My Story 4

I had remained upset with Deana for the rest of the weekend I didn't go looking for her, even though every part of me was saying “you idiot go find her and talk to her!” Well you know how pride can make you do some foolish and even stupid things? perfect example.

Monday came around and so I started looking for a new job, which was much easier since I now had a car. Most trucking establishments were nowhere near a bus stop ( the last one In the end I had to walk about an extra ten blocks from the bus stop to get to their terminal, and I would usually arrive just in time for my shift.) or don't run shifts friendly to a bus schedule.

As is usual for me, I found a job in no time. And as being the low man on the totem pole, I was stuck being on call, picking up all the shifts no one else could cover. So from day to day I had no clue what my schedule was. And worse for me it was provincial/interprovincial which meant a lot of overnight for me, and of course the few times I worked in city, I would usually have just enough time to go home to get some sleep then get up and head back and do it all over again.

So about three weeks go by and summer is slowly turning into fall, most times I would wake up to frost on my car. Or even a light dusting of snow on the ground. (this is Alberta after all) finally they tell me they're not gonna have anything for me for a couple of days at least but to stick close to the phone cuz things always change. To which I thought, “yeah like I'm gonna answer the phone for the next two days during office hours!” But I just nodded as said no problem.

So I got ahold of my friend, the one from the bar and asked him if he wanted to go do anything as I suddenly had two days free. He said sure and asked me if I wanted to come over for a movie night. That sounded like a good stress reliever to me and so I agreed and told him I would be over around 6 when he got off work..

I cleaned the apartment, and surfed the web for a bit. Finally 5:30 came around and I went out to the car, the temp outside was pretty chilly, and as i left my apartment building I noticed it was flurrying slightly. I hopped in my car and cranked up the heater, and pulled out of my parking stall and headed over to my friends house.

I'd been thinking about Deanna a lot during those weeks on the road and cursed myself many a late night in the back of the cab of whatever truck I was driving. So just out of curiosity I went past her regular haunts to see if she was out early that night. I made one pass and didn't see her anywhere, so I proceeded to go to my friends house where movies, food and camaraderie awaited, (well at least chips, pop and a movie anyway)

But for some reason I turned around and made one more pass, something nagged at me, and for whatever reason I went back for a second look. But again there was no sign of her. All I saw was some poor soul covered in a thin blanket huddled in a doorway, trying to sleep and keep out of the cold at the same time. All I could seem of them were two feet sticking out wearing open toed shoes.

Shoes that looked rather familiar. I pulled over and got out of my car, and walked over to the huddled mass. Sure enough they looked like Deanna's feet and I thought i recognized the shoes as the ones from that night at the bar. I peeled back the blanket from the head and sure enough it was her, I shook her and said her name but she was unresponsive. I shook her harder and practically shouted her name in her ear. But she was out like a light. One of her street friends came over and I asked her how long she'd been like this. She told me that Deanna had pretty much crashed earlier in the day after a week of crack and alcohol binging. She said that she was the one who had brought her the blanket. Since it had started to get colder earlier. I thanked her for that, and gave her a spare five I had in my pocket for her act of kindness.

No matter what I did, I couldn't rouse her from her slumber, so in the end I simply picked her up from the ground, (she was heavier than she looked, and my injury wasn't helping) and asked her friend to open the rear driver side door of my car. Which she did and I got her into the back seat of my car. I closed the door and after thanking her friend for her help, I got in and drove back to my apartment.

Now here things got a little complicated. I parked the car at the front doors and went inside, and up to my apartment. Fortunately I still had the wheelchair from when I was recuperating and grabbing that headed back down to the car. Now I had to get into the car, and lift Deanna out and into the wheelchair, cuz, there was no way I would have been able to carry her all the way back into the apartment.

I finally manage to get her out of the back seat of the car and I turned around only to find the wheelchair missing! What the? And then I look up a little farther, and there's the chair. It had rolled down the sidewalk since of course I had to forget to set the damn brakes. I grumbled to myself and carried Deanna over to where the wheelchair had rolled, and gently as i could set her down in it.

I wheeled her up the ramp and to the doors where i struggled with the chair having to hold one hand on the chair to guide and the other to keep the door clear so it's wouldn't catch on the chair. Thats when my Landlord decided to show up. He helped me with the door and as I wheeled her in he asked who my friend was and what was going on.

