Page 26 of The Do-Over
THEA
SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER
“All right, Mrs. Johannsen,” Thea said, putting away the blood pressure cuff. “Your vitals look really good. And you’ve been taking all your medication?”
Mrs. Johannsen nodded. “Just like we agreed.”
“And Pauline is going to tell me the same thing?” Thea asked, mock-sternly.
Mrs. Johannsen grinned. “Pauline would never rat me out.”
“Mom’s been doing everything she’s supposed to,” Pauline Johannsen said. “The new pill case you recommended has really helped us stay on top of things. We haven’t missed a dose in weeks.”
“That’s great,” Thea said. “Things do seem really stable. And what are you eating these days, Mrs. Johannsen? Plenty of vegetables?”
“We eat a lot of Brussels sprouts,” Pauline said. “They’re her new favorite.”
“That’s a great choice,” Thea said. “You can try to incorporate more fish, too, if your mom is amenable. And any source of calcium is going to be beneficial at this stage.”
“Yogurt?” Pauline suggested.
“Yogurt’s good, if she wants it,” Thea said. “Go ahead and add that to your grocery list.”
Pauline nodded. “We’ll do that,” she said. “Anything else?”
“Not unless there’s anything in particular you’re worried about, or anything you want to ask me about.”
“Okay.” Pauline glanced at her mother. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
Thea knew what that meant. There was something more Pauline wanted to say, and she didn’t want to say it in her mother’s presence. “All right,” she agreed, and waited for Pauline to lead the way out.
Pauline waited until they were in the driveway before she spoke again. “She’s starting to have trouble with her memory,” she said quietly. “We were talking about my son the other day, and she seemed to think he was still a baby. She kept asking if she could be the one to give him his bottle feeding.”
Thea nodded. Of course that would be distressing. Pauline’s son was almost six years old—Thea had met him several times herself. “Did she recognize him when she saw him?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Pauline said. “And then she got kind of…I don’t know. It seemed like she was angry with me. As if she had known all along what age he was, and I’d corrected her on purpose to make her feel stupid or something.”
“Embarrassed that she forgot, probably,” Thea said. “It’s a normal enough experience. Difficult to go through, of course, but expected, given her age. I can send over some literature if that would be helpful.”
“You don’t think I need to arrange for her to see the doctor?”
“You can if it would make you feel better,” Thea said. “But in this instance, I think he’s going to tell you the same thing I did. There won’t be much he can do about it.”
Pauline nodded. “All right,” she said. “Thank you for coming over, Thea.”
“Of course,” Thea said with a smile. “And you’ve got my phone number so if anything comes up, you can always reach out. I’m here to help.”
Pauline returned to the house, and Thea went to her car and got in. The Johannsens were her last house call of the day, which meant that it was time to go home at last.
The little house she had purchased for herself a few years back was just a couple of blocks away from her parents’ restaurant. She took a quick shower and changed out of her scrubs and into a maxi dress, then walked over for dinner. She didn’t always choose to go to the restaurant for dinner, but it was nice to have it as an option when she didn’t feel like cooking.
She took her usual table at the back corner of the restaurant, not wanting to take a seat away from a paying customer. Eventually, someone would notice her.
Sure enough, Carlo made his way over. He was sweaty, his white apron stained with avocado, his hair in a net. “Hey, kid,” he said.
She snorted. “I’m thirty-five, Carlo.”
“Yeah, but you’ll always be a kid to me,” he said. “How was the nursing beat today?”
