Page 80 of Maybe in Another Life

“Well, what are you doing here?” I ask her. “Don’t hang out with your lame best friend. Go hang out with your thoughtful, romantic husband. I mean, he could be buying you cashmere and chocolate right now.”

“No, right now, I’d rather be here. I’d rather be with you. Besides, Mark said he had to go into work today. Said he’d be unavailable until late tonight. There were billing problems at work, I guess.”

“He doesn’t have an office manager or someone to do that stuff?”

Gabby thinks it over. “Well, no, he does,” she says. “But he says lately, he needs more time to look over their work. So what should we do today? Should I get us a book to read together? Are we watchingLaw & Order?”

I shake my head. “Nope. We’re going on an adventure,” I tell her.

“Where are we going?”

“Wherever we want,” I tell her, and I point to the wheelchair in the corner.

She brings it over, and I skooch myself closer to the edge of the bed.

“Can you pull the railing down?” I ask her. “It’s that button there, and then you just press down.”

She’s got it.

“Now, just move the wheelchair to the side, just to the... yeah.”

I swing my legs down off the bed.

“Sorry, one last thing. Can you just grab me around my waist? I can do this. I just need a little bit of help.”

She grabs me under my arms. “Ready?” she says.

“Yep!” I say, and at the same time Gabby lifts me, I push myself up.

It’s not graceful. It’s actually quite painful, very noisy, and I end up with my ass half hanging out of my gown, but I’m in the seat. I’m mobile.

“Can you...” I say, gesturing toward the half of my gown.

“Oh, right,” Gabby says, and she moves it as I try to lift myself just a little to get situated.

“Thanks,” I say. “Now, can you take my morphine bag and put it on my chair here?”

She does.

“Ready?” I ask her.

“Ready,” she says.

“Oh!” I say, right before I start to push. “Do you have dollar bills?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I think I have one or two. Why, are we going to a strip club?”

I laugh as she grabs her purse.

And then we are off.

I see Deanna in the hallway, and she tells me not to go too far. I lead us down the hallway and to the right, just as Henry led me the other day.

“Do you have a favorite movie?” I ask Gabby. If I had to guess, I’d say her favorite movie isWhen Harry Met Sally...

“When Harry Met Sally...” she says. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know what my favorite movie is,” I say.

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