other for the past fifty-odd years?”
Judith smiled fondly at her cousin. “Closer than sisters,” she murmured.
Renie stumbled over the commode. “Oops!” she cried,
then swore.
“Are you okay, coz?” Judith asked in alarm.
“Yeah, yeah, I didn’t really need ten toes. Here, I’ll
steady the wheelchair with my right hip and you lean
on my left side.”
To Judith’s surprise, the tactic worked. Judith inched
SUTURE SELF
217
her way onto the bed, sat on the edge to get her breath,
then let Renie help her swing her legs onto the mattress. Lying back on the pillows, Judith closed her eyes
and sighed.
“I can’t believe how glad I was to get out of bed and
go down the hall,” she said with a feeble smile. “Now
I can’t believe how glad I am to get back into bed. I’m
exhausted.”
“I know,” Renie said, heading back to her own bed.
“These surgeries take a lot out of us. And, sorry to say,
we aren’t spring chickens anymore.”
“I forgot to look out at the weather,” Judith said.
“What’s it doing?”
“Nothing,” Renie replied. “Dr. Ming stopped by
while you were gone to tell me I could start PT tomorrow. He said the temperature had dropped down to
eighteen degrees by four-thirty, but there was no snow
in the forecast for tonight. There’s black ice on the
streets, and, as usual, our city’s snow-removal crew—
you know, the two guys with the truck, the buckets,
and the shovels—hasn’t been able to sand any streets
except for the major thoroughfares.”
Judith nodded faintly. “We get snow so seldom,
sometimes not at all, that I guess the city doesn’t
feel it should spend money on something that might
not be needed for a couple of years at a time.” She
looked at her watch. “I didn’t realize how late it is.
It’s after five. I guess Joe wasn’t able to make it to
the hospital after all.”
“At least you spoke with him,” Renie said, irked. “I
haven’t heard a peep out of Bill all day. I know he hates
the phone, but it wouldn’t kill him to call and check in.”
“Maybe he got involved in trying to find your car,”
Judith suggested.
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Mary Daheim
“What’s he doing?” Renie retorted. “Conducting a
street-by-street search? Or is he too caught up with
those damned Chihuahuas?”
Judith tried not to smile as she envisioned Bill teaching the dogs to dance. Or fetch. Or make his lunch.
