Creature Comforts_The Extraordinarily Ordinary Life of Cassandra Jones Page 3

  “A bedside commode!” Mabel brightened. “The doctor said it would be all right for you to try using it. Here you go, Cassie.”

  Cassie examined the portable commode sitting next to her bed. There was no water in it and it didn’t flush, but it had toilet paper, and at least she wouldn't feel like she was sitting in her own poop. “Okay.”

  Her mom and the nurses helped her turn sideways and slide from the bed to the toilet. The moment her foot left the support of the bed, gravity pulled it downward, clanging it against the commode legs. Cassie inhaled to keep from crying out from the pain. She focused on the seat, ignoring the throbbing weight coming from her heavy, misshapen leg. It distracted her from the staring eyes.

  Mabel squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll just pull this curtain and everyone else can go on the other side, but I need to stay in case you need me. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Cassie murmured.

  Everyone looked satisfied when she finished. They helped her slide back into bed, but Cassie couldn’t lift her leg up. She could feel the muscles straining, trying to respond to her commands, but the leg was too heavy.

  “I can’t get it up,” she said. Would she always need help to use the bathroom?

  She explained her fears to her mom after the nurses got her settled on the bed and left the room.

  “Let’s try something,” Mrs. Jones said. “Leave your leg on the bed and turn sideways. Don’t let your leg fall.” They practiced sliding Cassie on and off the commode without moving her leg, and then Cassie did it herself several times until she felt comfortable.

  “Thanks, Mom,” she said, relieved. Gaining back at least that much freedom rejuvenated her spirits.

  Her mom left around two o’clock to be with the other kids, leaving Cassie alone for three hours until her dad arrived from work. She colored, watched TV, and wished she had a book to read.

  Mabel came in around four. “Guess what, Cassie? We’re moving you to the pediatric floor!”

  Cassie looked up from her coloring. “That’s great! Will I be able to walk around?”

  “Not yet. But there are other kids there. You’ll see them.”

  Mabel unhooked the finger monitor, the chest stickers, and took out the IV. Cassie flexed her hand, glad to have the tube of dripping liquid gone. Mabel moved her into the wheelchair while Cassie gathered up her things.

  “Will my dad be able to find me?” she asked.

  “We’ll make sure he knows where you are.” Mabel wheeled Cassie into the elevator and pressed Floor Four.

  “What about the other boy bit by a copperhead?” Cassie asked. “Is he still here?”

  “Yes, he is. He’ll just be a few doors down from you.”

  Cassie couldn't wait to meet him and tell him she’d been bit too.

  Mabel helped her set up her stuff in the pediatric unit, then rang the floor nurse. A handsome black man came in, sporting a full head of curly hair and a small goatee.

  “Zack, this is Cassandra,” Mabel said. “She was bit by a snake also. I’m leaving her in your care. She’ll need a bedside commode.”

  “Hi, Cassandra!” he boomed, flashing a big smile and holding out a hand. Cassie took it and smiled back. “I’ll get what you need.” He left the room.

  Mabel gave Cassie a hug. “You get better. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

  Cassie didn’t realize until that moment that Mabel wouldn’t be her nurse anymore. “Are you leaving?”

  “The ICU is my unit. But Zack will take good care of you, I promise.”

  The goodbye was over before Cassie could get emotional. Then Zack was back, a bedside commode slung over one arm.

  “Anything else I can get for you, Cassandra?” he asked, setting it by her bed. “Will you need help with that?”

  “No, I got it,” she said, embarrassed he would even ask. “I did want to meet the other little boy bit by a snake. Can you take me to see him?”

  “Let me see if he’s awake. If he is, I’ll wheel you over.”

  Zack returned a few minutes later. This time, a little boy shuffled in behind him, one leg bandaged up.

  “This is Kevin,” Zack said. “Kevin, this is Cassandra. She wanted to meet you.”

  He was just a little guy, seven or eight years old. “You can walk!” Cassie said, lighting up.

  “Kevin was bit on his leg,” Zack said. “So he was able to walk quicker than you will, Cassie.”

