Bears Know Best

Chapter 21: Long Roads

THE NEXT DAY I woke up when the sun started streaming in my room's window... 'Way too early!' I thought to myself. Dad was snoring in the recliner/bed hybrid thing, and I knew there was no way I would be going back to sleep. A nurse stopped in and said 'hi' quietly to me, and we quietly giggled about my dad's snoring. She brought me a fresh glass of ice water at my request, and I began to both fear and look forward to Doctor Gafford's return visit this morning.

When Dad eventually woke up, he used the room's shower to make himself feel human. I was sooo jealous!!!

Mom came in about nine-thirty with two cups of coffee in her hand. She handed one to Dad. "Thank you, Heather," he said. I was pretty proud of how civil the two of them had been together the past week. I had no expectations of Dad divorcing Rachel and coming to get back together with Mom, but at least they could behave as adults together. In the past, anytime we got together there was a lot of tension in the air as I was passed from one to the other, but that seemed to have improved the last week.

Doctor Gafford came in not too much later and Dad quietly excused himself while the packing was pulled out. It was a bit uncomfortable to deal with, but it didn't hurt as much as I expected it to. When the packing was out I could see a 'hole' had been revealed... and knew that it would be my new reality from here on out. She spent some time discussing with my Mom and I about a modified 'dilating' procedure for us to do frequently for a while to make sure the new opening stayed open. She explained that I wouldn't have to do it for much more than a month, but for us to be sure the skin was staying open properly I needed to do it daily.

As she demonstrated it, I was both horrified, and slightly ashamed that it felt almost... pleasant... Doctor Gafford must have noticed my reaction, because she said, "And that's how we know you aren't a normal patient with this procedure. If you were, this would be nothing but pain for a long time," she told me.

I blushed.

"The nurse will help you take a shower this morning Taylor, and tomorrow morning we'll pull the catheter out. If you need to make a bowel movement, and I expect you should today, she can either bring you a bed pan or you can get help to the restroom."

"Am I going to be that weak?" I asked scared.

"You're not going to be as strong as you're used to," she told me.

It wasn't nearly as bad as she led me to believe though; as I was helped up to the bathroom to take a shower it didn't seem too bad. Mom shooed the nurse out of the way and helped me by herself. "It's not like she weighs that much," Mom told her as she supported my weight a little bit while I wriggled out of the panties they'd given me the day before. She pulled my nightgown over my head, and helped me into the shower.

I managed to do pretty well on my own actually, and I think Mom was surprised by that as I washed my hair for the first time since I'd gotten up three days ago. It felt luxurious to have the warm water running over my body, but I did start to feel tired of standing, so I got out long before I wanted, for fear of falling. Mom helped me into another pair of panties that were like the ones from the previous night. She had just helped me pull another nightgown over my head when the nurse stopped back in.

"Did you manage mostly okay?" She asked me.

I nodded.

"Doctor Gafford suggested we go ahead and use a maxi-pad in your panties in case there is any bleeding or draining of your wound down there."

I blushed. "Umm... okay, how?"

She let Mom take the lead on the issue and soon I had a pad stuck to the panties to catch anything. "Well at least you know what to do when you get your period now," Mom told me with a smirk.