Whoops

By Ed Carlson

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This story is fictitious. The names of the persons used herein are for

purposes of illustration only and do not represent persons living or dead.

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“Sure Don, dinner tonight sounds like a lot of fun. . . . OK, I’ll be ready at seven. . . . See you then,” she said.

“Well Gale, it sounds like you have a dinner date tonight,” Sandra interjected.

“You bet I do. You remember Don, the cute guy with the Corvette,” Gale replied.

“How could I forget a guy like him,” she sneered. “If you remember, I introduced you to him. Has he seen you wearing those thick glasses of yours yet?”

“No. I’ve always worn my contacts with him,” Gale said. “You know how I hate how I look in these glasses I have on now. I sure don’t want him to see me this way.”

“Someday you’re going to have to take your contacts out when he’s around. He’ll have to see you then,” Sandra replied.

“I’ll just go without them if that ever happens,” Gale countered.

“Right Gale. He’ll get a charge out of that,” Sandra replied. “You know you can’t see a damn thing without glasses. Shit, you’d be lost and bumping into everything just the way you do around here. Remember two nights ago when I had to lead you back to your bed after you tried to find the bathroom?”

“Oh come on; it wasn’t that bad,” Gale said.

“What about last summer when you were out in the backyard sunbathing? You had your top off and took off your glasses. The phone rang, you jumped up, and tried to find the house without your glasses. It’s a good thing I was only gone for an hour,” Sandra said. “Hell, you’d still be wandering around with your boobs flapping in the wind. You ought to be glad the yard has the high fence, or you’d be wandering up and down the street like that. You were in the opposite end of the yard feeling around for the house with your hands.”

“Ya, and it was good that you came home. I had absolutely no idea where I was. I was really getting panicked out there,” Gale replied. “I’ll admit it; I’m blind without my contacts or glasses.”

“Just promise me that you’ll take your glasses with you,” Sandra said.

“Naw, Don can help me if I get in trouble,” she replied. “He’ll have to know someday, but I’m not ready for him to see me like this.”

“Gale!” Sandra said.

“Enough, I’m going to take a nice long bubble bath,” Gale said as she got up.

“OK,” Sandra said. “I’m going over to Loire’s. Just take your glasses. Please!”

Gale walked into her room and undressed, put on her robe, and then went into the bathroom. She started the water running and added her bubble bath powder. She piled her hair up and admired her nice figure in the mirror as she took off her robe. The water was just right as she stepped into the tub. She sat down, and instantly, as always happens, her glasses fogged up. She took them off and laid them on the toilet seat and settled back in her sightless world devoid of shape. She could only see the general color of the room.

As she lay there, she heard Sandra’s car start and drive away.

Now completely alone, Gale closed her eyes and let her mind wander aimlessly. As usual, she ended up thinking about having sex. This time, it was her sexual fantasy with Don. It was one of her favorite fantasies where she and Don are walking down a deserted beach nude, hand in hand. They walk along in the warm sand and then up into the nearby woods. They lie down in the soft moss under the trees, and the foreplay begins. They kiss, and his hands explore her body. Her hands explore him too, soon reaching for his manhood. He is stiff and erect, but she’s not ready yet. He begins exploring her body with his tongue. He pauses longer as his tongue circles her nipples; then his lips are around her tits sucking them into his mouth. His teeth clamp down a little on her nipples as his hand finds its way to her pubic hair. Soon his finger is massaging her clitoris. She begins to writhe with the pleasure he is bringing her. She begins to have an orgasm and screams in pleasure. When it has subsided, she finds his erection with her mouth and begins sucking it while massaging it with her tongue. Soon he is coming in her mouth, and she drinks his love juice in ecstasy. They relax for a moment, and then he is on top of her. She spreads her long legs wide and wraps them around his waist as he penetrates her. As he and she rock rhythmically, soon both are having orgasms.

Gale sputtered when she slid down in the tub. Her hand was still massaging her clitoris as she was snapped back to reality by her unintentional dunking. Gale felt blindly around until she found her towel. She grasped it and wiped her face. She felt around and found the tub drain and pulled the plug. With the water draining, she stood up and dried herself off. She stepped out of the tub, and as she did, her foot kicked her glasses sitting on the toilet seat, hard. Her heart sunk as she heard them crashing around over at the other side of the bathroom.

“What if I broke them,” Gale thought. “I don’t have a spare anymore after I broke the others. Why in the hell do we have to have such a large bathroom?”

