Nursing in Northlake (At the Altar Book 9) (8 page)

“Absolutely! With Jack being unemployed, I need all the hours I can get, and he can watch the kids!”

“Thank you! Shift starts at four. You’re working for Laura.”

“I’ll be there.”

“I’ll let Mary know. She’s in charge tonight.” Heidi said, ending the call and calling Mary. “Laura’s out sick, but Miranda is taking her place.”

“Oh, good. Miranda’s a hard worker. I’ll take her any time someone is out.”

“I like working with her too, which is why she’s always the first one I call.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem.” Heidi ended the call and hurried back to help direct the movers.

Slade looked over at her. “Do you want me to go and supervise while they put everything in storage?”

Heidi shook her head. “No, they’ll put whatever’s left in there, and I gave them the combination. I’m not worried about it.” She stifled a yawn. “I’m just glad this is almost over and we’ll have a whole day off tomorrow.” Of course, she’d spend half the day unpacking.

“What do you want to do with it?”

She made a face. “Other than unpacking boxes? I don’t know. Maybe we could just stay home and grill out for lunch. Swim.”

“I’d like that. Time with my wife is always the answer. Did you get your personnel problems taken care of?”

She nodded. “One of my CNAs has a kid with a stomach bug. There’s one who is always willing to fill in, though, so it was two quick phone calls and done.”

“Sounds like that was easy.”

“This time.” She grinned at him. “What do we want to do for dinner tonight? I don’t want to get out, but I don’t want to heat up the house either.”

He shrugged. “Why don’t I make some dogs on the grill? We can have dogs and chips. Not the healthiest meal in the world, but it won’t heat up the house, and we don’t have to go anywhere. We can even cook in our bathing suits.”

“Sounds good to me!”

*****

The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully, and Heidi couldn’t believe how easily she was settling into marriage...with a
doctor
, of all people! She watched Slade constantly, expecting him to turn into a domineering jerk, but so far, it just wasn’t happening.

On Monday morning, she went to work as usual, keeping in mind that she’d promised to fetch Miss Molly after lunch.

“How’s married life?” Vicki asked from the door to Heidi’s office.

Heidi looked up with a grin. “I never thought being married to a doctor could make me happy, but I was wrong.”

Vicki smiled at that. “I’m really glad.”

“I need a long lunch today.” Heidi quickly explained about Miss Molly. “I told her I’d pick her up after lunch. So what I thought I’d do, is go get her, drive her up here to see the assisted living area, then take her back. I can grab lunch on the way.”

“You need something healthier than tacos on occasion, Heidi.”

“I had burgers and potato salad yesterday.”

Vicki shook her head. “You need to slow down sometimes.”

“Right. Just like you do?”

“I feed my family a real meal most nights.”

“I ate a steak on Friday!”

“All right. I’m done talking. Anything happen over the weekend I need to know about?”

Heidi shook her head. “Laura called in sick kid. Miranda covered for her.”

“God bless Miranda,” Vicki responded. “She makes it so easy to cover those CNA shifts.”

“I know. It’s going to be tough when her husband finds a job.”

“Okay, I’m going to let you get back to your paperwork.”

Heidi nodded, already looking down at the form in front of her. She hated paperwork almost as much as she hated mornings.

She was still at it an hour later when she saw something that had her jumping up and running for the door. Mrs. Nelson, who had been a resident since before Heidi started working there six years before, was wandering down the hall. It wouldn’t be unusual, except that Heidi had only seen Mrs. Nelson in her bed or a wheelchair. She’d assumed the woman couldn’t walk.

She walked next door to Vicki’s office. “Why was Mrs. Nelson just wandering down the hall?”

Vicki looked up from her computer, rubbing the back of her neck absently. “Mrs. Nelson? Oh, she can walk. She just kept throwing herself on the floor not wanting to walk, so we got her a wheelchair. She walks when she feels like it, but that’s the only time.”

Heidi blinked a few times. “Why didn’t I know this?”

“Because she doesn’t usually feel like it.” Vicki shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with her legs or her balance. She tends to wander around a lot in the middle of the night.”

“Should we add working with her on walking to her care plan?”

“Absolutely not! She throws herself on the floor and has a fit worthy of any toddler. Nope. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing. If she wants to walk, she can. If she doesn’t, we’ll let her ride around in her wheelchair.”

