Part 56

Before her mother was through the doorway Charlotte asked, "What's going on?"

Debbie slowly walked over to the chair next to her daughter's side of the bed and sat down.

"We saw Dr. Houseman today and..."

"And we saw Dr. Reid," her mother shot back.

Her mother's announcement took her aback. "Dr. Reid, what for? Is Jenny okay?"

"His nurse called and supposedly Jenny had her follow up appointment this morning. They were wondering why she didn't make."

With everything that was going on... But seriously how could anyone remember the details of her screwed up circus of a life? "What did he say?"

"He said she is a walking miracle. That he expected her to regain full use of her arm and hand, but he's never seen a spinal cord injury heal so quickly."

One good thing; thank God. "Thanks for taking her. I completely forgot."

Debbie rested her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It's understandable. You've got a lot going on yourself." Then changing the subject she asked, "What are you doing up here? What are you writing?"

Charlotte glanced down at her hands, still poised on the keyboard. "Relaxing. Trying to gain an evener kneel."

Then Debbie's eyes brightened and her hand shot into her pocket. "That editor of your's called. He wanted to know if you could take an assignment for January. Something about homeless women and facing their roads to recovery."

It sounded interesting to Charlotte, but...

"It would give you something to write, and you'd get paid."

Yes, it would be the best of both worlds, if she could manage to keep her life's details on track. She took the slip of paper from her mother's outstretched hand. "Thanks, I'll think about it. There's a lot going on now."

Debbie's eyes turned away from her daughter. Charlotte took it as an admission of guilt. "You were already heading east when Sam called you, weren't you."

"Not quite, but yes we were packing up to leave in the next day or two."

"And you didn't mention it?"

"Don't you think your life was crazy enough without adding my medical issues to the mix?"

"Yes, but no... You should've said something. You've been here a while now. It could have been mentioned, oh by the way, I need to to see the doctor too."

"But why make you worry?"

"Why not?"

Debbie stood and slowly paced from the door to the bed. Her hand was rubbing her chin. Her head was down. Finally, in a thin voice she murmured, "There's nothing anyone can do. It's ovarian cancer."

(20056)