She got to her hands and knees and began feeling around on the floor and felt her way to where it sounded like her thick glasses had landed—the ones that reminded her of coke bottle bottoms. She began to panic when she couldn’t find them quickly.

“Sandra. Are you here?” Gale called in a panicky voice.

There was no answer, so she kept on blindly feeling her way around the bathroom floor. To keep calm, she talked to herself as she unsuccessfully continued her hand search of the floor. She could feel tears begin to well up in her eyes as she began to cry out of frustration. After what seemed like an eternity and she thought that she had searched the entire bathroom floor at least two times, her fingers touched an object on the smooth hard floor. She groped further, and her hand encircled the object. It was her glasses, and she quickly put them on. It felt wonderful to be able to see again.

Gale got up off her hands and knees, then went to the medicine cabinet. As she did, she noticed a slight pain in her side. She opened the medicine cabinet and took out her contact case. She opened each side to be sure the contacts were in their places. She closed the lid on the left side and picked up the right lens on her finger. Her hand was still trembling a little from her ordeal with the glasses. Gale used her left hand to remove her glasses and her right to put the contact lens against her eye. She blinked a couple of times but still couldn’t see clearly with only one lens in. She put her glasses back on and closed her right eye. The tunnel vision her extreme prescription glasses gave her was more severe than when she used both eyes, but she could see enough to find the case and open the left side. She took her glasses off again and repeated the process for the left eye. When the lens was in place, she blinked several times, and her vision became relatively clear. As usual, it would take several minutes for her to see well.

Gale put on her robe and walked back into the bedroom. She looked at the clock and realized how late it was. Don would be here soon. She picked out a short black dress that showed both her seductive long legs and more than adequate breasts. She picked out the black bra that worked with the dress and black panties. She found the right shade of pantyhose that complemented the dress. She put on the bra and panties, then set about putting on the pantyhose. She went back into the bathroom and did her makeup. Gale thought about how much easier it was to put on eyeliner, eye shadow, and mascara with her contacts in and not wearing those damn heavy glasses. The three-quarter inch thick lenses made her eyes look like small marbles in concentric rings.

With her make-up done, Gale went back into the bedroom and wiggled her way into the dress. She stood in front of the full length mirror and admired herself, then brushed her hair and found her black heels. She looked at the clock and decided that she had time to do her nails. She picked up her nail polish and purse, then went into living room. She set them on the coffee table and went back to the bathroom to retrieve her glasses. She went back into the living room and slipped her thick glasses into her already full purse. It was warm in the living room so she opened the front door, then sat down and began to do her nails. Gale admired her long fingers and beautiful hands as she applied polish to her nails. She had just finished when Don drove up in his sports car. He knocked on the screen door.

“Come in,” Gale called. “I’m just about ready. My nails are still wet.”

He walked in and gave her a passionate kiss. She kissed him back by just resting her upper arms on his shoulders and keeping her hands well apart. She absolutely loved French kissing him and could almost feel herself getting damp between her legs. This guy really turned her on.

“If you want a drink or a beer, you’ll have to get it yourself,” Gale whispered when they finished kissing.

“I’ve been thoroughly refreshed,” he said. “You look absolutely stunning tonight. I love looking into those beautiful blue eyes.”

“Thank you,” Gale said. “Flattery will get you everywhere. I think my nails are dry, please hand me my purse.”

He picked up her full purse, which she had neglected to close. Part of it spilled, including her driver’s license and glasses. He looked at her driver’s license picture. “Is this you?” he asked as he looked closely at the picture of her with her thick glasses on.

“Pretty bad, huh,” Gale said sheepishly as she took the license from him. “I guess my little secret is out.”

“These are about the thickest glasses I’ve ever seen,” he said as he picked up her glasses off the floor where they had landed.

“If I’m not wearing my contacts, I need them to see,” Gale said.

“I didn’t realize that you wore contacts,” Don commented. “As thick as these glasses are, I bet you’re pretty blind without them.”

“You’re right. I can’t see anything at all without correction,” she said as he handed her the glasses. “My purse is too full. Let me put them in my room.”

“Won’t you need them?” Don inquired.

“No.” Gale replied. “I have you to lead me around if anything happens.”

“I’m up to that,” Don replied. “Are we ready to go?”

He helped Gale with her jacket and opened the door for her. They went out onto the front porch, and she took her key from her purse and locked the door. They walked to his car. He opened the door, and she seductively swung her long legs around as she got in. Gale’s side hurt again as she settled into the seat. He got in and reached for his seatbelt.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I have a sharp pain in my side,” Gale said. “It’ll be gone in a minute.”

