The old lady nodded. "Two hours' worth. Rewound, too. Unless Vern screwed it up when he was fiddling with it."
"If I can get it to you-"
"Hey!" Ronnie shouted. "What are you whispering about now?"
"She's afraid for her husband. I was reassuring her."
"There he is now," Gladys said, pointing at the door.
Donna threw the bolt and Vern came tottering in, everything except his spindly legs hidden behind a stack of bedding. Ronnie ordered him to drop the load of pillows and quilts, but the old man argued. "It's all clean. If I drop it, it'll get dirty. The lady should have a comfortable place to lie, and I thought these towels might come in handy, too."
"Actually that's very good thinking, Ronnie," Tiel said.
'You can examine the stuff once he brings it over."
From his Winnebago, in addition to the pads he'd gone for, Vern had brought two pillows, two quilts, two clean bedsheets, and several bath towels. Ronnie found nothing concealed inside the linens and gave the go-ahead for Tiel to make a pallet, which she did while Sabra leaned heavily against Doc.
Tiel used only one of the sheets, saving the spare for later, should the need for it arise. When she was finished, Doc laid the girl down on the bedding. She settled on it gratefully. Tiel placed one of the disposal pads beneath her hips.
"They're not for what you think," Vern declared.
Simultaneously Tiel and Doc glanced up at the old man, surprised to see him bending down to confide in them. "We're not incontinent."
Tiel could barely contain her smile. "We didn't ask."
"We're on our honeymoon," Vern explained in a confidential whisper. "Every night we go at it. Daytime too, if the urge strikes us. You know how randy honeymooners are. Those pads aren't the most comfortable things for the partner on bottom, but neither of us likes to lie in the wet spot, and it beats changing the sheets after each time."
The old man winked, turned away, and obeyed Ron nie's instruction to rejoin the others. He sat down beside his wife-his bride-who hugged him and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek, commending him for his bravery.
Tiel, realizing her jaw was hanging slack, closed it with a soft click of her teeth. Her gaze slid to Doc, who was intent on timing Sabra's labor pain, but his thin lips were twitching with a smile.
From beneath his eyebrows, he glanced up at Tiel, caught her looking at him, and made a snuffling sound that passed for a laugh. "Gloves?"
"What?"
"Did you ask about the gloves?"
"Oh, uh, two pair of Rubbermaid."
He shook his head. 'Just as well be leather work gloves.
What about some vinegar?"
"Coming up."
"And gauze."
She asked Ronnie's permission to shop the aisles, where she found several plastic bottles of vinegar, a box of sterile gauze pads, and a package of disposable baby wipes. She gathered them up. On her way back to Sabra, another display caught her eye. On a burst of inspiration, she added two boxes of hair coloring to her collection.
When she got back to the girl, Sabra was listening intently to what Doc was telling her.
"It won't be comfortable, but I'll try not to hurt you, okay?"
The girl nodded and glanced apprehensively at Tiel.
"Have you ever had a pelvic exam, Sabra?" she asked softly.
"Once. When I went for birth-control pills." Tiel cocked her head quizzically, and Sabra lowered her eyes in em barrassment. "I stopped taking them because they made me fat."