That's What Love Is For

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Eight

Resting at home and a new found calm from Jamie proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Eddie. The smaller of the two sores healed with just a small scab, the larger sore had begun to close with no more oozing or fever. Sydney was thrilled of this, she knew there was no way she was going to get Jamie to the Bar Association dinner if Eddie was still unwell.

The afternoon of the dinner Jamie and Eddie sat at the kitchen table trying to select a few more candidates for her next home nurse.

"Jamie, this one is fine!" Eddie sighed as the poured over the seventeenth resume from the pile the visiting nurses agency sent over. "This person worked with ALS patients for heaven's sake! A lot of them are non-verbal, at least I still have my voice!"

"Eddie, fine is not good enough. You heard the doctor! Your injury is sensitive and because you always had a sensitive system your caregivers have to be way better than fine!"

"Jamie, we are not going to find you in this pile, okay? You cannot be my carer 24/7, it's not good for you, it's not good for our friendship, and it sure as Hell isn't good for your marriage and paycheck. You have to lower your standards just a little bit."

Jamie sighed, "I did lower them when I selected Rose and Sarah."

"Jamie," Eddie sighed but the set of his jaw told her that was not budging. "What about this one, a BSN...that's something right. Worked in neuro then left hospital to take care of her grandma with Alzheimers. You can't find fault with this one Reagan."

"Okay, that one and let's find two others."

The debate took another half hour, finally they had two more suitable candidates number 32 and 67. Eddie was baffled at how picky Jamie was about this, almost obsessed. "What time is your Dad coming?"

Frank had been asked to stay with Eddie that night since Henry had a previous engagement and Linda was working. "About six," Jamie replied. "Don't worry." Eddie was apprehensive about Frank staying with her.

"I think I'll lie down for a bit then and get the weight off my backside for a bit."

Jamie nodded and followed Eddie to her room where he gently placed her on her side with a pillow behind her, in front of her, and between her legs. "Sydney will wake you to do your night time routines before Dad gets here, it's a late night."

Eddie nodded, "TV on. Station number 829..." Eddie's favorite old show, "I Dream of Jeannie" was on.

Jamie left her to rest and emailed the agency interview requests.

"Thanks so much for doing this for me, Dad," Jamie said for the tenth time since asking his father to take care of Eddie that night, so he could accompany Syd to a bar associate function.

"My pleasure, she's family,' Frank replied. "And if you can't count of family..."

"Right,' Jamie replied. "But it's not as easy as it looks. Syd is helping Eddie in the bathroom so let me go over what she needs."

Jamie began in the kitchen. "Dinner. Eddie can feed herself most of the time. You have to cut her meat and make sure you make cut pasta so she doesn't have to work to get the food on the fork. She'll tell you what utensil she needs and all you do is take the grip and secure it around her hand. She lifts from the elbow so make sure it's tight enough not to fall off but not too tight. Drinking...she has a bottle for each drink that she likes. She'll tell what she wants and you just fill the bottle and it connects to her wheel chair. With dinner she usually takes water or soda, water is a blue bottle and soda is red."

Frank had a feeling he should have been more involved with Eddie's care from the beginning if Jamie was going to continue to do this indefinitely.

"What about medications?"