All My Mother's Rules

Chapter 79: Happy Accidents

We didn't enter the hospital through the main entrance. Instead, Amanda drove us down into an underground employee parking garage.

"Sarah, why don't you stay in the car for a second and finish your Happy Meal?"

I nodded. I had almost forgotten about the meal they'd purchased for me. The nuggets and fries weren't too hot to eat now.

Both Amanda and Jodie stepped out of the car. They were standing to the side of it, engaged in a fairly emphatic conversation while I finished my meal. I was unable to hear what they were talking about.

I had just finished putting the last fry into my mouth when Amanda opened my car door.

"Jodie needs to go talk with some sheriff's deputies, but I'm going to stay with you until tonight."

"Go home then?"

Amanda turned back and exchanged a silent glance with Jodie. What were they not wanting to tell me?

Amanda looked back down at me. "I wouldn't worry about that right now. That's what we'll be working to figure out, OK?"

That answer didn't make any sense. Where was I going to stay if I wasn't going back home? But I got out of the car when Amanda asked me to, a little bit of dread building up inside at the prospect of whatever tests I was expecting the doctors to perform on me. Please let it be anything but drawing blood.

Jodie whispered one more thing to Amanda and then headed off in a different direction. I trailed slightly behind Amanda as she led the way toward the hospital entrance, still carrying a backpack she had filled up with things for me back at home. We passed a couple of women in their hospital scrubs, heading to and from their vehicles.

We were nearing a discreet entrance when a sensation in my bladder caused me to stop. Amanda continued walking for a few steps, then turned around to check on me.

I stood completely still as I filled my pull-up. With a dry diaper, an accident of that size would almost be unnoticeable, with most of the wetness being drawn away from my skin. That wasn't the case with the pull-up. It was fully soaked. I could feel the wet urine on my skin and the tug of the pull-ups elastic sides as it sagged down between my legs.

At least there wasn't a puddle on the floor this time. That would have been so much worse out here with everyone else who was in the underground parking garage.

"It's OK. I can help get you cleaned up once we are inside. There's a nurse who is waiting to see you."

I'm not sure how Amanda knew that I had had an accident. Had the expression on my face changed? Or was it the way I had paused while walking? Was my stance noticeably different? Or had the accident actually been audible?

The pull-up squished between my legs as we entered the hospital and made our way through a narrow hallway. Nurses and doctors were eating in break rooms that we passed. There weren't any other patients in this part of the hospital.

Amanda seemed to know exactly where she was going, choosing which hallways to turn down without pausing to look for directions. She held my hand and guided me into a family restroom.

This time I was able to do most of the cleanup myself, though Amanda wiped me a few times after I had finished wiping myself, as though she thought I had missed some areas. The dress had been a good choice since I only had to remove my shoes to get a new pull-up on.

After leaving the family restroom, we walked for what felt like forever. My feet ached badly. I hadn't been on my feet this long since I'd been in school, and this hospital complex was even larger than my high school.