Chapter 26
From the time I had been very young my body had reacted to an oncoming illness in the same way every time; I would need an inordinate amount of sleep as my body settled itself to fight whatever infection my immune system was battling.
Piecing together what Lisa-Marie and the others told me later, when she came upstairs to go to bed she found that I was running a high temperature and I was sprawled across the bed, occupying most of it. When she tried to awaken me in order to get me to move so she'd have room to come to bed herself, I simply groaned and pushed her away without awakening. At least that's all I did until she accidentally touched my lower stomach, then I came 'awake' with a scream.
She was standing there staring at me when Fran and Andy knocked on the door then hurried into the room wondering what was wrong. Fran simply took charge since she had taken many of the courses that Andy was planning on taking and much more during her training. After only moments of checking my sleep clouded reactions she'd ordered Andy to call an ambulance. At that point she was already certain that I had appendicitis and she was worried that my appendix had burst.
I don't remember the women trying to reduce my temperature with ice packs and cold cloths. I don't remember the ride to the hospital in the ambulance. Actually, to be honest, I don't remember any of that night or the next day. In fact I only have blurred memories of the day after that. When I did awaken fully, it was on the third day and it was to see the faces of Mom, Lisa-Marie and Fran.
I realized instantly that I wasn't at home and that I had a damn sore belly. I was only awake for a few minutes that time, but it was long enough for them to reassure me that I was on the road to recovery. Then my body again did its thing; I fell asleep while they were talking to me.
Over the next few days it seems that I completely confounded the doctors and the hospital staff. Firstly, they were astonished that I slept so much and so soundly. Secondly, they could hardly believe that when I was conscious I was amazingly cleared headed. Thirdly, they couldn't seem to understand how my body managed to heal so quickly.
They had put me on a treatment schedule of antibiotics and had installed a plastic tube to drain away any pus that formed in the peritoneal cavity because my appendix had burst and they expected peritonitis. Instead, after some initial minor bleeding immediately following the operation, there seemed to be no sepsis. After three days they were forced to remove the tube from the wound and stitch the area because my body was attempting to heal over the tube.
On the seventh day of my stay in the hospital I was awakened by my internal alarm at my 'regular' time to get out of bed, five-thirty in the morning. My body had decided that it was well enough for me to go about my daily life again.
Of course the night duty nurse disagreed with my arguments, but for some reason she gave in to my demands to see the people in charge of my case. Not much later my doctor and the surgeon who had operated on me came to see me and the battle raged. In the long run I insisted that they remove the tubes and needles from my body so that I could attempt to stand on my own feet and for some unknown reason they gave in. I astonished them by not only standing, but by actually walking a few steps with relatively little discomfort and no apparent pain.
They wouldn't allow me to take more than a few steps before they insisted that I get back into bed. As soon as I complied, they began a series of tests to assess the amount of damage I had done to my body by the 'irresponsible' activity. I think it was a shock to them all to discover that they couldn't find any damage at all. After all, it was supposed to take a minimum of ten to twelve days to recover from the surgery they had performed. I argued that it was only a couple of days difference, but they still disagreed with me and since they were in control, I was still stuck in bed.
That discussion with the doctors had taken place early Saturday morning and since I couldn't seem to get back to sleep, I had nothing else to do, but lay there and think. I was bored and on top of that, I was hungry.
As I lay there, I was thinking about how it was a waste of time, then I realised that it was the last day of March. That meant that I was going to have to spend at least the first two weeks of April just recovering from the dang operation and I might not be fully recovered for six weeks. I hadn't had time to check over my seed drill and other machinery that I would need for seeding my fields that spring. Suddenly it dawned on me that in a worst case scenario instead of being able to seed my own fields this year; I might have to hire someone to help me do it and for some unknown reason that bothered me a tremendous amount.
Of course those thoughts put me into a grumpy mood, then when they brought me breakfast, the fact that the portions were so small and so tasteless didn't help me to feel any better. The only thing that seemed to have any taste was the watery orange juice and it was bitter. To make matters worse as far as I was concerned I wasn't allowed to have any coffee, just some very weak tea without sugar. At least I was no longer on the IVs, and rid of the needles in my arms. That in turn meant I could move around a little bit, but I still wasn't supposed to get out of bed. So after breakfast I was forced to ask for a bed pan which I hated.
