“Don’t be taking on too many new folks while I’m in here,” she says. “I’m going to need your help when I get home.”
I hesitate. “Do you think Debra will still want me to? I mean, you might need professional nursing care while you’re recovering.”
“Oh, nonsense,” she says. “The physiotherapist already said he’s going to come to my house after I go home, and that’s all I’ll need for my hip. I don’t want strangers traipsing in and out of my house.”
“I think Debra was pretty upset about your fall,” I say carefully.
“Debra’s always upset about something,” Mrs. Finnamore says. “That’s my daughter,” she explains to her roommate. “She lives out west. She used to be such a clever girl, but her father spoiled her rotten.” She turns back to me. “You’ll come visit me again tomorrow, then.”
I smile. “Of course. And we can talk more about you getting proper home care.”
Mrs. Finnamore pretends not to hear this. “Bye, now.”
Chuckling, I head back to the nurse’s station. The clerk tells me Jane is busy with a family meeting, but she takes my cell phone number and information and promises to pass them along. I feel a bit nervous thinking about my name going on some official hospital list of private caregivers, but then I remember Jim calling me his guardian angel, and I lift my chin up stubbornly.
I spend the rest of the day working at the shop, using my downtime to Google things like “how to start your own business” and “how much can you charge for caregiving services without being a greedy dick.” At the end of my shift, I kiss John goodbye and head back to my house. After dinner, I put my cell phone on the kitchen table and stare at it for a few minutes. John offered to be here with me for this, but it feels like something I have to tackle alone.
I take a breath and dial Debra’s number.
It rings five times, just enough that I start to secretly hope she won’t pick up. Then—
“Hello?”
Oh, god, I forgot how mean her voice is.
“Hi.” My voice squeaks. I clear my throat and try again. “I mean, hi, Debra. This is Emily.”
“Emily. Hello.” Her tone is forbidding.
“Hi,” I say again. I steel myself and launch into the speech I’ve prepared. “I’m calling because Mrs. Finnamore told me she’s being released from the hospital sometime in the next few weeks. She’d like me to come back to work for her.”
Debra lets out a cold breath. “Oh, she would, would she?”
I grit my teeth. “Yes. She’s nervous about getting around onceshe’s home.” This is a teensy lie—what she actually said was that if the doctors didn’t let her go home soon, she was going to call the police on them—but I think she’d be fine with me saying it.
“And you’re going to help with that, are you?” Debra says caustically.
I almost falter at her tone, but instead I lick my lips and say, “Yes.”
“She shouldn’t be going home at all. It’s ridiculous the doctors are allowing it.”
“She said they’re really pleased with how she’s done since her surgery.”
“Oh, I’m sureshesaid that,” Debra says.
I press two fingers to my temple and bite my tongue to stop from answering. I don’t want to get drawn into a fight with her. “She’d like me to come back and do the same things I was doing for her before,” I say instead, “but I’d also like to add a half-hour every other day, to be there in the house when she’s showering. Not, like, be in the bathroom with her, I mean, but just to be nearby to make sure she doesn’t slip, and to help her if she needs it.”
“She needs a lot more than just that if she thinks she’s going to stay at home much longer,” Debra says. “She needs to get rid of that disgusting old tub, the rail is three feet high. No doubt that’s what she fell over—”
She keeps ranting a little longer. I wait for her to run out of steam.
“I suppose you’ll want more money now, will you?” she finishes nastily.
I almost say no, just to avoid a fight. Then I grit my teeth. “Mm. A half-hour every other day.”
I can’t see her face, but I imagine her pursing her lips unpleasantly. There’s a long, cold silence, then she says, “I’ll have to discuss it with my husband.”
I let out a little breath of relief. I’ve won. I know I have.
