“What is that, Estonian?
“Estonian? No. Finnish.”
“I never met a Finn before.”
“Now you have.”
“How come Margaret mentioned me?”
“She knew I worked here, and she called me and said you and Prince Charming were buddies.”
“How long is that little pill going to take to work?”
“A couple of minutes. You do know how to work those?” She nodded at the bedpans. “You won’t need a demonstration?”
“No.”
“Ring when you’re through,” she said. “They’ll come take them away for you.”
“They’ll?”
“I’m a surgical nurse,” Lari said. “I’ve graduated from bedpan handling.”
“I see. Then we’re just ships passing in the night?”
“I’ll be back when the doctor, doctors, come to see you.”
She walked out of the room. The rear view was as attractive as the front.
Matt picked up one of the bedpans.
I don’t really want to use that goddamn thing, and I really don’t want to use the other flat one.
He looked around the room. There were two doors. One of them had to be a bathroom.
He tried moving his wounded leg. It hurt like hell, but he could raise it.
I can stagger over there, hopping on one leg. I don’t have to stand on it.
It proved possible, but considerably more painful than he thought it would be. By the time he had arranged himself on the commode, he was covered with a clammy sweat.
The telephone began to ring.
Goddammit! That’s probably Dad. He said he would call when he finally got to the office. Well, I’ll just have to call him back.
After a long time, it stopped ringing.
Three minutes later, he pushed open the bathroom door, which took considerably more effort than he thought it would.
Lari was standing there.
“I thought you would probably try something stupid like that,” she said. “Put your arm around my shoulders.”
Using Lari as a crutch, he made his way back to the bed. She watched him get in and then rearranged the thin sheet over him.
“Does this mean I don’t get a gold star to take home to Mommy?”
“I’d have gotten you a crutch if you had asked for one,” she said. “If that was uncomfortable, it’s your own fault.”