  “You were bit by a snake too?” Kevin asked.

  “Yeah. I guess I stepped on it when I was walking outside in flip-flops. What about you?”

  “It was under my bed. We were playing hide and seek and I crawled under there. It bit me. But we killed it.”

  “It was in your house?” Cassie stared at him in horror.

  “Yeah. But we leave the front door open so the dogs can come in and out.”

  Still, the very idea of such a creature invading her personal space . . . Cassie shuddered.

  “I’m taking Kevin back,” Zack said.

  “Come visit anytime,” Cassie said, already feeling lonely as they moved toward her door. “When I can walk I’ll come visit!”

  *~*

  Mr. Jones arrived just as Zack brought dinner in. Cassie’s stomach roared in anticipation when she realized it wasn’t juice or a chalky drink. She lifted the lid off the food tray and breathed in the aroma of instant potatoes and pot roast, never so happy to see solid food.

  “How are you doing, Cass?” Mr. Jones gave her a kiss and settled in the chair next to her bed.

  “Much better.” Cassie dug into her dinner. “I get real food again.”

  Zack measured her leg while she ate. “Her swelling’s gone down. Things are looking good.”

  “I’ll be able to walk soon,” she added around a mouthful of food.

  “Soon,” Zack agreed. “Not today.”

  That didn’t surprise her, though it was disappointing. “When?”

  “We’ll check your swelling in the morning.”

  Cassie didn’t sleep well. At least they weren’t checking her blood every few hours, but after doing nothing but lay in bed all day, she had a hard time feeling tired. She watched late-night shows and cartoons until the early morning hours.

  In the morning, after she’d had her vitals checked, she insisted on trying to walk. Mr. Jones and Zack carefully lowered her to the ground. She sucked in a breath, her foot still impossibly heavy. She tried to hold it up, to hover it above the surface before gingerly putting it down, but she didn’t have enough control over it. It slammed into the linoleum floor, and she choked back a gasp.

  “Not yet,” Zack said, picking her up and putting her back into bed. “The swelling has to go down more. Maybe tomorrow.”

  The day passed in absolute monotony. The only highlight came when Kevin shuffled into her room to say hi. Cassie gave him a sheet to color, and he sat by her bed with her.

  “There are other kids here,” he said. “Tom is in the room next to yours.”

  “What’s wrong with Tom?” she asked.

  “He fell out of a car. Broke a lot of bones. His leg is screwed into the bed.”

  Cassie couldn’t even picture that. She decided as soon as she could walk, she’d have to go see Tom. “Who else?”

  “There’s Maggie. She just came yesterday.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “Her appendix burst. They did a surgery on her. She’s fine now. I see her in the game room.”

  “There’s a game room?” Why hadn’t Cassie heard about this before now?

  “Yeah. It’s got some movies, video games, a few board games. Lots of kids hang out there.”

  “Wow.” That did it. She had to be able to walk tomorrow. She couldn’t stay in bed another day.

  *~*

  Cassie watched Zack measure her leg in the morning.

  “How’s the swelling?” she asked.

  “It’s looking better.” He eyed her as he put away his instruments. “You want to try walking aga
in?”

  She nodded. This time, she was determined to do it no matter how much it hurt.

  Mr. Jones had already left for work, so Zack helped her out of bed by himself. She tried to control the swing of her foot as gravity pulled it toward the floor. She managed to slow it right before it hit. Holding her breath, she let her foot touch the ground.

  “Careful,” Zack murmured.

  She straightened up, putting more weight on it. Oh, it hurt. Stabs of burning pain flashed up her calf. She gritted her teeth and forced a grin. “I can do this.”

  “Really?” Zack backed away, examining her uncertainly.

  “Yeah.” She hoped he would leave soon. She didn’t know how long she could hold this fake grin. “Thanks for your help.”

  She stayed where she was, grinning like an idiot, as Zack left the room. Then she grabbed the bed and leaned against it, letting out a gasp.

  “Oh,” she moaned. That hurt. But she was out of bed.