After the breakfast and the bed pan, I had another short visit from Dr. Franklin and a nurse. While they were there, they changed my bandages, took a blood sample and checked my blood pressure as well as taking my pulse and my temperature.
As that was going on, I thought I saw Fran sneak a peek in the door, but I wasn't positive. Whoever it was just waved as she passed the doorway and didn't come into the room.
The doctor and nurse had hardly left when an older nurse came into the room and insisted on giving me a sponge bath. Her technique reminded me of 'Whipper' Billy Watson, the professional wrestler. There was no argument with her, she simply used muscle and leverage to do a job that she really didn't appear to care for. It seemed to me that she simply wanted to finish in the shortest time possible and she didn't appear to give a damn when I complained, if anything my complaints made her actions rougher than they had been previously.
In only a few moments she was followed by a pair of nurses who changed the sheets on the bed while I was still in it. Now, that was an exercise which was guaranteed to try anyone's patience, particularly if they were suffering from the mood I was in at the time. I would far rather have gotten out of bed, let them change the dang sheets and then have gotten back into bed. However they insisted that they had to follow hospital procedure and do the job the hard way, rolling and shifting my body from side to side as they pulled and poked to shift the bedding around. Before they had finished the job, my wound actually began to hurt. I think it hurt more to be rolled and shifted around the way they did it than it had to get out of bed and climb back in like I had done earlier. I'm afraid my mood was so bad that I let them know my opinion in no uncertain terms.
That complaint brought the head nurse to my bedside in short order.
"Mr Williams, I understand that you have a complaint and I would take it kindly if you would make your complaints directly to me in the future . . ." She stated in a sharp tone, which really set me off.
"Bullshit!" I growled, interrupting her. "But, if you want complaints, I'll gladly provide you with a few. I'd like to hear the reason for some of the crap that I've put up with. Why is it a policy for people to be put through pain and discomfort when it can be avoided? I was told it was your policy that I had to remain in bed while I was shoved and rolled around to change the sheets. I've been in and out of bed earlier this morning and it hurt a hell of a lot less. Are you trying to extend my recovery time? Secondly, my body needs food in order to recover. The amount of food that I received this morning is a snack for someone of my age and condition. Thirdly, I am a believer in natural preventive medication and I have yet to see my herbal medication advisor although I believe she is in the hospital at the present time. Would you like me to carry on from there?"
"This hospital does not subscribe to holistic medication." She said haughtily as if that was the end of the argument.
"Madam, the original diagnosis of appendicitis was made by my herbal supplement advisor. According to what I've been told, her treatment until the emergency medical team arrived quite probably saved me from being in more danger and far more pain than I suffered." I snapped back. "On top of that I understand I have been recovering and healing far faster than is considered normal. It's my belief that her preventive medications, which I was taking prior to my admission to this hospital, are probably responsible for that fact. However, I think being manhandled by the wrestling tag team that you've sent around this morning has probably set my recovery back by at least a day, if not more. Now I'd like to see my doctor again, I think my wound has been stressed and I'd like to have him to check it."
She tried to put up an argument, but I insisted that I wanted to see Dr. Franklin and requested that Fran Lowther be allowed in to see me as well. I was surprised that she actually went down the hall and returned with both Dr. Franklin and Fran, then to my astonishment, they were joined by Andy's doctor, Dr. Timmins. It seemed that he happened to have a patient in the next ward and just dropped around to see me while he was there. Since the head nurse had stuck her nose back in as well, it felt like the whole ward was crowded.
Dr. Franklin asked for the help of the same nurse who had been with him earlier and when they opened my bandages, I could see from their faces that something was different.
"What is it Doc?" I asked flatly.
"The stitching closing off the incision has been stressed. Exactly what happened?" Dr. Franklin asked quietly. "You didn't try to get up again, did you?"