“Are you sure? We can go another time,” he offered.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she replied. “It’s easing up. Let’s go.”

“OK,” he said with a concerned look on his face as he started the car. “I don’t want you getting sick on me.”

“I’m fine now,” she said with her side still hurting a little.

They drove across town to the restaurant. Her side hurt again as she got out of the car. Don noticed the pain on her face but didn’t say anything. They went inside, and the hostess showed them to the table that Don had reserved. It was their favorite window seat, which overlooked the fishing boats as they bobbed at their moorages. The waiter asked if they wanted drinks, and Don ordered them both martinis.

“How are you feeling?” Don asked when the waiter left.

“My side is tender, but I’ll be OK,” Gale replied.

“Right or left?” he asked.

“Lower right,” she said.

“Could be your appendix,” Don said. “We should get you to a doctor.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry,” she said emphatically. “Can’t we talk about something else?”

“OK, then tell me about your poor eyesight,” he said. “We’ve been going out for six months now, and I never suspected you had a vision problem.”

“I don’t have a problem if I’m wearing my contacts,” she replied. “In fact, my vision is 20/10 with my contacts in. That’s better than most people see.”

“Have you worn glasses long?” he asked.

“As long as I can remember,” Gale said. “The pediatrician spotted my vision problem, severe congenital myopia, on my first checkup. They fitted me with glasses right away at three months.”

“Wow, that sounds serious,” he said.

“It means that I was born extremely nearsighted,” she replied. “If I close one eye and hold my finger about an inch away from my eye, I can make out the shape of the finger in partial focus. Move it two inches away, and I can’t even tell that it’s there.”

“You wear the contacts very well,” he replied. “I never suspected that you wore them. I can’t see them even if I look closely into your eyes like this.”

The opportunity was too good to pass up, and they kissed briefly. Just as they finished, the waiter brought their drinks. They had decided on dinner, and Don ordered for both of them.

“Have you ever had anything embarrassing happen to you because of your inability to see?” Don asked when the waiter was gone.

“One time in college, I was really drunk. I needed to get rid of what I had consumed, if you get the picture. As I was “calling Ralph” in the commode, my contacts fell out. Then I of course was blind and couldn’t see a thing. I used my hands to find my way around the bathroom and eventually found my way out into the hallway. This guy found me feeling my way up and down the hallway. He was so out of it that he didn’t even realize I was blind; well, maybe he did. We ended up in one of the dorm rooms, and my virginity almost went away. I remember pleading with him not to, but he was going to do it anyway. When I started crying, he got off of me. The next thing I knew, he was gone and I was blindly groping around to find my clothes. I couldn’t find them. My roommate found me stumbling around the upper story hallway totally nude and trying to find my way by touch. She found my clothes for me and helped me get dressed. I held onto her, and she led me back to our room and got my glasses for me. I never did figure out who the guy was.”

“That’s quite a story,” he said.

“My first time almost having sex was pretty traumatic,” Gale replied. “But I like having sex with you.”

“Really?” Don questioned.

“Yes. You really turn me on,” she said. “Having sex with you is so natural. We have sex together, if you know what I mean.”

“I think I do,” he interjected.

“We both have sex to please each other, rather than just ourselves,” she said.

The waiter brought their food, and they began to eat. Gale’s side began to hurt again, and she started to feel nauseous. She told Don, and he had a worried look on his face again. The waiter came by, and she asked for directions to the restroom.

“Just through the door marked EXIT, third door on the right,” he said and motioned toward the doorway.

Gale excused herself and walked to the door the waiter had indicated. The hallway was quite dark. The exit door was at the opposite end of the hallway. She found the women’s restroom about halfway down the hallway and went in. The place was empty. She splashed a little water on her face. A wave of nausea came over her, and she felt the urge to rid herself of her stomach contents. She went into the handicapped stall and locked the door behind her. At least the restroom was clean. The nausea hit again, and she sunk to her knees in front of the toilet as an uncontrollable convulsion hit. She convulsed violently a second time, this time emptying the contents of her stomach. She reached up and flushed the toilet. It was at that time that Gale realized that she couldn’t see. She had done it again. Her contacts were gone, along with the contents of her stomach.

She stood up and blindly felt her way around for the toilet stall door and unlocked it. Next, she tried to find her way around the large restroom, feeling for and finding the sink so she could clean up a little. Then she followed the restroom walls until she discovered the way to the hallway. She turned to the right and began feeling her way down the hallway. She couldn’t see a thing, but eventually her fingers found the cool metal surface of the door at the end of the hallway. It didn’t open when she pushed on it. She blindly felt around for a doorknob or something. She found a crash bar and pushed it. The door opened as she pushed hard against it. She stumbled slightly as she took a step and let go of the door in the process. She heard the door close behind her.