  Steeling herself, Cassie began a slow shuffle out of the room. She kept to the edges, leaning against the wall and putting as little weight on her foot as possible.

  She didn’t make it to Kevin’s room. By the time she reached the hallway, beads of sweat had popped out on her head, and she was panting. She made it to the next room over and dropped into an empty chair, breathing heavily and wishing she could lift her leg off the ground.

  “Hey.”

  Cassie hadn’t paid any attention to the room resident on the bed until he spoke to her. The TV was on, and the noise of the cartoon characters had distracted her from anyone else in the room. Now she turned her head and started at what she saw.

  A boy lay there, about the same age as Kevin. His right arm and leg were in a cast. The left leg, on the other hand, was in a sling hanging from the bed. In the middle of the sling, right through his knee, was a fat bolt, like the kind used to close a hotel door at the top. Bloody tissues surrounded the knee on either side of the bolt.

  “Hi,” Cassie said, remembering now what Kevin had told her. “Sorry to barge in like this.”

  “That’s okay. I’m Tom. What room are you in?”

  “Right next to you. I’m your neighbor. Cassie.”

  “What are you in for?”

  “I got bit by a snake.” She eyed his knee. “Does that hurt?”

  “Sometimes. When they clean it. I fell out of a car.”

  Cassie nodded. “That’s so crazy.”

  “Want to play a game?” Tom nodded at the table. “I have some card games.”

  Cassie hated card games. She never understood the rules and always lost. “That’s okay. I just need to catch my breath.”

  He looked at her foot. “Maybe you shouldn’t be walking yet.”

  What did he know? She scowled at him. “I’m taking it slow.”

  “Okay.” He turned back to watching TV, and she felt bad.

  “I’m going to see Kevin. But I’ll come back later.”

  “Sure.” He faced her again. “My birthday’s tomorrow. My family’s having a party. You should come by.”

  A birthday party. In the hospital. A lump formed in her throat. “How long have you been here?” She noticed then all the cards in the room, the balloons, some half-floating, others hanging limply around the bed, and a myriad of drawings taped to the walls.

  “Two months. I’m doing a lot better now.”

  Two months in the hospital. Cassie shuddered. She’d been here three days and couldn’t wait to leave. “Yeah, I’ll come by tomorrow.”

  “See ya.”

  “See ya,” she echoed, forcing herself out of her chair. She grabbed the wall again and made her way out the door.

  In the hallway, she paused. She could continue on to Kevin’s room and make the lengthy, painful trek back to her room after. Or she could just go the few steps to her room now and try again tomorrow.

  She turned toward her room.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Professional Walker

  “Look at this leg.” Zack grinned at her as a doctor she didn’t know prodded and poked her and wrote down a few things in her chart. “Your foot already looks better.”

  It did. Cassie could see her toes again, and even some ankle definition.

  “How was walking yesterday?” Zack asked.

  The doctor looked up, raising her eyebrows. “You’ve already walked on this?”

  “A little,” Cassie said. “I got tired yesterday. I just went to Tom’s room.”

  Zack nodded and squeezed her shoulder. “Good thinking to come in and rest when you got tired.”

  Cassie smiled, not about to admit how hard walking had been for her.

  “That’s good,” the doctor said. “Everything is looking great. You should be able to walk around on it easier today. Tomorrow you can leave, if all continues this way. We’ll get you some crutches when you are discharged.” She handed Cassie a paper cup of water and the usual giant pills, or horse pills, as Zack called them. “Take your meds. Wash them down with extra water.”

  She did as expected, excitement mounting in her chest. Girls Club Camp started Sunday. If she got out of the hospital on Friday, surely that gave her enough time to go to camp.

  Cassie knew her mom would come by soon, but she was anxious to try walking again. She was surprised at how much easier it was to slide her legs off the bed today. She put her feet on the ground and took a few ginger steps. Definitely painful, but not nearly as hard as the day before.

  She crept out the door and over to Tom’s room. It looked busy. Several kids played with toys around Tom’s bed, and a fat man sat overflowing in the chair Cassie had sat in the day before. More balloons and streamers decorated the room.

