came in to remove the cousins’ luncheon trays. If he
SUTURE SELF
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.
72
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