“Don. I need your help,” Gale said quietly.

There was no answer. She listened intently. She could hear fans running and the sound of rigging clanking on the boat masts. She turned around and, searching with her hands, found the outside door handle. She pulled on it, but the door didn’t open.

“Don! Help Me!” she pleaded. “I’ve lost my contacts. I’m blind!”

Realizing that the door had locked behind her, she turned around and bumped into a handrail. Holding it firmly, she used it as a guide to get down the steps. When she got to the bottom, the handrail ended. With outstretched arms blindly feeling the air, she took several steps ahead. Suddenly it felt like she was on grass. She took several more steps and another wave of nausea swept over her. She dropped to her hands and knees as her uncontrollable stomach convulsing began again.

When it had subsided, Gale struggled to her feet. In the process, she lost one of her high heels. With outstretched arms, she began again to try to find her way back to Don.

“Is anyone out here?” she called. “Please Help Me!”

There still was no answer as she stumbled over something hard. She stumbled, and her bare foot landed on what felt like stones—the gravel in the parking lot she thought. She began to cry.

“Gale, where are you?” Don’s voice called from somewhere.

“Don, I’m over here,” she replied between sobs. “I think I’m in the parking lot.”

“Stay where you are,” Don’s voice said as it sounded closer now.

Gale jumped when his hand touched her shoulder.

“My God, what happened to you?” he questioned as he gave her a hug. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“Oh Don, I was so scared,” Gale sobbed. “I lost my contacts when I lost my dinner. I tried to find my way back into the dinning room, but ended up outside. The door locked behind me. I was lost and tried to find my way around the building back to you.”

“Where is your shoe?” he asked.

“Out in the grass somewhere where I got sick,” she replied.

“OK, stay right here while I go get it,” he instructed.

He let go of her and was gone suddenly. She waited for a moment and then felt a wave of nausea coming over her again and her side began to hurt terribly again. She grabbed her side as she doubled over.

“Don, help me. I’m going to be sick again,” she pleaded. “Where are you? I can’t see a thing.”

“We better get you to a hospital,” Don said. “Here is your shoe.”

“Did you bring my purse?” Gale asked.

“No. Hold my hand and I’ll lead you over to my car and I’ll go back and get it,” he said. “I still need to pay our bill.”

“No! Don’t leave me alone. Please,” she pleaded as she put on her shoe. “Take me with you. I feel so helpless when I’m blind, and I don’t like being alone and unable to hold onto you. Please.”

He took her by the hand and went around to the front of the restaurant. They went in the front door and over to their table. He handed Gale her purse. She opened it and quickly felt around for her glasses.

“Remember, you left your glasses back at your place,” he said.

“Shit, that’s right,” she said. “For God’s sake, don’t leave me.”

The waiter came by.

“We need to have our check. My girlfriend is not feeling well,” Don told him.

The waiter produced the check. Don gave him ample cash. With Gale tightly holding Don’s hand, they exited the restaurant quickly. Don helped Gale get in the car.

“How are you feeling?” Don asked as he got in the car.

“I feel sick, and my side feels like it’s on fire,” she replied.

“Just try and relax. I’ll have you at the hospital in a few minutes,” he said as he started the car.

“I’m not going to argue,” she said as she sat back. “My God, it hurts!”

Don backed out of the parking spot and out into traffic. Gale’s side was really hurting, and several times she screamed in pain. In the process, she repositioned herself trying to get into a comfortable position—something that she couldn’t find.

Within minutes, they were at the emergency entrance to the hospital. Don parked the car close to the entrance. He got out of the car and walked around to help Gale from the car. He opened her door, and she swung her long thin legs around to get out. As she stood up, a severe pain raced through her side.

“Oh shit, that hurts,” she said. “Just get me some relief from this pain in my side. It hurts like hell.”

About that time an orderly came out with a gurney. Gale was soon lying down on it, and the orderly and Don pushed her inside. They stopped at the reception desk. Don filled out the paperwork for her. A nurse held a clipboard for Gale to sign in the correct spot while Don guided her hand. Once she was checked in, she was wheeled down to an exam room.

Don went into a waiting room that the nurse had pointed out. Once there, he called Sandra. When she heard the news, she decided to meet him at the hospital. Don sat patiently in the waiting room for some word on Gale and for Sandra to arrive.

