Sweeter Than W(h)ine (2 page)

          “No,” Dina said. “I’m going to try and sit up at the table, if you don’t mind helping.”

          “Of course not,” Alec said, placing the tray on the table and putting the borrowed wheelchair close to the bed. She held onto him and he helped her into the chair, and then wheeled it up to the round table. The pain in her knee was excruciating, but she sat there and dug into the breakfast. Eggs again, Dina thought. They’d served her eggs every day for the week since she’d been here.

          “Don’t you like eggs?” Alec asked. He reminded Dina of a friendly, helpful elf. She glanced at the short, dark-haired man with the big ears, in his navy blue scrubs.

          “I don’t have anything against eggs,” Dina said. “I just don’t want them every day.”  She saw the small box of corn flakes, and a banana. “I like cereal.” She liked coffee, too, but not the coffee from the Village.

          “I’ll talk to the dietician and Dr. Farber,” Alec said. “Maybe they can get you more things for breakfast that you like.”

         “That’d be great. Thanks, Alec.”

          “You’re welcome,” Alec said. “Let me know when you want to get back in bed, and I’ll be here to help.”

          Dina dug into her cereal, and got ready for another day. Ruthie Gordon, her physical therapist, stopped by at about ten and they did leg exercises in bed. Ruthie said she didn’t want to tire her out since she’d only been here for a week. After she left, Dina fell asleep again. The medication made her tired, but she gave in to it.

          At lunch time,
Vel brought more pills and Alec dropped off her lunch, which she also ate at the table. When her parents arrived this time, they brought company.

          “Jay!” Dina said, feeling light-hearted as her good friend walked into the room.

          “Hi, honey,” Jay said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here yesterday, but I was really busy.”

         “That’s okay,” Dina said. “I know it’s the holidays, even though I missed Thanksgiving.” Missed it? She’d slept right through Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Not that she’d ever cared about Black Friday or Cyber Monday before. She’d always loved Thanksgiving, though, ever since she was a kid. She remembered dressing up as a pilgrim for the play they’d put on at
Roselawn School, and how her mom had sewn the costume. She’d made buckles for her shoes out of aluminum foil.

          She didn’t know what had made her think of those days. She felt lucky to be alive, and she guessed she was hanging on to those old times.

          “Lorrie said you had a bad date over the weekend?”

          “Yes,” Jay said, sitting down on one of the empty chairs. “But look at you, sitting up at the table. That’s more important than my
meshuggener date.”

        
“Oh, yeah. It’s all about me,” Dina said, with a laugh at Jay’s sudden use of Yiddish.  She guessed she and her mom and dad were finally rubbing off on him after five years of friendship. “I’ve been sitting up for a couple of hours and I’m pretty tired.”

          “Do you need us to call your nurse?” her mom asked.

          “Yeah,” Dina said. “My knee’s really starting to hurt again.”

          Her mom pressed the call button, and Alec was there in a few minutes. He helped her back into the bed. Her mom covered her with the pristine white sheets and blanket.

          “Anything else I can do?” Alec asked.

          “I think I’m due for another pain pill,” Dina said.

          “Okay. I’ll tell Vel.”

           “Thanks.”

          Once Vel brought her more pills and she got settled, she asked Jay about his bad date again. She needed something to take her mind off the pain. 

          “Well, I broke up with Destiny,” Jay said. Dina looked at him, taking in his five foot, four inch frame. He wore a navy blue and green plaid flannel shirt, blue jeans, and black cowboy boots. He had on a “Galloway’s Irish Whiskey” baseball cap, and his brown handlebar mustache and sideburns shone in the overhead lights of the room.  His coffee-colored eyes flashed when he told his story.  “She was the one who always corrected my grammar. She didn’t like it when I called her ‘honey’ either, so I started calling her
Desi. That was the nice name I called her. Usually I just called her a bitch.”

          Dina didn’t want to laugh, but the way Jay got so worked up when he told his stories always made her smile. “So you broke up with Destiny. What happened after that?”

         “I met this other lady at one of our concerts. I think she was a groupie.”

          Dina and her mom laughed while her dad settled back in his seat and sipped the cup of coffee he’d gotten in the Village’s library.

          Jay went on, “She was cute. She had red hair, and it was really curly. She kind of looked like a lion. I should have known not to go out with a redhead because one of my regulars always tells me she hates redheads. She’s afraid her sons are gonna marry women with red hair.”

          “Knock
knock.”

          Dina looked up at the sound of Dr.
Rafe Farber’s voice. “Hey, Dr. Farber,” she said.

         “Hello, Dina. I heard you sat up and ate your breakfast and lunch today.” He looked around at her group of visitors. Dina glanced at him. She had to admit that he was kind of handsome, with his wavy black hair and chocolate-brown eyes. If she hadn’t been sure that her late husband, Rob, was the only man for her, she might have been attracted. After all,
Rafe
was
a doctor. And yesterday, he’d wished her a “Happy Chanukah,” and revealed that he was Jewish.  Dina didn’t care what anyone said though; love didn’t happen twice in a lifetime. Rob was her soul mate, and there would never be another man like him.

        “I can come back later to do my examination, folks,” he told her parents and Jay.

         “We’ll go get something to eat,” her mom said. “They might have some hot chocolate or donuts left in the library.” Dina knew that the Village had pastries, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and juice available for visitors and patients. They called the section of the library where they served the treats “Joe’s Coffee Shop.”

          Jay and her parents were about to leave when Dina introduced Jay to
Rafe.

          “So you’re the famous Jay Galloway,”
Rafe said. “I’ve heard
a lot
about you from Dina and her parents, plus your sister and my aunt.”