  She didn’t want to stay, but she poked her head in. “Happy birthday, Tom!” she called, waving.

  He turned his head toward her. There were purple circles under his eyes, and he didn’t look all that excited. “Thank you,” he said.

  Not sure what else to do, Cassie stepped out and continued to Kevin’s room.

  “You’re up!” Kevin was, too, and heading for the door. “I’m going to the game room. Want to come?”

  “Yes,” Cassie said, though her leg was already throbbing. She was very curious about this room.

  It wasn’t much bigger than a living room, and just down the hall from their rooms. A movie played on the big screen, and two kids sat in front of a video game console, controllers in their hands. Kevin pulled out a box of checkers and sat at one of the low tables. “Want to play?”

  “Sure.” Cassie sat across from him. She watched other kids shuffle in and out. A girl with short hair and glasses came in, putting one foot in front of the other in slow, halting steps. She dragged an IV pole behind her, and a woman followed.

  “That’s Maggie,” Kevin said, making his first move. “She’s the one who had her appendix out.”

  “Oh,” Cassie said. Maggie’s face was pale and tense, as if every step caused her pain. Cassie hoped she never had to have her appendix out.

  Kevin won the first game. He set up to play again and said, “I should be leaving today.”

  “Really?” She felt a stab of jealousy. “But we got here the same day. And I don’t get to leave until tomorrow.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I healed faster.”

  She mulled over that, wondering why he would heal faster than her. Was it because of the antivenin? It was the only thing she could think of.

  After the third game, she felt sleepy. “I’m going back to my room to rest.”

  “It’s the medicine they give you,” Kevin said with a knowing nod. “It makes you tired.”

  Maybe so. She was really too tired to consider arguing with him right now. Or consider not taking the meds. “Okay. Come say bye before you leave.”

  “I will.”

  *~*

  Her dad’s laugh carried in from the hallway. “Thanks, Rich. I appreciate you doing that.”

  Cassie’s eyes popped open. She stared up at the fluores
cent light panel overhead, and then sat up straight in bed. “It’s Friday,” she breathed. “Today I get to go home.” Unable to keep the grin from spreading across her face, she pulled herself out of bed and crept toward her father’s voice.

  He stood in the hallway just outside her room, talking with Rich, an older gentleman from church.

  “Well, there she is,” Rich said, spotting her. “The survivor herself.”

  “Hi,” Cassie said, giddy with glee to be leaving this boring place.

  Mr. Jones patted her head. “I’ll be right back, Cass.” He wandered over to the nurses’ station.

  “How are you feeling today?” Rich asked. He gave her an easy grin. Rich was like a grandfather to all the kids, usually with candy in his pockets and a teasing smile.

  “Great!” She leaned against the wall behind her. “I’m going home today.”

  “Oh, really?” He arched an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

  “They said I get to go home on Friday.”

  “Well, honey, it’s not Friday. It’s Thursday.”

  “No, it’s not.” Cassie shook her head and giggled at him. “It’s Friday.”

  He laughed. “It’s Thursday.”

  “No.” She knew how he liked to tease. “It’s Friday.”

  “No, it’s Thursday.”

  Cassie just laughed. “You’re so funny.” She turned around and hobbled back into the room.

  Mr. Jones came in and sat down in the chair as Cassie tried to gather up her pile of get-well cards. “When do we go?” she asked.

  He glanced up from the remote to the television and laughed. “I thought Rich was joking when he said you thought it was Friday. Today’s only Thursday, Cassie.”

  “It is?” Her spirits fell. “But yesterday was Thursday.”

  “You took a really long nap.” His face was sympathetic, but his eyes sparkled with humor. “You must’ve woken up and thought it was the next day.”

  Had she done that? Cassie couldn’t believe it. She sighed and crawled back into bed. “I’ll just go to sleep again until tomorrow.” She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, willing her body back into the hypnotic trance that would carry her into the next day.

  Nothing happened. Her heart pounded with painful anticipation of leaving the hospital, not accepting that she’d be here one more day.