Heidi nodded. She understood completely. Once a patient was on the floor, it was hard to get them up, and Mrs. Nelson was one of the most stubborn women she knew! “All right. She really freaked me out for a minute there.”

“You might want to follow her. She gets tired of walking and sits down wherever she is, and then she needs a wheelchair to get back to where she’s supposed to be. She was dressed, I hope?”

Heidi nodded. “Yeah, she was dressed. I have no idea where she was going, but I’ll try to find her.”

Five minutes later, she was glad she’d taken Vicki’s advice. Mrs. Nelson was sitting on the floor in the lobby, complaining about someone pushing her out of her wheelchair loudly to anyone who would listen. Thankfully, no one was listening. “I’ll get your wheelchair for you, Mrs. Nelson.” She was on the floor beside a comfortable chair. “Let me help you into a chair while I go get one.”

Mrs. Nelson nodded, taking Heidi’s hand to be helped up. She sat in the chair and folded her hands on her lap, waiting for her chair. Instead of going to get one herself, Heidi had the receptionist page a CNA with a wheelchair for Mrs. Nelson.

Jenni was there a minute later, pushing a wheelchair. “I wondered where you’d wandered off to, Mrs. Nelson. You know you’re not supposed to just walk off.”

“You pushed me out of my wheelchair and left me,” Mrs. Nelson argued belligerently.

“Of course.” Jenni helped her into the chair and pushed her back down the hall. “It’s almost time for lunch. Do you want to sit with your friends today?”

The last thing Heidi heard as they disappeared around the corner was, “You know I don’t have any friends. Why do you always make up stories?”

Heidi shook her head. It was going to be a long day!

Chapter Eight

Miss Molly was waiting for her when Heidi drove up. “Are we going to use a wheelchair when we get there, or do you think you can handle it with your walker?”

“My knees are feeling young today. I can do it!”

Heidi smiled at that. “Good! If you change your mind, I can arrange for a chair, but it’s good for you to walk when you can.”

Once Miss Molly was settled in the car, Heidi headed toward the nursing home. “Do you have any questions before we get there?”

“Yes, are there other people who I can do things with there?”

“Absolutely! There are always people down in the lobby putting puzzles together and playing cards. There’s a big television and you’d have people to watch your stories with. I think you’ll really like it.”

“But I’ll have my own space?”

“Yes, you will. Your apartment will be a one-bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. We’ll set up a schedule for people to check on you. You don’t have to be around people unless you want to, but if you want to, you can. It’s that simple. You’ll have a whole community of friends in no time.”

Miss Molly sighed. “I hoped it would never come to this.”

“I know you did, and if I could have stayed living in my little apartment above you forever, we’d have been able to hold off a lot longer. But you need more help than I can give when I’m not living that close to you. Here, you’ll always have help if you need it. There will be a number you can call if you fall or if you just need someone to run to the store for a gallon of milk.” Heidi pulled into the parking lot and hurried around the car, handing Miss Molly her walker. “I don’t want you to be challenging the other residents to races, though. Do you understand me?”

Miss Molly just grinned. “I won’t have to if they can keep me entertained.”

“Good golly, Miss Molly! You need to learn to entertain yourself!”

Miss Molly just giggled as they walked the few steps to the lobby. Heidi had already arranged for the tour, so she had Miss Molly sit and wait while she parked in an appropriate space. She was back beside her friend two minutes later, and she saw that Miss Molly had already struck up a conversation with Opal, one of Heidi’s favorite residents.

“Hello, Miss Opal. I see you’ve met my friend, Miss Molly.”

“I didn’t know her name, but yes, we met. She plays spades, so she needs to move in here, because I need a good spades partner. Jasper tries, but the old goat can barely see the cards, and I need someone as good as I am.”

“Of course you do, Miss Opal. Do you want to show Miss Molly your apartment? We’re going to see an empty one, but she might like to see how nice they look when they’re decorated like yours is.” Heidi didn’t really need Miss Molly to see Opal’s apartment, but she knew that if the two became friends, it would be easier for Miss Molly to transition into the facility.

Miss Opal nodded. “I’d love to show her.” She slowly got to her feet, reaching for her cane. “Come on, Molly.”

