Detour by Greaniis

Chapter 12.

 The following day began much like all the others on the unit. As usual, he first heard the activity of the staff at the nurses' station. They tried to be quiet in their conversations, but they tended to wake him from his sleep. At this point, he was used to it, so he didn't mind. He transferred into his wheelchair and wheeled himself over to his closet to grab a change of clothes. Looking at his clothes hanging on the rack in front of him, he remembered he was leaving the floor, at least for a short period of time, to see the orthopedic surgeon. He smiled at himself for having briefly forgotten. They would be finding out if he would be getting his casts off today. He really hoped so, they were getting smelly. Once he had his clothes in his lap, he headed to the bathroom passing his roommate on the way.

Bob was still in bed but awake also. He was watching TV with earbuds. Even with them in his ears, Greg could hear the announcement of the news broadcast.

"Good morning," he said loudly to Greg as he passed by.

"Do you mind if I use the bathroom first?" Greg asked as he got closer to the bathroom. "I have an appointment early this morning."

"What?" Bob asked, pulling one of the earbuds out of his ear. "Did you ask me something? Are you heading into the bathroom already?"

"Yes," Greg repeated. "I have an early appointment off the floor I need to get ready for. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, it's all yours. I think the nurses are coming in to help me get dressed, or the occupational therapy department is coming in. In either case, I can't get out of this bed without some help," Bob explained. "Still can't put much weight on my knees."

Greg headed into the bathroom to get done there before Rebecca came. He brushed his teeth, shaved, and washed up at the sink. He put on one of the nicer t-shirts he had from the closet, and a pair of basketball shorts. They were easy to move around in and he figured they could get out of the way easiest if the doctor needed to look at his legs. He came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later. Bob was still in his bed watching television.

"I hope I didn't snore too loudly," he said as Greg passed by. "I've been told by many I am quite loud. Like a Harley at full throttle."

"I didn't hear anything," in truth, he heard some snoring, but it wasn't loud enough to keep him awake.

"What appointment do you have this morning? I thought by the time we get here, there are no more doctors needing to see us," Bob continued.

"I have these casts on my leg and my wrist," Greg explained. "The surgeon will determine if I can get them off today."

"That would be a step in the right direction I guess, right? They must weigh something and slow down therapy," Bob said. "You seem like you're not going to be here much longer."

"I'm expecting to get out of here on Friday. The casts haven't slowed my therapy. The therapists are working with the added weight to their benefit. It's tough getting a shower though, so it would be nice to get rid of them. I've had them since I woke up."

"How long has that been?"

"Eight weeks."

"That should be long enough to heal broken bones," Bob said, looking back at the television. "Good luck."

"Thanks,"

Jackie came in to check on the two of them and see how everything was going. She reminded Greg he had the appointment, but she didn't need to do that, he remembered. When she went over to Bob, however, she pulled the curtain between the beds to give them more privacy.

"Bob, I saw your blood sugar number this morning," she said to him in a warning tone. "This should be the lowest number of the day. You didn't have anything to eat this morning before your finger stick, did you?"