Recovery

What do you give a woman waking up from hip surgery? A whoopee cushion? A pile of rubber vomit? A Mylar balloon? The gift shop in the hospital where Mary’s hip had been replaced was filled with inappropriate gifts. Veronica would have liked to get Mary a stuffed animal but the selection seemed more appropriate for four-year-old girls than sturdy Mary. Plus she couldn’t look at anything that resembled a puppy. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were patient while Veronica selected a gossip magazine, a book of crossword puzzles, and a box of chocolates. She brought them to the register, assigning each member of the family a gift, but her parents were nice and said all the presents could be from her.

The Morgans waited in the solarium until Mary woke up from her anesthesia. They took turns feeding dollar bills into the vending machines and devouring Doritos, Snickers, and stale granola bars.

“Is it taking too long?” Veronica asked. She was on her second bag of Doritos.

“Don’t worry, darling. Mary will be fine,” Mrs. Morgan said.

“She’d better be,” Mr. Morgan said, “or we will never eat a proper meal again.”

Veronica knew that was supposed to be funny, but her father’s jokes had never been easy to laugh at. That in itself used to make her laugh. Now it just made her sad. Since losing Cadbury nothing was particularly funny.

When Mary woke up, Veronica was so happy she had to stop herself from crawling into her bed. The hospital had washed Mary with some kind of antiseptic and she smelled different. But Veronica kissed her a dozen times because she was alive.

“I made it,” Mary said, still groggy from the anesthesia. She had tears in her eyes.

Veronica squeezed Mary’s hand and said, “See, Mary, you are tougher than you think.”

“So are you, my baby. So are you.” Mary smiled and told Mrs. Morgan to open the drawer of her nightstand. Inside was a menu from Grand Szechuan.

“It is supposed to be excellent. And I am hungry.”

“Hungry is good!” Mr. Morgan exclaimed. Veronica, who was sick to death of Chinese food, was so happy she thought she would burst. This was as good an end to a day as possible. Thank God for her family.