Sandra arrived just as they were wheeling Gale out of the exam room and into a preoperative room. The doctor met the two of them in the waiting room.

“Gale is a very sick young lady,” the doctor began. “She has very acute appendicitis. Luckily, it hasn’t burst. We plan on operating as soon as possible. If all goes well, she should be in recovery in less than an hour. Right now, we are prepping her. Any questions?”

“Can we be with her?” Sandra asked.

“Once we finish prepping her, yes,” the doctor said. “However, she will be heavily sedated and won’t even remember that you were there.”

“We would still like to be with her,” Don remarked. “She lost her contacts at the restaurant. She’s all but blind without them. We should be with her.”

“Fine. The nurse will let you know when you can go in,” the doctor said as he was leaving.

“What do you mean she lost her contacts?” Sandra asked when they were alone again. “What happened to them?”

“She lost them at the restaurant when she got sick,” Don said. “I found her blindly wandering around outside after she had used the restroom. She was lost, disoriented, and couldn’t see a thing.”

“You knew about her glasses and the contacts then?” she asked.

“Yes, Gale told me about her eyesight problem after I saw those thick glasses fall out of her purse tonight,” Don replied. “Her purse was too full, and she left them back at your place.”

A nurse appeared at the door and said, “You two can follow me to the prep room now.”

They both followed the nurse to the room that Gale shared with another preoperative patient. The nurse left them to be with their friend.

“Gale, can you hear me?” Don questioned.

She gave no outward sign of answering.

“She’s out of it,” Sandra said.

“Looks like it,” Don replied. “At least now she isn’t in the pain she was before.”

“So, what do we do now?” Sandra asked.

“I guess we wait until she is out of surgery,” Don said. “What are you doing over there?”

“Just looking at these charts,” she remarked.

“You aren’t supposed to be looking at those,” Don said.

“This one is Gale’s,” Sandra said. “It says they are going to perform an appendectomy on her. What’s that?”

“It’s where you take out an appendix, just like the doctor said,” he replied.

“Look at this other chart,” Sandra started. “It says: ‘perform a radical bilateral humerus reduction. Explore postoperative area for additional cancerous tumors after bones are expunged.’ What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, but I think it sounds a little like she might have cancer,” Don said.

“Wow, she’s about our age,” Sandra said. “You know, she looks a lot like Gale. Look, their heights and weights are almost the same. They both have blue eyes and blond hair.”

“You’re right,” he said. “Where do these go?”

“Just stick them back in the rack. I don’t remember which one was on top,” she said.

“Sandra. What if they get mixed up?” Don questioned.

“It doesn’t matter. They probably don’t look at the silly charts anyway. They know what they’re doing,” Sandra said flippantly. “What are we going to do about Gale’s contacts? She can’t see a damn thing without them.”

“She has spare contacts, doesn’t she?” Don asked.

“No, she was down to only the pair she lost. She lost her others about six months ago when she dropped them and stepped on them,” Sandra remarked. “She’s talked about getting new ones, but because her new job doesn’t cover vision, she hasn’t been able to afford it. Contacts with a prescription as strong as hers are really expensive and generally require a specialist to fit them.”

“What about glasses?” he quizzed.

“I’ll have to go home and get them,” she replied. “I’ll look around her bedroom. As blind as she is, she’s going to be poking her way around the hospital until I get them for her.”

A nurse appeared at the door and asked them to wait in the waiting room. They were out in the hallway when they wheeled both Gale and her roommate into the operating rooms. Sandra and Don went into the waiting room. They found some old magazines to read and sat there in silence as the time dragged on.

Finally, a nurse came into the waiting room and said that Gale was out of surgery and was in the recovery room. She said that they should be there when she woke up and led them to her. Her roommate was already awake and talking to the surgeon.

“We couldn’t find anything wrong with your appendix,” the surgeon said to Gale’s roommate as Sandra and Don walked into the recovery room.

“That’s nice, but you were supposed to remove my arms because of the cancerous tumors in my upper arm bones,” her roommate said.

The surgeon had a worried look on his face when he looked over at Gale still asleep. He pulled back the sheet that exposed her bandaged shoulders and said, “Whoops!”

The surgeon rushed out of the room. Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. Don and Sandra were asked to leave as Gale was hurried back into the operating room.

While they waited in the waiting room, a man came into the room and introduced himself as the hospital administrator.

“There’s been a terrible accident,” he began. “It seems as though somehow the charts were mixed up and our surgery teams amputated your friend’s arms by mistake. They’ve taken her back to the OR to complete the appendectomy.”

“How could you have done such a thing?” Sandra sobbed.