Miss Molly leaned on the arm of the chair and got to her feet, taking the walker Heidi offered her. She looked happier than Heidi had seen her in a long time, so Heidi knew this was where she needed to be.

Heidi followed the two ladies, listening to Miss Opal tell Miss Molly all about the place and how much she loved living there. “You’d be surprised at some of the good looking men we have here. Don’t let the silver hair, or lack thereof, throw you off. Some of them still have a lot of riding left in them.”

Heidi wanted to block her ears. She didn’t need to know about what went on when no one was watching.

Miss Molly laughed. “I’m sure none of them can hold a candle to the young doctor Heidi’s currently riding. Did you know she got married last weekend?”

“Miss Molly!” Heidi said, shocked at the older woman’s earthy speech.

“Every generation thinks they invented sex. I could tell you a thing or two about sex, Heidi!” Miss Opal stopped at her door and unlocked it. “I was married twice, you know, and I had lots of men in between. I was considered pretty wild in my day.”

“I don’t need to know that, Miss Opal!”

“Sure you do!” Miss Opal led the way into her apartment, showing Miss Molly every little nook and cranny while Heidi checked the text message she’d felt vibrate in her pocket.

Missing you. Should be home on time tonight. I’ll cook.

Heidi grinned, wondering how she’d gotten so lucky as to end up married to the only kind doctor she’d ever met. She quickly texted him back.
Sounds good. I’m touring the assisted living with Miss Molly. She’s already made a friend! And I miss you too, but don’t let it go to your head.

She tucked her phone back into her pocket as the two ladies came back. Miss Molly grinned. “Is that sweet husband of yours messaging you?”

“He is. Are you ready to see the empty place that would be yours?”

Miss Molly nodded. “I don’t think I need to see it. I’m ready to sign papers to move in here.”

Heidi smiled. “Good. Let’s look anyway so we’re one-hundred percent sure, but I’m so glad you like it.”

“I like it, but I like Opal best. This is going to be a great place for me to make friends. And she told me there are Olympics every year with motorized cart racing. I’m going to win that. Does your Slade know anything about engines?”

Heidi shrugged. “It wouldn’t surprise me, but not to my knowledge.”

“I’m going to need to find someone who can soup up an engine on my cart, so I can be a real competitor.”

“No, you don’t. You can follow the rules like everyone else.”

“What’s the fun of that?”

Heidi sighed, seeing Miss Molly was going to be a bad influence on the other residents. “I’m going to have to assign six people to make sure you’re not causing trouble here, aren’t I, Miss Molly?”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way!”

*****

When Heidi got home that evening, she found Slade in the kitchen making a stir-fry. She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “How did I get so lucky as to marry you?”

He laughed. “I have no idea. You must have done something good at some point in your life.”

She shook her head. “You really are something else.”

He leaned down and kissed her sweetly. “How’d Miss Molly like the assisted living?”

“She met another resident as soon as she got there, and they became fast friends. She signed all the paperwork, and she’s moving in next weekend. I’m going to need to help her.”

“We’ll help her together. She’s such a sweet old lady. I’m glad she liked it.”

“I think the big draw was the idea of there being people for her to hang out with. She’s been lonely for as long as I’ve known her. She could handle it before as long as she knew I’d try to stop in every day, or at least every other day. With me moving away, it made it a lot harder on her.”

“Do you think she’ll be happy there, though?”

Heidi nodded emphatically. “Oh, yeah. They have Olympics there every year. Which reminds me, she wants to know if you know anything about engines.”

“Engines? Yeah, sure. I worked on my own cars when I was in college.” Slade frowned, wondering why Miss Molly would want to know that.

“Please keep that information to yourself. She wants you to soup up the engine on a motorized cart so she can win the races.”

He laughed. “Of course she does. And you don’t want this to happen?”

Heidi shook her head. “Not at all! I never told you the whole story about the pickles, did I?”

“No, you didn’t. What happened with the pickles?”

“I took her grocery shopping, and her legs weren’t quite feeling up to walking. She’s got arthritis in both knees, and she gets sore.”

“Of course.”

“So she rode one of the motorized carts. She asked me to pick out a couple of watermelons, and while I was doing that, she challenged this old man in another cart to a race. The next thing I knew, they had crashed into a pickle display and there were more than seventy-five jars of pickles broken. The place stunk to high heaven. The manager asked the two of us to never return to his store.”