"No, but I did have a sponge bath administered by a professional wrestler disguised as a nurse and then had my sheets changed by a tag team from the same crew. The head nurse has assured me that everything was done according to hospital policy, but it didn't feel right to me." I did my best to try to remain calm.
"Neither procedure was exactly painless." I added needlessly.
"I can see that." He lifted his eyes and looked at the head nurse who definitely looked uncomfortable. "Nothing irreparable has been done, but this will quite possibly postpone your release from the hospital for one day, if not two. As well, you're quite probably going to end up with more pronounced scarring than I had hoped for."
Then he smiled. "Of course the way you seem to heal, I'm certain you'll still be inside the minimum recovery time. Now, you wished to talk to Fran?"
"I just wanted to ask the two of you about having some of her herbal teas. I understand though, from what the head nurse has said, that it might take a Papal intervention or something of that order to get anything like that past hospital policy."
I caught a glint of humour in Fran's eye at that, then a glance passed between her and the doctor.
"Oh, I somehow doubt it will take that much." Dr. Franklin said softly, staring openly at the head nurse as if daring her to argue with him.
The head nurse simply seemed to evaporate, she disappeared so quickly after that. Then Dr. Franklin managed a small smile as he laid a hand on my arm.
"The incision isn't really too painful, is it?" He asked.
"No, it's mostly annoying is all." I sighed. "It did hurt when the 'tag team' was rolling me around like a rag doll, but it's not extremely painful now unless I move the wrong way. I just think there has to be a better way to do things than the technique they used."
"In your case, I can well understand your feelings." He smiled. "The unfortunate thing is that it reopened the wound and now we have to worry about for secondary infections once more."
"That's not something I wanted to hear, Doc. I can't afford this kind of bull shit, not at this time of year. I should be at home readying my equipment for spring planting and getting prepared for the spring season. I have cattle that will be freshening and all sorts of work that needs to be done." I frowned at him. "If I get secondary infection that I can prove was caused by this treatment, I have half a mind to get a lawyer. Right now I feel I should sue the ass off of the hospital and all those stupid old wenches like they would in 'the States.' That would serve the bloody old witches right. The first one that I'd like to see have her arse chewed out is that stupid head nurse."
"Easy, Tom." Fran said quietly. "You're hurting more than you let on, aren't you?"
"Fran, it's not that I hurt so much, as the fact that I feel totally frustrated by this kind of crap. I treat my animals better than they treat humans. That tag team threw me around like I was in a wrestling match. First I got pummelled by the silly witch with claws on her finger tips and a grungy rag in her hand that she claimed was a wash cloth. She seemed to think she was in a race against the clock. Then I got rolled around and hammered even more by those two stupid old grouches who refused to listen when I told them they were hurting me. No one should have to put up with that kind of BS. When I did complain, all I got was that idiotic drivel about the fact that I should make my complaints to the head nurse, not the people who were hurting me." I growled. "If I hadn't complained, I doubt if I'd have seen her in the first place, she's never shown her face here before. After that she had the nerve to tell me that the hospital didn't believe in holistic medication. Having talked to the two of you, I'd suspect you've forgotten more than that old bat is ever capable of learning. If I see any one of those four witches again, I'm going to refuse to let them touch me."
"Now, Tom, I'm sure that isn't necessary . . ." The Doctor started to say and I interrupted him.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Franklin, I'm not faulting you in any way, but the Agricultural College down the road teaches better procedures for the care of animals than those four women showed toward me. I don't want them near me again because I don't trust them not to injure me. If I have to, I'll register a complaint with the chief administrator of the hospital to that effect."
"But . . ."
"There are no buts about it." I said flatly. "I'm normally very reasonable, but I will not lie around and be treated like a doormat. I treat everyone with respect until they prove to me that they are not worthy of that respect, then I treat then in the same manner that they've shown me."
I saw Fran look at the doctor and raise her eyebrows in a question. For some reason, I saw even that as a corroboration of my suspicions. That's when I became truly uncooperative and extremely grouchy.