I pressed the button for the elevator, and without looking at him told him my friend had injured herself and that I was taking her up to my place to let her recuperate. To which he told me she couldn't stay for long. I just said something vague to him and fortunately the elevator arrived and I got in and away from him.

I wheeled her into my bedroom, and once again lifted her out of the chair and onto the bed. This time in the warmer temperature of my bedroom I could begin to smell that she hadn't had a bath in awhile. I debated weather or not to undress her and at least wash her clothing so she would have something clean to wear whenever she woke up. I decided against it as I didn't want to give her the wrong idea. I felt her hands and they were still ice cold. I reached down and felt her feet as well and they were still cold too, so now I'm starting to worry about frostbite and maybe even hypothermia, as I didn't know how long she'd been unconscious. but from what little medical knowledge I possessed I didn't think she was presenting with the symptoms of hypothermia. I pinched her thumbnails and her littlest toenails and at least saw good bloodflow. So I dug out my electric blanket and covered her with it. And plugged it in.

I knew that I wasn't going anywhere while she was here in this condition as i would have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she didn't get worse. So I called my friend and told him something had come up and that I wouldn't be able to come over as planned.

He made a smart aleck remake about how this something didn't involve a certain young lady. I rolled my eyes and said something like that, but added after I hung up not in the way that you think.

I had gotten hungry by this point and decided to make myself some Mr. Noodle and hot dogs. (you know Bachelor chow). I made my meal and checked in on Deanna. Her hands and feet were warmer now and i pinched her fingernails and toenails again and the blood flow still seemed good so I wasn't to worried anymore about frostbite, but still planned to keep a close eye on her just in case. I went back into the living room and watched TV for while before feeling tired. I finally decided to go to bed. I went into the bedroom and grabbed a spare blanket from my closet and checked on Deanna one more time. She seemed to be in good shape, she was sweating from the electric blanket I had covered her with and so I checked her hands and feet one more time and satisfied that they were okay I went to the couch and laid down and went to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to the ringing of the phone. I groggily reached up and grabbed the handset and answered it. And of course it was work. They had an overnight haul that would be ready to go by 6 PM so I was to be at the yard by five to get ready. I was tempted to tell them I was sick but as with all things once summoned I would go. I got up and checked the clock and saw that it was 10 AM. I got up and showered and got dressed.

I checked in on Deanna and saw her sleeping fitfully. I made some breakfast, and pretty much just vegged in front of the TV till about four. I got up and started making myself some supper and preparing my overnight supper for the road. It was during this time that I heard the bedroom door open.

Deanna came out wrapped in a blanket, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She looked around and then saw me in the kitchen. I smiled at her and asked her if she wanted something to eat, she told me that she was famished and said yes please. I pulled out a few more hot dogs and asked her how many would she like. She said four and so I got them ready.

There was an awkward silence between us and I didn't know how to break it. Finally she said she wanted to apologize for how she had acted that night. And that she was sorry. I told her I accepted her apology and that as far as i was concerned it was water under the bridge, by this time out food was ready and so I went back into the kitchen and got it prepared on two plates. I handed Deanna her plate and we both sat on the couch in companionable silence. I asked if she was naked under her blanket and she smiled and asked me if i wanted to find out. I gave her a bit of a look and told her that if she was she was more than welcome to wear my bathrobe even though she would swim in it. I asked her where her clothes were and she said they were on the floor of my bed room since they felt grungy on her. I told her her if she wanted to she could use the apartment building's laundry facilities to wash her cloths and I told her that she was also welcome to use the shower and to help herself to my razors if she wanted to.

I checked the time and saw that I had to head to work fairly quickly. I got up and told her where the laundry room was and left her some spare chance for the machines. She asked me if I knew where her purse was. I told her I hadn't seen it when I was taking her back to my place. At that she asked me how she had gotten here and i told her how I'd found her and all that had ensued after that.

And with that I informed her that i had to head off to work or I'd be late. So I got up and headed to the door, grabbing my work stuff from their spot by the front door, Just as I was getting ready to leave Deanna threw her arms around me and hugged me fiercely.

“thank you for caring about me” was all she said. I mumbled something about how I would have done it for anyone, but that she was welcome. I gently admonished her to perhaps not get so carried away in the future. But then I told her I had to go and that she was welcome to stay in the apartment and that I would be back some time tomorrow evening. And with that I headed out the door.

End Part Four