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After the Christmas Party(29)

By:Janice Lynn


“But you do sing,” he pointed out, leaning against the counter.

“In my shower doesn’t count.”

“I’d like to be the judge of that for myself. You could give me a private viewing tonight. Now, that would be a surprise.”

She rolled her eyes again and ignored him and the images of them in the shower flashing through her mind.

“You also sing karaoke,” he reminded her.

“Only under the influence of alcohol, which I’d never knowingly do.” She made a pretense of being busy.

“It’s okay to let loose every once in a while and just enjoy yourself.”

“I don’t need alcohol to enjoy myself.” She winced at how harsh her voice had been. She hadn’t meant to bite his head off, yet she definitely had. Unable to just stand still, she headed to a patient room. Anything to escape him.

Unfortunately he followed her, catching her just outside the door. “I didn’t say you did. I was just saying it was okay for you to relax and enjoy life. Talk to me.”

She didn’t want to talk. They were at work. Only Karen was near, but anyone could see them, could hear them if they wanted to eavesdrop. Even if they’d been in private she wouldn’t have wanted to have this discussion, but she sure didn’t here. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” He sounded confused. “You want to explain why you jumped down my throat on that one?”

She shook her head. No, she didn’t want to go there. Not at any point in the next century or so.

He appeared to weigh his options. “Okay, I’ll let it slide.”

They both heard his unspoken “for now”.

Trinity pulled the covers off Jewel Hendrix’s legs to asses them for edema.

“They’re only swollen a little compared to what they were when I checked into this joint,” the seventy-two-year-old woman with end-stage congestive heart failure said a bit breathily. “I can actually move my toes again.”

She wiggled them back and forth.

On arrival in the emergency department, she’d been retaining so much fluid that her skin had been too tight for her to flex her toes. She’d had weeping from her skin on her shins and calves and had had crackles in her lungs. Had she not been brought to the hospital, she would have drowned in her own body fluids.

“There’s still enough fluid that I can’t make out your pedal pulses, though.” Hopefully after another round of diuretics the swelling would go down even more.

The woman glanced at her feet. “Honey, this is a good ankle day in my book.” She paused to catch her breath. “I’m pretty sure if y’all would let me up out of this bed, I could even get these boogers into a pair of shoes. Most days I feel like one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters trying to shove my monstrosity into a glass slipper.”

Trinity smiled at her patient. She really liked Jewel. The older woman had spunk.

“What about you? Some lucky fellow slip a glass slipper onto your foot and make you feel just like a princess?”

Why was it that the elderly felt they had a right to ask questions about one’s private life? Why was it that Trinity felt obligated to answer the feisty older woman?

Hoping her face was unreadable, she raised her foot up from the floor to display her solid white nursing shoes. “No glass slipper for me.”

“A pity.”

“Not really.” Trinity slipped the skin protectors back around Jewel’s feet to prevent skin breakdown and positioned her feet on the pillows to keep them elevated. “I don’t need a man to slip my foot into a glass slipper. I’m way too practical for that. Besides, with my luck a glass slipper would only shatter and cut my foot up anyway.”

Trinity smiled at the woman, but Jewel’s face was pinched into a frown.

“Maybe the wrong quality of men have been attempting to slip glass slippers onto your feet. You need to upgrade.”

Ha. No man had been attempting to slip a glass slipper onto her foot, but she wouldn’t admit that to Jewel. Besides, she had no right to complain. Riley treated her as if she really were the princess he often called her. She had to admit that most of the time she liked the attention he showered on her. Who needed glass slippers and a Prince Charming when you had a handsome cardiologist trying to woo you into Christmas cheer?

Trinity tucked the bed sheet and white blanket around her patient’s elevated legs. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time a Prince Charming asks to see my feet.”

The woman chuckled. “I like you.”

Trinity shot the woman another smile. “You can sweet-talk me all you want, but I’m still going to give you your medication.”