“It was a terrible mistake. We believe that the charts were in the wrong place in the rack. Both women have almost the same physical description,” he said sadly. “Gale is going to be severely disabled now.”

“Can’t you reattach her arms or something?” Don asked.

“We certainly would if we could,” the administrator replied. “Both of her arms were sent to the lab for dissection and to search for the cancerous tumors that the real patient had. Her arms are in more than a thousand pieces now.”

“We just saw her from a distance. How short did they cut her arms off?” Don quizzed. “You did leave at least something still attached, didn’t you?”

“I’m afraid they didn’t,” he said. “Both upper arm bones, the humerus, were removed completely. They were disconnected at the shoulder socket. I haven’t talked much to the doctor about this, but if she is a good candidate for myoelectric arms, I’ll be sure that she receives them.”

“Will she be able to feel with her new fingers, or are you just going to hang some hooks on the end of plastic pipes?” Don quizzed.

“We’ll let her determine what kind of terminal devices she wants,” the administrator said defensively. “But no, she won’t be able to feel with her new hands or hooks.”

“That’s just great,” Don said sarcastically. “Now I have a girlfriend who doesn’t have any arms and is almost blind as well.”

“What do you mean, almost blind?” the administrator asked.

“She was born with severe congenital myopia,” Sandra said. “She can’t see anything without her glasses or contacts.”

“Was she wearing them when she came in?” he asked as he looked at his paperwork.

“No,” Don replied. “She lost her contacts when she got sick in the restaurant.”

“I’ll be contacting the hospital’s insurance company as soon as I leave,” the administrator said.

“I’ll be calling her boss at the law firm she works for too,” Sandra said.

“I need to be going,” the administrator said. “Again, I’m so terribly sorry for what has happened.”

“Not nearly as sorry as she’s going to be,” Don snapped.

The administrator turned and left without saying anything else.

“How in the hell could we have done such a lamebrain thing?” Don asked when the administrator was out of earshot. “You were the one who took the damn charts out of the holders. They probably had them in the right places based on where the beds were.”

“You’d think that they would check her chart against her arm band or something,” Sandra said defensively. “We might have put them in the wrong place, but they should have checked.”

“So now what are we going to do?” Don asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sandra said. “We both need to be here for her, despite our past differences.”

“I think the two of us are in for a real challenge,” he stated.

The nurse came back into the waiting room.

“Gale is out of surgery now. They successfully removed her appendix,” she said.

“Were there any further complications?” Don asked.

“No more surprises,” the nurse said. “Things went as originally planned. I’m terribly sorry about what happened to your friend. She is such a beautiful girl.”

“Thanks,” Don said. “What do we do now?”

“She will be in recovery for about an hour,” she said. “You two can go in for about the last fifteen minutes before we move her to her room. Once she’s in her room, we’ll sedate her again. Both of them will be out of it for a couple of days.”

“Both of them?” Sandra questioned.

“Yes, her roommate Tiffany, the one who was originally scheduled to have her arms amputated, has had her scheduled surgery performed too. Both will be recovering from the same surgeries.”

“Does Gale know her arms were amputated?” Sandra asked.

“No,” the nurse replied. “It’s one of the reasons the doctor wants to keep her sedated. She will be able to take the news better when she’s a little stronger.”

“What you’re saying is that she won’t even know we were here for a couple of days,” Don stated.

“I’ll come and get you when you can go in,” the nurse said.

The nurse left, and they were alone again in the waiting room. They sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Only soap operas were on, so Don turned off the set.

“What are we going to tell her?” he asked.

“Just tell her the truth,” Sandra replied. “She was the victim of a terrible mistake and mix up.”

“You mean you’re not going to tell her that we mixed up the charts?” Don quizzed.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Sandra said. “You’re the one who put them back in the rack.”

“Don’t blame this whole thing on me,” Don snapped back. “You’re the one who took the charts out of the rack in the first place and mixed them up.”

“Don, we can’t fight about this now,” Sandra said firmly. “We, both you and I, caused the mix up. We’re going to just forget about it and be there to help Gale.”

“I’ll try,” Don said as his eyes filled with tears. “This isn’t going to be easy. I’m not so sure that I can get it out of my mind. By our fooling around, we’ve maimed for life probably one of the nicest persons I’ve ever known. I don’t know if I can handle it.”

“Damn it Don, pull yourself together,” she said forcefully. “Gale is lying in there without any arms whatsoever, and you’re out here sniveling whether or not you can handle it. For Gale’s sake you need to be there for her, just like you were when she lost her contacts and was blind and lost back at the restaurant. You wanted to help her then, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Absolutely,” Don replied.

