complained. “Or are you giving it to us with an eyedropper?”
SUTURE SELF
189
“Well . . .” Heather studied the charts. “I could boost
it slightly.”
“Boost away,” Renie ordered.
Judith waved a hand. “I could use some more, too.
Really, I’m not a baby. I’ve had plenty of pain these
last few weeks while I was waiting for my surgery.”
Heather complied. As she was leaving, the cousins
heard a loud voice out in the hall.
“. . . and your sports reporters stink, too! They always have and they always will.” Jan Van Boeck strode
past the door, still red in the face.
“What was that all about?” Judith asked of Renie.
“Van Boeck must have been talking to Addison
Kirby,” she replied. “The good doctor seems to be in a
really foul mood today.”
At that moment, Mr. Mummy showed up at the
door. “Knock-knock,” he said in his cheerful voice,
“may I come in?”
“Sure,” Renie replied. “Where’ve you been? We
haven’t seen you all day.”
“Physical therapy,” Mr. Mummy said, moving awkwardly with his walking cast. “I had to wait there for
some time and then it was quite a long session. How
are my favorite lady patients doing today?”
“Stinko,” Renie said. “They’re certainly cheap about
giving pain medication. It must be priced like caviar,
so much per ounce. In fact, it probably is—those pharmaceutical companies are greedy.”
“Medical professionals don’t want patients to get
addicted,” Mr. Mummy said, angling himself into Judith’s visitor’s chair. “You know what kind of problems that can cause.”
“Of course,” Renie responded, eyeing the IV bag
with displeasure. “But isn’t pain medication supposed
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Mary Daheim
to relieve pain? And so these medical morons really
believe that middle-aged women such as my cousin
and me are going to succumb to a sudden addiction?
That’s ridiculous. And it’s not good medicine.”
“Dear me,” said Mr. Mummy, pushing his glasses
farther up on his nose. “You’re quite upset, Mrs. Jones.
Have you expressed your feelings to your doctor?”
“I haven’t seen Dr. Ming since he came by this
morning, before I started to hurt this much,” Renie
said, becoming crabbier by the minute. “I think I’ll
start screaming soon if this pain doesn’t ease up. How
about you, coz?”
“Not so hot,” Judith replied, lifting her head to look
at their visitor. “How do you feel, Mr. Mummy? Is pain
a problem for you?”