I wasn't proud of the way I was acting, but in truth, I was frustrated and I was hurting. The reason I was frustrated was that I'd been doing so well and was so hopeful of recovering quickly, but now my recuperation had been stalled. I was positive that my convalescence had been set back by the actions and inattention of people who were supposed to be caring and concerned with my well-being and instead had been the opposite. The frustrating part was the fact that I was positive I wasn't the only one that had been treated this way, I had the suspicion that I was only the last of a series of victims that probably stretched back over a period of years.
I know it probably wasn't fair, but I dumped my suspicions and my frustration on Fran and Dr. Franklin. I'm not proud of the fact, but I felt myself become even more uncooperative and sullen. I know now that it was all reaction on my part and I really wasn't responding the way I normally would have, but that's what happened. I became suspicious of anyone coming close to me and while I knew it was simply reaction to what had happened, I couldn't seem to stop myself from becoming distrusting and cynical.
Looking back on the situation later, I think it was at that point that Dr. Franklin and Fran both realised that I wasn't going to simply lie back and forget it. I glared at all of them, even at Andy's doctor, Dr. Timmins. He certainly didn't deserve that, he hadn't entered the discussion in any way and had only come by to say hello. I think it might have been that glare that was the reason for what followed. Before the three of them left my bedside, Dr. Franklin warned me that he was sending around a nurse to administer a mild sedative, then they left me alone to stew in my anger.
It wasn't long before a much younger and much more pleasant and caring nurse came in to give me a shot. She was so different in her age and attitude that I actually asked her why she was so pleasant while the older nurses had been so inattentive. At first she had tried to put me off, but when I became more insistent, she'd said something about union protocol and staff seniority.
"You mean that because of union protocol and staff seniority the hospital would lay itself open to a five or ten-million-dollar class action lawsuit?" I asked in astonishment. "Perhaps if my lawyer included the union in the lawsuit it would get some action?"
"What?" Her eyes snapped open wide and she stared at me.
"That's what I'm considering setting in motion." I growled. "I've been thinking that if I've been treated the way I have, then there are probably a hundred or more other people who have found themselves in the same situation. One complaint doesn't mean much, but if a lawyer walked into a courtroom with a hundred complaints, what do you think a judge or magistrate would say? What if all the complaints were about the same few careless nurses and if all the complaints had details of how they've been mistreating people?"
"But you wouldn't do that, would you?" Her disbelieving eyes were fixated on mine. "You're talking about people who have had years of training and experience. They have seniority."
"Seniority doesn't mean dick when it comes to knowledge and skill." I snapped in anger. "Hell, I treat my pigs better than they treated me, but then I just passed a course in animal husbandry at the local agricultural school. From the way they treated me, I doubt if they could even pass the entrance exam to the same course."
"But the hospital would probably be shut down by a lawsuit that was that huge." Her voice was a whisper now.
"Maybe closing it down while they cleaned house of the deadwood would be better than making people suffer and risk secondary infections." I growled, turning my head away and closing my eyes to ignore any further protests, but after a second, I opened them and turned back toward her. "I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be on the receiving end of my anger. I apologise for laying that on you. You've actually been extremely caring and very considerate. I thank you for that and I know that I should save my anger for use where it will do some good."
"You really wouldn't do anything that drastic, would you?" She asked in disbelief.
"Oh yes I would." I said through gritted teeth, closing my eyes again because I was almost at the point of tears in my frustration. "If what had happened was a necessity I could forgive it, but since it was simple slovenly laziness along with complete ignorance and sheer stupidity, I can't. The only thing that's going to satisfy me is to have those four horsemen of the apocalypse demoted to cleaning bedpans and scrubbing toilets. They should have to go through a retraining course on the care and treatment of patients. Now could I please be left alone for a while. I'm really not in the mood for a needless discussion of the subject. I need to have time to consider my legal options."
*
I had only managed to get somewhat relaxed and relatively in control of my temper when Fran came back into the room with a steaming mug filled with of one of her teas. To my surprise she was wearing a huge grin on her face.
"Oh, I am so glad I came in to see you early this morning." She bubbled as she set the tea down on the rolling serving tray cum table that hospitals all have at each bed for their patients. "I would have paid a million dollars to see what I just saw."