“Well then, she’s going to need us even more now,” Sandra interrupted. “You still do want to help her, don’t you?”

“Yes, I still do want to help her,” Don said. “I want to help her in the worst way. But I don’t know that I can handle looking at her and knowing that I caused it.”

“Look at it this way,” Sandra said. “Right now she’s physically scarred and will be emotionally scarred when she realizes what has happened to her. If you cut and run now, think how much more she will be emotionally scarred if you reject her. Don, she wanted you before in the worst way, now she needs you more than ever.”

Don didn’t say anything. He just stared out the window. Sandra noticed an occasional tear on his cheek, but didn’t say anything. She just left him alone with his thoughts—thoughts that troubled him deeply. How could he possibly face the woman who he had helped to permanently and severely maim?

Sandra was also silent. She occasionally got to her feet and paced the waiting room floor. She left the room and sampled a taste of hospital coffee. She was back in the waiting room when the doctor came into the room.

“Good evening. I’m Doctor Morton, chief of surgery,” he began.

“This is Gale’s roommate Sandra,” Don said. “I’m Don.”

“Nice to meet you both,” the doctor replied. “I wish I were meeting you under more pleasant circumstances. Let me start by telling you that your friend Gale is doing fine. Her vitals are looking good, and she is beginning to respond to stimuli. She is, however, very weak from the major surgeries that were performed on her.”

“She’s going to be OK, isn’t she?” Don interrupted.

“Yes, she will be fine, but it is going to take some time for her to be up and around again,” he continued. “Remember, with both the abdominal surgery and the loss of her arms, regaining the mobility, strength, and flexibility she will need for daily life is going to take a while. I expect that healing and rehab will take about six months. During that time, she will recuperate from the surgeries. She will also learn how to manage in a world that is new to her and completely full of difficult challenges. That’s where you two come in.”

“I don’t understand,” Sandra stated.

“She is going to be needing your help. Her world is going to be much more difficult for her, especially considering her severe visual limitations. She’s going to need your help with even the simplest of tasks, like putting on her glasses, using the bathroom, or eating.”

“We are ready to be there for her,” Sandra said.

“Good,” Doctor Morton said. “In a minute we are going in to see her. I don’t want her to realize that her arms have been amputated yet. I want her to be stronger and able to see when we tell her.”

“What if she says something while we’re in there with her?” Don asked.

“Let me handle it,” the doctor replied. “We’re only going to keep her awake long enough to do some quick vitals.”

“I suppose so,” Don said softly.

“As ready as we can be,” Sandra said.

The three of them walked out of the waiting room and down the corridor. Doctor Morton opened the door to the recovery room. Several nurses were in the room. Both beds in the room were occupied. Gale and Tiffany both were asleep in the recovery room and were hooked to hoses and beeping machines. It was difficult to tell the two women apart. Both were covered with only a sheet and their heavily bandaged shoulders made bulges, which almost made them look like football players. Tiffany did not have anyone waiting to see her and was the first to begin stirring.

“Tiffany. This is Doctor Morton,” he said. “You need to wake up now. Open your eyes.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around. She tried to raise her head but quickly dropped it back to the pillow.

“Did you do it?” she asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Morton replied. “We did the amputations, and your preliminary test results look good. We think we got it all.”

“I still can’t believe that this has happened to me,” she said as she began to cry. “I still can’t believe that I’m going to spend the rest of my life without arms.”

“We’re going to take you up to your room in a few minutes,” Doctor Morton comforted. “You try to relax and lie still. It’s going to be all right. We’re going to take good care of you. OK?”

“OK,” she sniffed.

“Why don’t you take her up now?” Doctor Morton said to the two nurses who were attending her. “I want someone to stay with her at all times. Got that?”

The two nurses nodded and began to prepare her for moving. Soon they were wheeling Tiffany out the door in her bed. The door had no sooner closed when Gale began to stir.

“Where am I?” she said as she blinked her eyes. “I can’t see.”

“I know you can’t,” Doctor Morton said. “You’re in the hospital, and I’m Doctor Morton. We’ve just removed your appendix. Luckily, we got it before it burst. You’re going to be fine.”

“Where are my contacts? I can’t see a thing without them,” Gale said.

“You lost them at the restaurant,” Don said.

“Don, is that you?” she said as she tried to sit up.

“I’m right here honey,” he said. “You just lie back and try not to exert yourself. I’m right here at the foot of the bed.”

“I’m here too,” Sandra said.

