Mrs. Dunkin #40

This is a continuing story.  To see the rest click here.  

40

I don’t know how long I sat there but I heard “Mom, are you going for bingo?”

“Sue, good morning.”

“Morning, they needed extra help with getting people to bingo and they asked me if I would like to help.  They want me to really know the ins and outs of everything so when I talk to the residents families I know exactly what’s going on.  Are you all right?”

“No, I’m fine.  I was just getting ready to go out there.”  I didn’t want to tell Sue about Stella.  She was so excited about going to bingo. You know how to do this Annie, put your big girl panties on and act like you’re having a good time I thought and said “let’s go, I’m ready if you are” and we headed off together down the hallway. 

Everyone was there already and we all walked up to bingo.  When we got there, the activities person asked Sue if she wanted to call bingo.  She said she would but would have to check with the receptionist.  She called downstairs and got the go ahead.

We all got our cards and Sue started calling the numbers.  I could see that Sue was really enjoying it.  I was worrying about Stella when Clara whispered to be “are you okay?”

“Not really, before I came Julie called and told me Stella is in the hospital again with pneumonia.  I wasn’t going to come but when Sue came to get me I couldn’t turn her down.”

“I’m sorry to hear about Stella” and we went on playing.

As Sue and I were walking back, I handed her the candy I had won and said “Give these to the kids.  I really don’t need to be eating this.”

“They’ll love it.  Thanks, I really had a good time.”

“Me too, just drop me off at the door and you can go back to work.”

When we got to the doors Sue gave me a hug and left.

I went right to my room and soon after Clara came in.  “Did you hear” she asked.

“Hear, hear what?”

“While we were gone, Fred died.”

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” 

Kate told Nancy after breakfast he went and lay down and when they went to give him his medicine he was gone. 

“We had a good talk this morning.  He seemed okay to me.  He did desperately want to be with his wife though.”

“Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason, when it’s your time it’s your time.”

“I know your right.  In a way I guess I’m happy for him, now he’s with his Eloise.”

“When do you think you’ll hear something about Stella?”

“Julie said she’ll call me tonight.  You know that saying about death coming in three’s.  After Helen and now Fred, it really has me concerned.”

“Annie, now stop it.  That’s just a superstition.”

“Yeah your right” and I laughed.

“I’ll see you for supper.  I want to look through my stuff before Nancy comes tomorrow and see if there’s anything I need to get rid of.”

“Okay, let me know if you need any help” and Clara wheeled herself out the door.

I started to knit and I felt like I was on pins and needles looking at the clock every 10 minutes the whole time. 

When it was close to supper Clara came and asked “are you ready for supper?” 

“I think I’m going to eat in here in case Julie calls.  I’ll see you later when I know something.”

An aide brought my supper in and I could barely eat anything and then finally the phone rang “Julie?”

“Yes mom it’s me.  Stella’s going to be fine.  The IV antibiotics are already starting to work.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

“I guess she went into the hospital a couple of days ago.  Finally, she told the doctor to give me a call.  She was worried that you might call and you would be worried.”

“I told her you’ve been sick with the flu.  She said to tell you that is what you get for getting the flu shot so early” and Julie laughed.

“Well that really convinces me that she’s getting well” and I laughed along with Julie.

“How’s Sue been doing with the new job?”

“Just marvelous, she’s really good at it too.  Today she was the caller at bingo.”

“Hmmm, did you have anything to do with her getting the job?” 

“Me, you’ve got to be kidding.”

“I have a feeling something is going on and I’m not privy to it.”

“That’s just your imagination.  It’s so great about Stella now I can relax.  Well, I was in the middle of supper.”

“Okay mom.  I’ll talk to you later” and she hung up.

I went down the hall and caught Stella’s eye and gave her a thumbs up and went back to my room. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.