Casting Debbie

Chapter 7

Lin stepped out the front door as Debbie pulled into the driveway. She got out of the car with the filled prescription in hand. "Sorry. The pharmacy was busy."

"She's on the sofa." Lin looked back at the house and paused for a moment, a look of concern evident in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Lin? Is she okay?" Debbie started to panic a little bit. "You can't leave me here alone with her if she's not okay. I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Calm down. She'll be fine," Lin assured her. "Lou is a very private person. The only reason I'm here is because I'm one of the few people she really trusts in this world. And apparently, now she trusts you too."

Debbie slowly shook her head. "I have no idea why."

"Neither do I, quite frankly. She hardly knows you. And a signed nondisclosure hardly makes you qualified to take care of her."

"That's what I tried to tell her! Will you try to talk some sense into her?"

"It's not my decision." Lin pulled his keys out of his pocket and nervously shook them in his hand. "Look, if you need anything, call me first. I'll have groceries delivered tomorrow and I'll check in every so often, but I really think she wants to recover in private. No visitors. And don't take any photos of her face, even if it's just for fun. We don't need someone hacking your phone and selling them to the highest bidder."

"Got it. But what if family shows up?" Surely Lou had family who would want to be involved in her recovery, or at least stop by to check on her well-being. Debbie didn't feel comfortable turning family away.

"She's an only child," Lin said. "Her parents are divorced. She's not very close to her dad. We've given them the heads-up, but she's putting her mother off, hoping she'll stay away." He opened his car door. "I'll call later tonight and see how it's going."

Debbie waited until the gate closed behind Lin's car and then went into the house. She found Lou resting on the sofa. She sat on the coffee table and inspected Lou closely, taking in her coloring and her chest rising and falling. She seemed to be resting well at the moment. Just when she was about to stand up, Lou opened her eyes. "Do you need anything?" Debbie asked. "A glass of water? A blanket? Turn back time?"

Lou didn't know where to start. She needed food so she could take more meds. She needed a bath. She needed to wash her hair. She needed to cry. "I stink," she whispered.

"Yeah, you do. I can smell you from here." Debbie jokingly put her finger under her nose.

"Will you help me?" Lou's voice sounded weaker than it had in the hospital. She'd tried to be brave and act stronger than she really was, just so she could get out of there and come home. She was so happy to be home, but she had no strength to do anything except breathe, and even that hurt.

"Hmm..." Debbie said, considering the options. "What if I taped a trash bag to your arm and helped you shower?"

Lou nodded, tears forming in her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was up to it, but she desperately wanted to be clean again. The nurses had done their best, but she still had dirt under her fingernails from the fall and she felt sticky all over. Not to mention her matted, greasy hair. "Let's give it a try."

***

The shower worked out okay. Lou quickly had to accept the fact that Debbie would see her naked. There was no getting around it. Truth be told, with all of the bumps and bruises, it probably wasn't much of a show anyway. She tried to keep her back to Debbie as much as possible, letting her wash her hair and soap down her backside. They worked in silence, neither one in the mood to make jokes.