"Well, I'm glad someone is having a good day." I snapped.
"Oh, Tom. You don't have any idea, do you?" She grinned. "I swear; Silas would have loved witnessing that scene."
I could only stare at her in frustration, wondering what she was talking about. "What the hell do you mean?" I snarled.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Fran held up a hand, then smiled again. "I was at the nurses station waiting for the little electric kettle to boil when the little nurse who was just in here with you came down the hall. She was literally on the verge of tears. In fact she could hardly talk when she started, but she managed to make the people there understand what you'd told her about trying to start a class action suit against the hospital and the union. The people there tried to calm her down, but she wasn't having any of it. That's when she dropped the bombshell about the idea that you were talking about a ten-million-dollar lawsuit. Just when they had recovered a bit from that, she mentioned the proviso that you'd said about retraining the crew that had injured you. She made it plain that you felt they could be retrained at the Agricultural college by taking the animal husbandry course, but that you didn't think they had the competence to pass the entrance exam."
"I guess I got carried away with that." I admitted, feeling a bit better though.
"Oh no, it was perfect." Fran was almost bouncing in her seat. "Dr. Franklin and Dr. Timmins were there with me, making sure I had complete cooperation about getting you your tea. All three of us were all having a hard time keeping a straight face. I swear Dr. Timmins chuckled aloud when the little nurse said the only other option you would accept was the idea that they should be demoted to scrubbing bed pans and cleaning toilets. Dr Franklin had to turn his head away when she added that you thought the head nurse should join them because you felt she was only holding her job because of seniority."
"Well, I do think that." I agreed. "Whatever they get for treatment for being idiots, she should share."
"You don't have any idea who that is, do you?" Fran chortled.
"No, should I?"
"The nurse who gave you the sponge bath is Phillipa Manicotti, the president of the Union Local for the hospital. The two who changed your sheets are the vice president and the treasurer of the local. They're Phillipa's best buddies, but I can't recall their names at the moment." She was bubbling and grinning at me again. "The head nurse is the other Phillipa. She used to be a Manicotti, then she became Mrs Wright for a while. Now that she's divorced, I'm not sure which name she uses, but I do know that she's the chief shop steward for this Local of the Hospital Worker's Union."
"I know I've heard those names somewhere, but where?" I frowned. "I'm sure it wasn't anything to do with the hospital."
"The newspaper perhaps?" Fran chortled.
"Sorry, no matter how I try, I can't tie that name to any one of any importance to me in any way." I shook my head in vain. "I don't recall reading anything about her in the paper. Is this woman, what was it, Phillipa, um, Macaroni or whatever it is, is she important in some way?"
Fran's face was twisted into a weird grin and she had just opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by a smallish sort of man who had come in quite silently and seemed to me to suddenly appear, standing at the foot of my bed.
"So are you saying that the name Phillipa Manicotti was completely unknown to you before today?" He demanded.
I frowned as I looked at him, then at Fran. She rolled her eyes back toward the little guy as if I should listen to him, so I let my gaze wander back his direction.
"Is everyone around here rude? I was talking to Ms. Lowther when you interrupted so discourteously." I managed to put a lot of venom into my words. "Just who are you? Another union twerp or something?"
"My name is John Sousa and I'm the chief hospital administrator." He said with a great attempt at immense dignity, unfortunately his short stature didn't exactly assist him in succeeding to pull it off.
"Oh my." I managed to sigh softly and not break into a smile. "You must have been teased unmercifully about your name as a kid, probably worse than I was."
"I was teased as a child, but with a name like Thomas Williams, why would you have been teased about your name?" He frowned.
"My middle name is Silas, so I became Tom Silage. Kids can be mean." I rolled my eyes. "Your middle name isn't Phillip, is it?"
"No, it isn't. Thank goodness." I thought his face would crack, but he managed a smile of sorts. "And I do apologize for interrupting a private discussion, but this is rather important hospital business. Now were you familiar with the name Phillipa Manicotti prior to today?"
