"I spoke to your nurses at the hospital and
found out what you like" she explained briskly.. "It
saves waste and time."
She put the tray table over my legs, pulled me
into a sitting position and patted down two pillows
behind me so quickly and efficiently. I barely had
time to take a breath. Then she stepped back and
suggested I start eating before my soup got cold. "Thank you," I muttered, She stood watching
me for a moment. I half-expected her to begin
criticizing the way I ate and telling me how she knew
a better way because of her experience with
paraplegics.
"Have you lost much weight since the
accident?" she asked.
"Seven or eight pounds. I suppose," I said. "You're better off being lighter," she said. "not
that I imagine you were ever heavy. You don't look
like the type."
"What type is that?"
"The type who would let her figure go," she
explained. "I've had to deal with patients nearly twice your size. It's no picnic, believe me," she said. The moment she said it, she paused. I looked at her and I thought for a moment, she would smile or laugh and
the ice wall between us would finally crack.
But just at that moment instead, we heard the
front door open and close and the unmistakable click,
clack of Aunt Victoria's heavy-heeled shoes as she
came marching into the house and down the corridor
toward us. Mrs. Bogart spun around to greet her. "How's she doing?" I heard Aunt Victoria ask. "As well as could be expected," Mrs. Bogart
replied in a rather noncommittal voice. She glanced
through the door at me and then walked away as Aunt
Victoria turned into my room.
She wore a much more stylish blue skirt suit