain to the rest of me were cut, or something. I was hoping and praying that you would realize something was wrong, and you did."
"Uh, not to embarrass you or anything, but when I saw some of the stuff he was doing to you… well, you've always seemed like a pretty classy lady, and I just couldn't figure you putting up with anything like that. Some people, they talk to me like I'm something they're going to have to clean off their shoe; but you treat me like what I am: somebody doing an honest job the best I can. Once I realized you weren't… right, I wasn't going to let anything else happen to you."
She didn't even blush about me seeing him doing all that stuff to her; she just tells me "No, I'm not embarrassed that you saw what he was up to. I expect you've seen worse, driving cabs as long as you have. What I am is so pissed at him that I don't have the words for it – but you can be damn sure I will by the time I get to work Thursday! Jim, if somebody from my company calls you, would you be willing to tell them what happened? What you saw, what he said, and all that?"
"Of course I would."
She gives me a satisfied smile and says "I thought you would, but figured I'd better ask first. I don't want you to get into trouble with the company."
"Nah, I wouldn't be in any trouble with them. I lease the hack from them, so whatever happens in it is MY business, not theirs – it's in our contract. It wouldn't matter to me, anyway. Guys like that, they give the rest of us a bad rap."
Denise tells me "Jim, I don't think anybody that gets to know you is ever going to make the mistake of thinking you could be anything like that asshole. Edith has told me that the reason she asks for you is because you are somebody doing an honest job the best you can – and doing it damn well. The few times you haven't brought her here the most direct way, you've told her why – and offered to drop the flag when it got to the usual charges. I don't doubt for a minute that you're quite the gentleman."
Edith speaks up then to tell me "Jim, you did a lot to help me tonight. Not just getting rid of that… person, but getting me up here. I remember how you were careful to let me know what you were doing, and why, when you got my keys and looked at my ID to see what apartment I live in. And I know that when you put your hand on my ass to get me out of the cab and next to you, it was the only reasonable way you had of moving me. I know I'm not some wispy little fashion model, either, and I know it wasn't easy for you to hold me upright and get me up here – but you did it. So the first thing I want to do is make sure you don't get stiffed on the fare."
She grabs her purse from the table I set it on, and I tried to tell her not to worry about it. She just gives me this Look, and says "Jim, regardless of the other things that happened, you DID drive me home in your cab. I owe you the fare for that. Now shut up and accept it."
It wasn't a huge fare, or anything, and actually getting paid for it would help keep my budget happy, so I took the money she offered – only to find out that she'd given me ten times the usual. Not just tip, but the entire fare and tip; it was a nice chunk of change. I tried to give the extra back, but she wasn't having any; neither was Denise, who told me "Take it, Jim. What you did tonight, not just getting her back here, but keeping that animal away from her, you deserve that, and more. She's my best friend – we've known each other since both of us were in second grade, and I'm going to give you a reward, too. Not just money, but something as personal as what you did for me by protecting my friend."