button with his thumb. A light went on above the bed, and a beeping started.
Stopped.
Confused, swaying, dizzy, Marshall forced himself to push the button again, again setting off both a light and an unpleasant repetitive sound. Someone would come now, and they would know why; he didn't have to try to keep it in his mind any longer. He let himself lie down on the floor.
'No, Marshall,' Faye said, gently scolding. The call light and bell went off again, and this time the cord was unfastened from the bed and lifted well out of reach, out of consciousness. 'Don't call anybody else. I'm right here. Let me take care of you. I'll take good care of you.'
In the staff lounge, Abby slid her dinner tray across the sticky table and dropped into a chair. 'God, this is horrible. Doesn't anybody clean up their own mess around here?'
Nobody answered. Rebecca's embarrassment and guilt were muted only because she was so tired and preoccupied. She was, of course, responsible for everything that happened in this facility, including the indisputable fact that the staff lounge was always a mess. Not getting to her feet until she had to, she started stacking dishes and trash onto her tray.
'I didn't mean you.' Blushing, Abby got up and moved the trash can closer to the table so she could push litter directly into it. But it was already overflowing, and napkins and pop cans bounced onto the floor.
'Sit down and eat your dinner,' Rebecca admonished her. 'You only have half an hour. I'll get housekeeping in here after you guys are off break.'
Abby sighed, sat down, and unwrapped her silverware, which clattered against the plastic tray. 'Look at this. Macaroni and cheese. Bread and butter. Creamed corn. Cake and ice cream. Now that's a real balanced meal. Starch, starch, and more starch.'
Rebecca frowned defensively, and Florence protested, 'The cake is homemade, though. Roslyn does try.'
'Alex was upset tonight because of all the starches. I guess he's made kind of a study of nutrition because it's so important when he can't move his body.' Abby paused. 'Alex is real interesting to talk to, you know?'
Rebecca nodded eagerly. 'A lot of these people are.' She and Abby exchanged a smile, and Rebecca would have liked to say more. She'd have liked to talk about the profound satisfaction she got from working here, the excitement that sometimes bordered on giddiness from coming into contact with all these personalities confined in such a small, rarefied space, the sense she sometimes had that she could pick and choose from them to cobble
together something for herself. But that seemed silly and melodramatic, not to mention unprofessional, so she contented herself with adding, 'It's an honor to work here, isn't it?' which was risky enough.
'Yeah, sure,' scoffed Maxine. ' You try wiping ass eight hours a day for minimum wage and see how much of an honor you think it is then.'
'I know,' Rebecca agreed carefully. 'You guys are the ones we couldn't do without.'
'You can tell,' Maxine pretended to confide to Abby, 'because we're the best-paid and most respected workers in long-term care.' Abby smiled uncertainly. Rebecca ran a hand across her tired eyes, wondering wearily whether she could talk Dan into an across-the-board raise for the nurses' aides, knowing that would mean a raise for everybody else, too, which would have enormous budgetary impact while leaving the system as a whole essentially unchanged.
After an awkward pause, the various conversations around the table resumed, and Abby said quietly to Rebecca, 'It must be hard having your dad here.'
Rebecca thought it ought to be harder than it was, but she didn't say that. 'Sometimes,' she admitted. 'But it's also nice having him nearby.'
'Your mom is such a sweet lady,' Abby said.
People often said things like that about Billie Emig, but Rebecca still didn't readily associate such observations with the woman she
Stopped.
Confused, swaying, dizzy, Marshall forced himself to push the button again, again setting off both a light and an unpleasant repetitive sound. Someone would come now, and they would know why; he didn't have to try to keep it in his mind any longer. He let himself lie down on the floor.
'No, Marshall,' Faye said, gently scolding. The call light and bell went off again, and this time the cord was unfastened from the bed and lifted well out of reach, out of consciousness. 'Don't call anybody else. I'm right here. Let me take care of you. I'll take good care of you.'
In the staff lounge, Abby slid her dinner tray across the sticky table and dropped into a chair. 'God, this is horrible. Doesn't anybody clean up their own mess around here?'
Nobody answered. Rebecca's embarrassment and guilt were muted only because she was so tired and preoccupied. She was, of course, responsible for everything that happened in this facility, including the indisputable fact that the staff lounge was always a mess. Not getting to her feet until she had to, she started stacking dishes and trash onto her tray.
'I didn't mean you.' Blushing, Abby got up and moved the trash can closer to the table so she could push litter directly into it. But it was already overflowing, and napkins and pop cans bounced onto the floor.
'Sit down and eat your dinner,' Rebecca admonished her. 'You only have half an hour. I'll get housekeeping in here after you guys are off break.'
Abby sighed, sat down, and unwrapped her silverware, which clattered against the plastic tray. 'Look at this. Macaroni and cheese. Bread and butter. Creamed corn. Cake and ice cream. Now that's a real balanced meal. Starch, starch, and more starch.'
Rebecca frowned defensively, and Florence protested, 'The cake is homemade, though. Roslyn does try.'
'Alex was upset tonight because of all the starches. I guess he's made kind of a study of nutrition because it's so important when he can't move his body.' Abby paused. 'Alex is real interesting to talk to, you know?'
Rebecca nodded eagerly. 'A lot of these people are.' She and Abby exchanged a smile, and Rebecca would have liked to say more. She'd have liked to talk about the profound satisfaction she got from working here, the excitement that sometimes bordered on giddiness from coming into contact with all these personalities confined in such a small, rarefied space, the sense she sometimes had that she could pick and choose from them to cobble
together something for herself. But that seemed silly and melodramatic, not to mention unprofessional, so she contented herself with adding, 'It's an honor to work here, isn't it?' which was risky enough.
'Yeah, sure,' scoffed Maxine. ' You try wiping ass eight hours a day for minimum wage and see how much of an honor you think it is then.'
'I know,' Rebecca agreed carefully. 'You guys are the ones we couldn't do without.'
'You can tell,' Maxine pretended to confide to Abby, 'because we're the best-paid and most respected workers in long-term care.' Abby smiled uncertainly. Rebecca ran a hand across her tired eyes, wondering wearily whether she could talk Dan into an across-the-board raise for the nurses' aides, knowing that would mean a raise for everybody else, too, which would have enormous budgetary impact while leaving the system as a whole essentially unchanged.
After an awkward pause, the various conversations around the table resumed, and Abby said quietly to Rebecca, 'It must be hard having your dad here.'
Rebecca thought it ought to be harder than it was, but she didn't say that. 'Sometimes,' she admitted. 'But it's also nice having him nearby.'
'Your mom is such a sweet lady,' Abby said.
People often said things like that about Billie Emig, but Rebecca still didn't readily associate such observations with the woman she
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