         
“Your aunt?”

         
Rafe nodded. “Marina Farber is my aunt.”

         
“Oy vey!” Jay exclaimed. “My boss is your aunt?”

          “That’s right.” Dina watched as Jay and her parents walked out of the room. She saw a secretive smile cross
Rafe’s lips as if he had just said, “Gotcha!” to Jay. She’d heard her friend talk about his boss, and all of her favorite expressions like “Jay, this is a place of business, damn it!” and “Now, Jay…”

           Her parents left with Jay, and
Rafe started his examination.

          “I’m very happy that you’re getting up and around,”
Rafe said. Dina sat still as he examined her, checking her lungs to see if she could get rid of the oxygen yet. Then he looked at her knee, and the incision. “You keep doing things like that. You’re not ready to get off of the oxygen yet, but you’re doing better.”

           “Okay,” Dina said. “I just got tired of lying in bed, so I decided to get up.”

           “That’s good,” Rafe said. “Keep it up and soon you’ll be out of here.” He reached into the pocket of his white lab coat, and she inhaled the fresh, woodsy scent of his cologne. It smelled expensive, and triggered memories, too, but it seemed like everything did since her operation. He handed her a large envelope. “I brought you a present. I know you missed Thanksgiving, and this always says Thanksgiving in Cincinnati for me.”

           She opened the envelope, and found drawings of turkeys from a contest the local paper had every year. They had a standard “turkey” picture and people got very creative with their designs. One of her friends had submitted a design one year, and the paper had printed it. “Looking at this is a tradition for me and my parents, too.” And Rob, she thought, trying not to cry.

           “I didn’t mean to make you sad,” Rafe said.

           “I’m sorry. It’s just that my husband and I and my parents always spent Thanksgiving together and this year I almost didn’t live to…”

           “But you did live,” Rafe pointed out. “And you didn’t miss the special section of the paper with the turkey contest entries because I saved it.”

           She laughed. It felt so good to do that. “You’re right. Thank you so much. What I was going to say was that every Thanksgiving, we buy the paper and read it just to see the drawings and all the black Friday sales. I don’t usually go out on black Friday, but it’s kind of fun to look.”

           “I don’t go near the stores on black Friday,” Rafe said. “I usually have to work anyway. Keep up the good work, and maybe next time I’ll here, you’ll be off the oxygen.” He said “goodbye” and strode out of the room. After he left, Dina looked at the newspaper section and marveled that he’d saved it, and brought it to her.             

           A few seconds later, Jay and her parents returned. “We’re
ba-aaack,” Jay said, sitting back down on one of the chairs. Dina’s father sat in the recliner, and her mom seated herself on the edge of Dina’s bed.

           “I can’t believe the doc’s aunt is my boss,” Jay said. “I guess I’ll have to watch what I say
from now on.”

          “Why don’t you tell me about your bad date instead,” Dina said, longing to hear more of Jay’s story.

           “Okay,” Jay said. “I’ve been out with this girl, Honey, a couple of times, y’know? When I dropped her off, she wanted me to call her as soon as I got home. When you called me, Dina, and she had to know who you were and what you wanted. Then she started e-mailing me. You know that I don’t check my e-mail very much, but when I took her out over the weekend, she wanted to know why I never wrote to her.  I had to tell her I didn’t think things were gonna work out.”

    
              Dina knew that Jay was a very private person. He didn’t like people who were nosy. Still, she felt a little sorry for Honey. She was out here in the middle of nowhere when she should have been home, so she could relate. New Year’s Eve was coming, and she’d still be stuck here. Dina usually got depressed on New Year’s Eve, especially now that Rob was gone.  “She’s probably lonely,” Dina said. “I hope you weren’t mean to her.”

    
              “Me?” Jay said, with merriment in his eyes. “You know that I could never be mean to anybody.”

    
              Dina and her mom laughed.

    
              “Don’t you guys have any confidence in me at all?”

     
              “No,” Dina said. “But we love you anyway.”

    
              “Good,” Jay said.  “At least she didn’t mind when I called her Honey because that’s her name.”

Chapter Two

              The holidays passed in a blur, and finally, it was New Year’s Eve day. Dina had just found out that she probably wouldn’t have any visitors today. Her parents didn’t want to go out on New Year’s Eve even though she told them that the village had round the clock visiting hours. Jay couldn’t come to visit either. He’d been pretty busy during the holidays, and today was no exception. He also had a New Year’s Eve concert at The Point nightclub, in Clifton, tonight. Dina had bought tickets in advance, but she guessed they’d go to waste.

             
“Good morning!” Dr. Farber said brightly, breezing into her room. He probably had plans for New Year’s Eve, too. He looked like the type of guy who would. He stepped away from the recliner, where Dina was seated, and looked into her eyes. “Why do you look so unhappy?”

             
“My parents aren’t coming to visit. And neither is Jay…” She thought she heard the doctor make a soft sigh when she mentioned her friend’s name. What was up with that? “And I guess
you
have a date for tonight?”

             
“Matter of fact, I don’t,” Dr. Farber said. “Are you asking me out?”

             
“Sure. Fine.” Dina sent him a smile. It had been a long time since she’d flirted with anyone; she’d never actually been very good at it. He was teasing her, and trying very hard to make her laugh, so she played along. “Hope you don’t mind picking me up at my place. Here.”

             
“I’ll be here before eight,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling. “People around these parts usually make New Year’s Eve an early night.”

             
“Don’t forget your AARP card,” Dina said.

             
“I won’t. I hope I remember to put my teeth in, though.”