Slade bit his lip, obviously fighting back his laugh. “That’s terrible.”

“Oh, go ahead and laugh. It was funny, but not at the time. I couldn’t believe it. She really does need someone to keep an eye on her, and I’ve tried for the past six years.”

“Doesn’t she have any children?”

“She does. She has a daughter who lives in Denton. She hires people to check up on Miss Molly, but she never makes sure they’re doing their job. So they work for a few months, and then they stop showing up. And then I start watching out for her full-time again until her daughter can find someone else. I have to call her every few months to tell her to take care of her mother.” Heidi shook her head. “If I ever neglect my mother that way, feel free to yell all you want. The woman gave her daughter life, and she deserves respect for that.”

“She does.” He sighed. “I wish I had an answer for her, but it sounds like the assisted living will be perfect for her.”

“It will. There are daily activities for her to be involved in, and she already made a friend. They were checking out the butts of the men we walked past.”

He laughed. “I can see that. She pinched my butt, if you’ll recall. I think she may have bruised it.”

Heidi shook her head. “I’m not going to kiss it better, so don’t even go there.”

“I wasn’t about to! Although, she
is
your friend.”

“She is, but I’m not responsible for her actions. I’m barely responsible for my own actions.” She leaned against him. “Thanks for cooking supper. I wasn’t looking forward to figuring out what to make when I got home.”

“We both work full time. It’s not your job to feed me.”

“Tell me something, Dr. Henderson.”

“What’s that?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“How did you stay single for so long?” Heidi asked, only half-serious.

“I have no idea. You’d think women would have taken one look at me and known what a catch I was, but they just didn’t. They couldn’t get past the fact that I look at women's girly bits all day, I guess.”

“That doesn’t bother me a bit. Does it bother you that I start catheters in men and change their diapers?”

“Not at all.”

She smiled. “That’s why we’re a good team.”

“We are. I’m glad you’re getting over the fact that I’m a doctor.”

“I can live with it, I guess!”

*****

Heidi and Slade spent Saturday getting Miss Molly ready to move. She had twenty years of clutter in her apartment, and Heidi tried to get her to let go of some of her possessions.

“Miss Molly, what are you going to do with this collection of bottle caps? You have forty-five that are identical.”

“They’ll be worth something someday.”

“No they won’t. I want to throw them away.”

“I like them.”

“They take up space, and your new apartment is going to be half this size.”

Heidi won that round, but lost the next. On and on they went all morning. The movers arrived at one, and they took the furniture away, leaving Miss Molly’s chair for last. As soon as that was loaded into the truck, Heidi looked at Slade. “You stay here and help finish this. I’m going to take Miss Molly to her new apartment, so she can get to know her friends there.”

As they drove, Heidi talked a little about the routine. “They serve dinner every night at five. You can eat there or eat in your room. The choice is always yours.”

“Do they feed us old people stuff, like tapioca pudding and Jell-O?”

“I’m sure they do sometimes, but not all the time. You’ll be expected to cook for yourself for breakfast and lunch, so it might be nice to put up with old people foods once a day to avoid cooking.”

“Oh, I like old people food! I hope they serve it. Those little Jell-O cubes they always give you are perfect for putting on a spoon and launching across the room. Good way to meet men.”

Heidi shook her head. “Miss Molly, please don’t get yourself kicked out. I can’t keep an eye on you as well anywhere else.”

“Oh, I won’t get kicked out. They’ll never know it’s me. Have you seen my innocent look? I perfected it in the fifties, and no one has ever been able to see through it.”

“I’m starting to worry about whether or not the assisted living is a good idea for you. Promise me you won’t do anything destructive!”

Miss Molly just laughed, saying nothing else.

Heidi pulled under the awning at the entrance to the assisted living and helped Miss Molly into a chair in the lobby before parking again. When she got back inside, Miss Molly was sitting with an elderly gentleman, Mr. Richard, and the two of them were looking soulfully into each others eyes. Heidi wanted to tell him to run, but she knew Mr. Richard, and if anyone could keep up with Miss Molly it was him. Miss Molly had buried two husbands already, but Heidi loved the idea of her finding happiness one more time.

She walked to the front desk to talk to the woman on duty. “Miss Molly is moving in today. She’ll be in apartment twenty-seven. Do you have her key?”