Casting Debbie

Chapter 8

"Lou? It's Amita. Can I come in?"

"Come in, Amita!" Lou yelled from the bathroom.

Debbie wrapped a towel around Lou's wet body. "Who's Amita?" She grabbed another towel and ran it over her wet hair.

"My assistant. I need to get back in bed." Lou grabbed onto Debbie's arm. "I feel like I'm going to fall over."

"I've got you." Debbie helped Lou out of the bathroom and back to her bed.

Amita, a cute, Indian girl with brunette hair, was setting up what looked to be a rather large selection of cold-pressed juices and health supplements on the dresser. "Don't worry," she said. "I got this, Lou. We'll have you back on the set in no time." She looked up and saw Debbie. "Oh!" She looked at her a little closer and furrowed her brow. "Oh my God," she whispered. "How did you get Dr. Annie Porter?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Lou said, looking rather annoyed.

Debbie thoroughly enjoyed the look on Lou's face. Lou Miller wasn't the only one who had fans. "Hi, Amita. I'm Debbie." She walked over and shook Amita's hand.

Amita slapped a hand over her mouth. "My God, it's really you? We grew up together! I wanted to be you!"

Desperately needing to see Lou's reaction to her assistant being a BIG soap fan, Debbie turned around and was greeted with an eye roll and shake of the head. "Yes, Amita, it's really her," Lou said. "We're all so grateful to have daytime's most accomplished doctor here to help me get dressed-when she's in between heart transplants, of course."

Debbie smiled. "Ignore your pain-in-the-ass boss, Amita. Lou and I are friends."

Amita jumped up and down and grabbed Debbie, pulling her in for a hug. "I had no idea! And my sister's going to DIE! And my mom will just completely flip out. She wanted to KILL your mother for hiding your identical twin sister all those years ago, but like Mom said, it was a different time back then, and wealthy people could get away with just about anything."

"AMITA!" Lou shouted.

Amita got a look of panic on her face. "Shoot," she whispered. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Debbie covered her mouth, trying to hold back a laugh as Amita walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. Lou put a pillow under her arm, trying to get it in a comfortable position. "What are the rumblings?" she asked, looking pale and weak after her shower.

"Well, they're freaking out a little bit," Amita said. "The writers are trying to figure out how they can write you out of the first few episodes."

"WHAT?" Lou shouted. "That's ridiculous! There's no way. That's a breach of contract. Get my agent on the phone. Or my lawyer. Or someone!"

"Lin is already on it. And don't worry, there's no way they're writing you out. It'd be like writing Olivia Pope out of Scandal." Amita looked over at Debbie. "Or when they wrote Dr. Annie Porter out of Light of Day. The show hasn't been the same since."

"Thank you, Amita. That's nice of you to say." Debbie bit her lip to keep from laughing. She turned away from them, suddenly finding interest in the cold-pressed juices Amita had brought. She picked a bottle up and grimaced as she read the ingredients.

Amita tore her loving gaze from Debbie and focused on Lou again. "I know how you are about your privacy, but don't worry. I'm a certified nurse's aide and I dabble in homeopathy."

Debbie's eyes widened in surprise. She whipped her head around. "You're a CNA?"

Amita almost swooned at Debbie. "Yeah. I wanted to be a doctor like you, but," she glanced at Lou, "life got in the way."

Debbie moved closer, standing at the end of the bed. "Lou, Amita's a CNA. She could-"

Lou put up her hand. "Amita, I appreciate your concern, but Debbie's staying in the guesthouse, so-"

"Yeah, but," Debbie interrupted, "Amita could help with the heavy lifting."

Lou shot her a glare. "Heavy lifting?"

Amita gazed at Debbie with a look that said she'd died and gone to heaven. "You're staying in the guesthouse? Here? At Lou's?"

Lou sat up a little straighter in bed, grimacing in pain as she did so. "Okay, both of you just shut up and listen. Amita, no one is writing me off the show. I'll be ready. Got it?"

Amita nodded. "Got it."

"And I'll let you know when I need something, but Debbie will be doing most of the 'heavy lifting,' as she puts it." Lou made a finger quote with her good hand. "Since she has so much experience being a nurse or a doctor or whatever."

Debbie guffawed. "Yeah, and Lou will defend me in court when I go insane and commit a heinous crime due to all the heavy lifting."

"Or maybe I'll just sue your ass for malpractice," Lou snapped back.

It took Amita a second but then she laughed. "Because Lou plays a lawyer...I get it." She stood up. "Okay, well I know you're in very good hands, Lou." She turned to Debbie, getting that dreamy look on her face again. "I'll leave my CNA kit if you want. Stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, pretty much everything you'll need."

Debbie gave her a swift nod. "Absolutely. I'll need all of that."

Amita hugged Debbie again, gripping her shoulders as she pulled away. "I can't wait to tell my mom I met you. And we're all praying for you to come back to Light of Day. They didn't kill you off, so there's still hope."

"Ha! Like that ever stopped them," Lou said. "You're never really dead in the soap world, are you?"

Debbie smirked at Amita. "She's suddenly an expert now?"

Amita gave her a knowing smirk back. "She doesn't know what she's missing. Maybe she and her mom would be closer if they watched Light of Day together."

"I can hear you, Amita," Lou said. "I may look like the walking dead, but my ears work just fine."

Amita bit her lip. "Okay, then! Call if you need me!" She winked at Debbie and went to the door.

After seeing Amita out, Debbie went back into Lou's room, pulled a chair up to the bed, and sat down. Lou opened her eyes and closed them again. "I don't want to hear it."

"You let me think you had no one to take care of you and here's Amita, ready and willing. Not to mention the fact that your phone rings nonstop with your mom and everyone at work calling."

Lou turned away from her.

"What is it with you?" Debbie asked in frustration. "Why would you rather have a stranger take care of you?"

"That stranger's a doctor. And a good one, I hear. Brain surgeon or something, but if that thermometer comes anywhere near my ass..."

Debbie sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Lou now or probably ever. "You're obsessed with your own ass. You know that, right?" She sighed again. "Okay, it's time for your meds. And you can drink that shit Amita brought or I can order you some real food."

Lou closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. Real food."