"I'll be absolutely honest, I must have heard it somewhere because it does sound familiar. However it doesn't mean anything to me and I'm sure I've never met the woman before today."
"If I changed that to Mrs Phillipa Wright, does that mean anything to you?" He sounded impatient.
"Fran asked me that and I still drew a blank there too." I admitted.
"What about Charles Wright?"
"Now that rings a bell, I've had some sort of dealing in some way with someone who goes by that name." I frowned, thinking deeply for several seconds. "Oh, I know, he's the guy who owns the seed and fertilizer place I think. I thought he said he was single."
"He is now." Mr. Sousa admitted. "He was married to the younger Phillipa Manicotti."
"Okay, so what does that have to do with anything?" I frowned. "I may have talked to him for ten or fifteen minutes in my life. When I first moved here I went in to see him in order to change my seed order for this spring."
"Well, as a newcomer to the area, don't you read the local newspapers?" He snapped impatiently.
"I've read them a bit, but I live out in the country on a farm and it's winter time. I don't have much opportunity to read nonessentials. Besides, I inherited the farm from an elderly uncle and I've been rather busy trying to settle into an old farm and an old house with all the problems that are involved in that sort of thing." I shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I have some major upgrading to do which has been occupying my time. As well as that I'm in the process of completing my last year at the local agricultural college. I don't have a lot of time for reading about other people's lives. My own is far too busy to be nosy."
"So you haven't read the local gossip column?" He said abruptly.
"Oh, you mean the local humour section of the paper? Someone did point out one of those columns to me, but I haven't been here long enough to really appreciate the humour in something like that yet. I'm not too much into reading fiction anyway." I snorted and waved a hand deprecatingly. "Someone said that the gossip columnist had written about me and that I should read it, but I had a hard time finding even minor similarities to the truth in it. Anyone who knew anything at all about me knew it was all BS and found it funny. I couldn't really see it though, it was just too much of a stretch from the actual facts. Besides, I don't let that sort of thing worry me much. Like I said before, I got teased a lot as a kid about my name. By the time I was ten years old I knew that it was all based on lies and jealousy so I refuse to waste my time on that sort of thing."
"So you don't think it was a major problem?"
"Oh, come now!" I laughed shortly. "I know it's not the truth and anyone who is old enough to drive a car is more intelligent than to believe garbage like that, but what has all that got to do with what happened here today? Are you trying to distract my attention or something?"
"So you're asking me to believe that you bear no grudge over that column?"
"Oh come now, Mr. Sousa." I shook my head. "If you're local, you might know something about the personalities involved. If you do, then add my personality and my bride-to-be's personality into the mix, you can see why that column was so silly. Lisa-Marie has a very kind heart; she's the sort who collects stray kittens and finds them a home. She couldn't turn away someone who suddenly found herself pregnant, homeless and abandoned by the useless twit who got her pregnant. Especially not in the middle of the winter while Lisa-Marie and I had just inherited a huge old house with several unused bedrooms. And me, well, I can't refuse Lisa-Marie much of anything she wants."
I paused and took a deep breath. "The only thing about that column that really bothered me was the fact that it painted Andrea in such a bad light just when she'd gone through all that crap. Then on top of that the column came out about the time Andrea suffered a miscarriage. Talk about bad timing, that took the cake. If anyone had a right to be upset by that silly thing, it was Andy, but I think she just ignored the asinine piece of drivel. She acted like people do when they're out walking and step in a bit of really smelly dog shit, you do your best to wipe it off, then try to ignore it until you can wash it off properly. Now talking about ignoring things, you've ignored my question, what has that column got to do with what happened to me today?"
"Phillipa Manicotti is the writer of that gossip column." He said quietly.
"Okay, I guess that's where I heard the name." I shrugged. "Thank you for at least clearing up that mystery, even if it still means dick all to me."
"Oh, I didn't come here to clear up a mystery, I came here to investigate this claim of yours that you were injured by the handling given you by Phillipa and her assistants."
