Mary #43

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43

Mary could hear the stairs creaking as Elizabeth came down.  She saw it was light out and she watched Elizabeth go into the kitchen.  She could hear her making coffee and rummaging in the cupboard. 

Mary got up and said “Good morning.  How are you feeling today?”

“I’m a little nauseous.  Do you have any saltines?”

“Yes, I’m sure I do” and she opened the cupboard and handed them to Elizabeth.

“Did you take your pill during the night?”

“Yes mom” and she laughed half-heartedly.  “I followed the schedule to a T.”

“Didn’t the doctor give you a pill in case the first one left you still feeling ill?”

“You’re right, I forgot.  I’ll go and get it.”

“No, I’ll get it for you.  Just have a seat” and Mary went up to get them.

She brought the schedule down and the pills.  She handed a pill to Elizabeth and she took the pill with her coffee.

“Hopefully, that will help.  How did you sleep?”

“So- so, I was up a lot of the night.  I think it was that steroid they gave me.  I read up on it and it said it can make you jittery.  One good side effect I read about on a message board is that it may make you want to clean your house a lot because you can’t sit still.”

“Wow, maybe I need some of that” Mary said laughing.

“It can also make you crabby though.  I have to take them the next few days to slowly wean off them.  I guess it’s supposed to help prevent nausea too.”

“I’m going to get dressed.  I’m going to have some toast when I get back do you want some?”

“I’ll see” Elizabeth answered.

It was getting colder outside so Mary put on jeans and a sweatshirt.  When she came down Elizabeth had already made toast so she got a cup of coffee and sat at the table with her.

“Thanks for making the toast.”

“You’re welcome.  I’m already feeling better.  When I’m done eating, I’ll go up and get dressed and we can go and get my shot.  I have a feeling I’ll need a nap before Jerry and Johnny come.”

“No problem” Mary said.

When Elizabeth was done she went upstairs got dressed and they headed to the hospital.   

“It’s getting chillier and chillier every day” Mary said.

“Maybe your friend Sadie will see snow while she’s here.  You know a couple of years ago we had snow the day after Thanksgiving and it lasted way into the New Year.”

“That is one thing I don’t miss about Ohio.  We get the occasional snow in New York but not like here.  I suppose I will have to get used to it, hypothetically speaking of course” and we laughed.

When they got to the hospital and went in there was no one there but a skeleton crew since it was the weekend.  Elizabeth went in by herself and was out pretty fast. 

“How was it?”

“It was no big deal.  It’s supposed to reduce the chance of me getting an infection or something like that.”

“Is there anywhere else you want to go before we go back to the farm?”

“No, I’m a little shaky.  I mentioned it to the nurse and she said I might feel like that for a while.”

“Okay then, home it is.”

While they were driving, Mary could see Elizabeth started to doze.   When they arrived at the farm Elizabeth woke up when they were going down the driveway. 

They got out of the car and went inside.  “Brrr, it’s cold in here.  I’ll start a fire.  Why don’t you lie on the sofa and cover up with the quilt until it warms up in here.”

“I won’t argue” Elizabeth said shivering.

“I’m going to have to have someone check out the furnace before it really gets cold.  I think something might be wrong with it.  It shouldn’t be this cold in here” Mary said but when she looked at Elizabeth she was sleeping already. 

When Mary was done lighting the fire, she decided she would bake something for when Jimmy and Johnny came over.  She remembered she had apples and decided to make an apple cake.  She hadn’t made it for a while but she remembered when her Ma made it everyone enjoyed it. She mixed everything up and put it in the oven.  She sat at the table and looked at a magazine. 

When it was done, she took it out of the oven when she heard “Something smells wonderful.”

“It’s Ma’s apple cake.  I thought I would make it for my brothers.”

“Good idea, butter them up” Elizabeth said and they laughed.  “I think I’m going to soak in the tub for a while if you don’t mind.”

“You go ahead.  It’ll be a while before they come” and Elizabeth went upstairs.

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