Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
From Heather’s garage, I took the sidewalk back to my apartment, passing Rita’s porch. Seeing her front blinds still closed worried me, so I pressed her number on my phone. The call went to voice mail.
I usually laughed whenever she complained about me not checking on her, although I’d never shirked my duty. We used her blinds as our signal.
Still, I hated to pester her if she’d wanted an extra hour or two of sleep. According to my watch, it was almost ten o’clock and I doubted she’d still be in bed. Had she gone to the mainland and forgotten to open her blinds?
I walked around to the kitchen and peeked into the window on the door, yet saw nothing to concern me. In the back, she hadn’t opened her bedroom blinds, and that made me very nervous.
Returning to the kitchen door, I jiggled the doorknob, loudly called her name, then listened. Did I hear a muffled voice from inside? I couldn’t be sure, nor did I have access to her downstairs apartment.
I called Heather. “Do you have a key to Rita’s place?”
“Yes. Did she lock herself out?”
“No, but she hasn’t opened her blinds.”
“Do you think she’s teasing you? She once told Wyatt that she’d teach him a lesson if he didn’t check on her.”
“I know, but I’d like to go inside to make sure she’s okay.”
“All right, I’ll get the key and be right over.”
I walked back to the front porch and sat on the step to wait, worrying the whole time. What if she’d fallen again? We told her to carry her phone at all times, but she may have forgotten.
Relieved to see Heather, I urged her to hurry. Alicia, in her pajamas, trailed behind. “Is she all right?” Ali asked.
Her mother replied, “We won’t know until we go inside.”
Heather pulled open the screen door, then unlocked the inside door. When she pushed it, she called, “Rita? Are you here?”
We all heard the faint, “Help me!”
Following the voice, we headed to the back bedroom where we knew she slept. “Where are you?” I shouted.
I heard whimpers from the hall bathroom, which also had a doorway into her bedroom, thanks to Brad’s handyman skills. We found her on the floor, with her foot tangled on a bathmat near the sink.
I got down on the floor with her. “You’re going to be okay, Rita. We’re here.” She sobbed deep, heart-wrenching tears.
Alicia joined us on the floor and took her hand. “You’re not alone any more, Rita. Do you think you can sit up?”
Rita wrapped her bony fingers around Alicia’s. “I tried, but it hurt too much. I might have broken my hip again.”
“Then, we need to call for an ambulance,” I said gently.
She nodded as tears slid down her cheek. “I thought I would die here, all alone.”
“You’re not dying, and you’re not alone,” I stated firmly as Heather pressed 9-1-1 on her phone.
“Rita Bennett has fallen and can’t get up,” she advised the dispatcher, adding the address. “Please send an ambulance.”
Alicia scooted into the bedroom and returned with a soft pillow to place under Rita’s head and a throw blanket to arrange over her. “We’ll be with you, so don’t worry. Luckily, Jodie checked on you, and Mom had a key.”
Once again, Rita grabbed Alicia’s hand. Her whole body shook as she sobbed, “Thank goodness.”
To my utter surprise, Alicia laid down next to her to warm Rita’s body. The tremors continued, even after the emergency personnel arrived. They took over, asking us to give them room to examine her.
We went to the kitchen where we could listen to the EMT’s conversation. Heather asked me, “Should I call Wyatt?”
Alicia’s back stiffened.
“Let’s wait until we know something,” I suggested.
“I think I should call Wyatt,” Heather insisted.
“You have to follow your intuition,” I said, “but he can’t do anything from halfway around the world. I’d say we should take care of things on this end and let him know what’s going on later.”
Alicia nodded. “I agree with Jodie, Mom.”
“Wyatt is Rita’s grandson, and her only relative,” Heather explained. “He’s also her power of attorney.”
“Rita seems able to make decisions,” I said. “She’s talking to one of the emergency personnel right now. Let’s wait to see.”
One of them sprinted past us, then returned with a gurney. From the kitchen doorway, we watched as they carefully strapped her in, and prepared to roll her to the ambulance.
She was alert, and didn’t let them continue until she told us, “They’re taking me to the hospital in Cape May Courthouse to see if I broke any bones. My medical cards should be in my purse, if you could get that for them, Heather. It’s in the entry closet.”
She scurried for it, while I replied that I’d drive to the hospital as soon as I grabbed my own purse. “My mother and I are coming too,” Alicia said. “I just have to get dressed first.”
“I’m grateful, dear.” The EMT person pushed her forward, but she called to me, “Jodie, get my keys from the kitchen drawer and lock the house, please.”
“Okay, and we’ll see you soon.”
We watched as they maneuvered the gurney down the front steps, then discussed that we’d take two cars to the hospital. If I hurried, I could be Rita’s advocate in the emergency department. Heather and Alicia would follow shortly.
I found the keys in the drawer and locked both doors after turning off lights and checking the stove. Upstairs, I retrieved my purse and keys, stuck Rita’s inside the zipper compartment, and headed to my car.
The ambulance pulled out just after I started my ignition.
It had its lights flashing, but no siren, and it kept to the speed limit so I followed it across the causeway.
I felt relieved that Rita would get the help she needed, and prayed she hadn’t broken any bones. In fact, I felt certain she hadn’t.
After pulling into a spot at the hospital’s emergency parking lot, I practically followed Rita inside and, given her insistence, I was allowed to stay with her. Her tears had ended and she’d taken control, so the nurses and doctors got the full Rita Bennett.