"Oh, it's more than a claim." I said shortly, my mood changing back to a much more serious one. "It's a fact! I have two doctors and a nurse who witnessed that I was uninjured and healing very well prior to your Phillipa Manicotti and her buddies tackling me and treating me as if I was their private wrestling dummy. One of those same doctors can also bear witness to the fact that I was injured when they saw my wound not half an hour later; that was after your wrestling tag team got done with me. Along with that initial doctor, I have a second doctor and a private citizen who saw the injury at that time. When I sought to complain, your head nurse did her best to make me sound as if I was a liar. I do not take kindly to in any way either."
"Oh my." His voice was almost silent and he looked at me as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Mr Williams, I don't know what to say other than that as a representative of the hospital; I do apologise."
"I'm afraid that isn't anywhere enough." I said coldly. "I'm not lawsuit happy, but I intend to speak to my lawyer, so I refuse to say anything more at this time. I think you've probably already heard my suggestions through the rumour mill and I'm not about to repeat them either. Other than that, I believe our business is finished at this time. In fact, I want my lawyer present at any further discussions we may have."
I paused then and he seemed to be standing there trying to think of something to say.
"Look, Mr Sousa, I've said all I'm going to." I waved my hand as if dismissing him. "Now, I would like to talk to my friend and drink my herbal tea before it gets completely cold."
When we were alone in the ward, I turned to Fran with a frown on my face only to be met by a grin on hers. That grin annoyed me, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I'd just opened my mouth to say something when Mama Tang came bustling in the door with a huge purse under her arm.
"Hey, Big Tom. Hi, Missy Fran." She grinned at us, speaking loud and fast. "I heard you got stuck in here for a few days, but you finally wake up, Tom. Betcha you don't like food here much huh? Mai Lin said to tell you that farm is fine and she love little calf, calls him Lil Bunter. She drop by later."
She leaned back and peeked down the hall, twisting her head both ways, then slipped over by the bed and pulled a soup bowl and a spoon out of her purse. The bowl and spoon were followed by a big thermos and she winked at me as she poured out a bowl of the best smelling vegetable soup that I think I've ever smelled.
"Good for you soup." She whispered. "You eat. Fran and I talk."
Then she bustled back by the door to keep and eye out for anyone coming past, but her mouth began to work instantly. "How you doing, Missy Fran? Why you not drop over my cafe later, I need to talk to you about this man and his farm, okay? By the way, what happen to 'Sad Sack Sistas?' All of them very quiet when I come in. I say 'Hi' but they not even give me usual sad sack smile."
"I'm doing fine and I will drop over to see you later." Fran answered, that damn grin still on her face, but then the grin disappeared. "If by the 'Sad Sack Sisters' you mean Phillipa and her crew, they ran afoul of Tom. They treated him rather poorly when they were supposed to be giving him a sponge bath and changing his sheets. They actually hurt him, treating him roughly enough to almost tear open some of the stitches of his wound and he lost his temper at them."
"Huh, that so!" Mama Tang frowned. "They hurt you, Big Tom?"
I paused from eating long enough to nod. My nod was met by a rapid string of Chinese, then a deep frown on Mama Tang's face. As quick as it had appeared, the frown disappeared again as she turned toward Fran.
They spoke for a while, but I didn't understand either of them. What they spoke certainly wasn't English and yet I didn't think it was Chinese. It sounded foreign and almost like Chinese to me, but different in some way. I was too busy with the wonderful tasting soup to worry about it much though. As soon as I was done the soup and had leaned back, they broke off the conversation and Mama Tang was on the move. I'd hardly set the spoon down when Mama Tang whipped around the bed, grabbed a tissue and wiped down the bowl and spoon. She dropped them into her big purse along with the empty thermos, threw the tissue into the waste bin and smiled at me.
"Maybe I see you tomorrow." She winked. "But Missy Fran says more better I come in the afternoon, not late in the morning, less chance to get caught. Silly hospital rule about food."
And with that, she moved to the door, glance into the hall and then waved at me. Then she was gone. I started to turn to talk to Fran only to see her moving toward the door with my empty tea cup.
"You should sleep for a while." She said with a smile, then she left as well.