Josie's Journey

In Which Josie's Wig is Snatched

Elaine rushed upstairs, her eyes open wide in shock when she saw her daughter on the bathroom floor. "Josie! Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling to the floor. Josie started laughing - what the heck?

"Y-yeah," she replied with a giggle. "I saw a spider, it scared me and I tripped."

Elaine could obviously tell that her daughter was loopy from the combination of Dilaudid and Zofran.

"Uh-huh," Elaine replied with a nod and a skeptical yet concerned glance. "I'll help you back to bed, dear."

Josie nodded while her mom helped her up.

"I'm going to grab an extra blanket and pillows for you," Elaine said caringly. Josie fiddled with the velcro on her soft neck brace, then wiped her face with a damp washcloth while she finished her nighttime routine.

Josie turned around and immediately smacked her head on the glass door of her shower. Oops. She laughed and turned the other way to go back to her room.

Elaine reappeared in the doorway. "Should I be worried, Jo?" she asked. "You're really out of it. I guess they dosed the meds was pretty high."

Josie nodded and looked at her mom. "I'm fine, Mom. Don't worry. I'll sleep it off."

Elaine sighed and helped her daughter to bed to rest before she went down to finally relax and eat a late dinner. "Alright, just call me if you need anything."

~~~

Elaine sat on the couch with a plate of macaroni and cheese, corn, and a small salad. She finally got comfortable again and started eating. She turned the TV on but had lost interest in the movie, so she changed to the local news station.

"The heatwave is still going strong but is expected to subside by Tuesday," the weatherman reported. "This, combined with high wind speeds and drought, has caused a fire warning to be in effect until the winds or heat subside." Elaine sighed. She was worried about Josie and wasn't sure what to do other than make doctor's appointments. Josie had been unusually quiet, especially these last couple of months.

Elaine didn't know that Josie was only quiet so she didn't worry her mother. She'd kept her symptoms quiet ever since they'd started almost six months ago, but had been especially silent when they'd gotten worse about two months from the day. Josie assumed her mother would freak out and become consumed in worry - and she was correct - and the thought of hurting her mom like that made her want to cry.

Josie laid in bed, an ice pack on her injured shoulder and relaxing music playing through her phone's speaker. She smiled and looked out her window at the night sky. She enjoyed the breeze of her bedroom ceiling fan. It was unusually hot in Chicago, even at night, so she was thankful it was almost fall... the weather would cool down and the leaves would change.

After catching up on the news and doing some dishes, Elaine went in to check on her ailing daughter. She knocked gently and slowly opened the door. "Jo?"

Josie winced slightly and sat up as pain. Like a fire, a wave of pain spread through her head and nausea rose in her throat. She closed her eyes tightly and scrunched her face in pain.

Elaine rushed to her daughter's side, holding up the trash can from beside the bed. She rubbed her daughter's back and held back her hair. Even though she knew it was just from the concussion and there wasn't anything to do but wait it out, she wished she could do more to help.

"Here, I'll braid your hair to keep it out of your way," Elaine murmured as she ran her fingers through the long auburn strands. It used to be so velvety and full of volume, but recently it had turned dry and fragile. "You don't need to worry, my dear. I'll be here until I have to go to work tomorrow."

She hugged her daughter gently and kissed her head. She grabbed a small chunk of her hair and began to braid. However, when she tugged slightly to make a neat and tight braid, a large chunk fell out into her hand. Elaine's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything.

She couldn't say anything.