The EMT personnel had moved her to an emergency room bed, then left. The admitting nurse stood next to her with a rolling computer. She took Rita’s blood pressure, oxygen level, and pulse rate, recording those before asking her what had happened.
“I tripped over the stupid bathroom mat,” Rita groused.
“What time was that?” the nurse asked.
“I have no idea, but probably about two in the morning.”
“Why did you call 9-1-1?”
“My friends found me and I couldn’t get up.”
“What time was that?”
I answered for her. “It was about ten-thirty.” I glanced at the clock on the wall to see it was now close to one.
The nurse turned to me. “You found her on the floor?”
“Yes, ma’am. Luckily, her neighbor had a key.”
“What was her condition?” she asked.
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes,” Rita grumbled.
“I can tell you myself. I didn’t use my walker because I had to pee right away and I wouldn’t have made it there in time.
I didn’t think to pick up my phone as they often reminded me, but I was in a hurry.
On my way back to my bed, I tripped over the stupid rug and couldn’t get up.
Honestly, I laid there for hours, praying Jodie would check on me as she promised she would.
So, I was emotional when they all arrived. ”
The nurse typed that information, then asked her, “Who is ‘all of them?’”
Rita summarized, “Jodie is my upstairs tenant, and I’d like her as an emergency contact because she’s also a dear friend.
I’m guessing she called my neighbor, Heather, who has a key to my house, and she’s also a friend who’s dating my grandson.
They are both my emergency contacts. Her daughter came, too. ”
“Should we notify your grandson?” the nurse asked as she scrolled through another computer screen.
“No, he’s in Morocco, but he’ll come home if I need him. I don’t think we have to take him from his travels right now. He’s a world-renowned photographer,” she added proudly.
The nurse smiled. “You must be delighted.”
“Beyond what you can imagine. He’s the only family I have left.”
“Then,” she said, “he’s very special.”
Rita’s eyes misted. “Yes, he is.”
Back to business, the nurse remarked, “The doctor will be in to see you shortly. Are you comfortable?”
Rita nodded. “Yes, I am. In fact, I think I’m okay and can go home.”
“That’s great,” the nurse replied. “I imagine the doctor will want to run some tests, so let’s give him his time to shine.”
We laughed as she rolled her computer to the hallway. “She’s nice,” Rita said.
I agreed. “Hopefully, you’ll be out of here in an hour or so.”
The doctor ordered x-rays, which they did from her room in the ER, as well as an echocardiogram and some bloodwork. In the meantime, Heather and Alicia joined me on the side chairs in Rita’s cubicle.
Rita and I filled them in, though I noticed she looked tired. “I want to go home,” she said.
“Of course you do,” Alicia agreed. “Does it hurt to move?”
“Yes, but that’s not unusual. I don’t feel like I did when I broke my hip.”
“Hopefully, the x-rays will show that nothing is broken,” she said.
An hour later, Heather gave Alicia a twenty dollar bill to go to the hospital’s cafeteria and bring back a snack for each of us. I didn’t expect that money to go far, so I added another twenty.
She returned with chocolate milkshakes, which looked and smelled good. Rita, especially, seemed to appreciate something sweet, yet nourishing.
As she sipped, she mused, “I’m sorry I acted like such a baby when you found me. I don’t know why I was so teary-eyed.”
“Geez,” Alicia replied. “Give yourself a break. You were all alone, and no one could hear you yelling. I’d have been petrified.”
“My grandson made me promise to carry my phone, but I didn’t think about it in the middle of the night.”
“How about one of those ‘I’ve fallen and can’t get up’ things I’ve seen advertised?” Alicia pressed. “I think it’s like a necklace you’d wear.”
Rita sighed. “I never thought I’d need something like that.”
I watched and listened to the interaction, and truly admired the way the two of them connected. Had a special bond developed when Rita babysat Alicia so many years ago? Neither Heather nor I would have been able to suggest the Life Alert necklace without resistance. I let them continue.
“I think it would be a good idea,” Alicia replied. “I can look up the information online and help you fill out the forms.”
Rita nodded. “I’d appreciate that, dear.” She took a deep sip of milkshake which gurgled at the bottom of the straw. They both laughed. “Where is that darn doctor?” she groused.
He arrived ten minutes later. “No broken bones and your bloodwork looks good. How are you feeling?”
“Like I want to go home, but why couldn’t I get up?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, looking directly at Rita. “You do have arthritis and a rather new hip replacement, so you probably felt pain when you fell. That’s normal. Also, you may not do a lot of exercise, so your muscles tightened, making it hard to move.”
She nodded her agreement. “I think you’re right. I’m going to get one of those alert buttons and I’ll do the exercises they made me do in rehab, so can I go home?”
He looked impressed, and even smiled. “Yes, but you have to show me you’re steady on your feet.”
She gave him a dazzling grin. “Help me up, sweetheart, and we can dance.”
I figured he had no idea what a flirt Rita could be, although he complied. Even in her stocking feet, she could do a slow twirl.
Laughing, he said, “You’re discharged. You’ll probably be a little achy tonight, so take it easy.” He winked at each of us as he left.
After the nurse returned to give discharge instructions, we helped Rita get dressed. It had been quite a day, but I was grateful to have checked on her that morning with a signal that worked. Who knew it would be as simple as to whether or not she opened her blinds?