“Oh Sandra, you didn’t need to come down here too,” Gale said.

“I just couldn’t sit at home,” Sandra replied.

“Doctor, why do my hands feel funny and numb? I can’t feel anything with them,” Gale asked. “It feels like both arms are asleep and my shoulders hurt.”

“It’s the effect of the anesthetic,” Doctor Morton said quickly. “It happens that way sometimes. We’ll give you something for that.”

“OK,” Gale said groggily. “What happened to my contacts?”

“You lost them at the restaurant in the restroom,” Don said. “I found you out in the parking lot wandering around unable to see.”

“Now I remember,” Gale said. “I felt so foolish.”

“Don’t let it bother you,” Don comforted. “I was just glad that I could be there to help you.”

“Do you have spare contacts at home?” Sandra quizzed.

“No. I need to get some more made,” Gale said. “I’ve been putting it off until I could get my medical insurance to cover it.”

“Do you remember what your prescription is now?” Doctor Morton asked.

“I think that both eyes were minus thirty-five now,” Gale said. “I have the prescription card at home.”

“I’ll be glad to get your glasses Gale,” Sandra offered. “Where are they?”

“I left them on top of my dresser,” Gale said.

“Good,” Doctor Morton said as he did an injection into the IV line. “Gale, we’re going to let you get some more rest now. OK?”

“OK,” Gale said. “Don, will you be here?”

“I’ll be here when you wake up,” Don comforted. “You just rest now. OK? They’ll take good care of you.”

“I need a kiss then,” Gale said sleepily.

Don walked up to the head of the bed, bent over, and gently kissed her. “You rest now. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he whispered.

Gale’s eyes fluttered closed, and she was soon asleep again. Sandra and Don followed Doctor Morton out into the corridor.

“You two did just fine in there,” he said. “We’ll keep her heavily sedated for a couple of days now. The nurses will be taking her back up to her room soon. You can go or stay with her if you want.”

“Why don’t I stay, and you go get her glasses?” Don said to Sandra.

“You both can go. She won’t be awake for a couple of days,” the doctor said.

“I’ll go home then and come back tomorrow. She won’t need her glasses until then,” Sandra interjected.

“I’ll stay,” Don said. “I’m the one who brought her here, and I feel responsible for what has happened to her.”

“Don’t heap it on yourself Don,” Doctor Morton said. “It was a terrible mistake. I’ve been ordered by the Hospital Administrator to examine our procedures and change whatever I have to do to ensure that a mix-up like this never happens again.”

“That’s fine Doctor. But I’m still going to stay,” Don replied.

“Good,” Doctor Morton replied. “She may wake up unexpectedly. I’ll see that there’s a cot in the room for you.”

The three of them walked over to the elevator. They all went to the main floor and said their goodbyes. Sandra left for home, and Doctor Morton went to his office. Don was left standing there. He decided to go up to her room and wait for Gale to be brought up. He got back in the elevator and went to the third floor. He inquired at the nurses’ station, and they directed him to Gale’s room. They said they had been expecting him.

The room was large and spacious. The large windows had a beautiful view of the gently rolling hills that surrounded the area. The space for Gale’s bed was empty and waiting for her. The curtain was drawn around the other bed, but Don could see motion and hear crying from inside. He cleared his throat to let the people behind the curtain know that he was there, then sat down in one of the large chairs in the corner. Before too long, the curtain opened and the nurse smiled at Don.

Don smiled back and said, “Hello.”

“Hello,” the nurse said. “Are you waiting for them to bring Gale up?”

“Yes,” Don replied. “Doctor Morton said it would be OK for me to wait here.”

“That’s fine,” the nurse replied. “Words can’t express how sorry we all are about what happened to her.”

“What happened to her?” a voice said from the bed.

The nurse turned back to the bed and said: “Tiffany, we haven’t told you yet, but Gale was the other person who was involved in the surgery mix-up. She was supposed to have her appendix removed.”

“Oh my God, don’t tell me that her arms were amputated by mistake,” Tiffany interrupted.

“I’m afraid that’s what happened,” the nurse said. “Somehow the charts got mixed up, and the surgery team thought you were her and that she was you. Because of that, you’ve both had the same operations and will be recuperating together.”

“That’s terrible,” Tiffany said as she began to cry again. “That poor girl. It’s one thing to consciously make the decision to have this done to save your life, but it’s another thing to just wake up and find your arms gone.”

“That’s where we’re going to need your help,” the nurse said.

“We know that you’ve been planning for the operation and have come to accept your fate as inevitable,” the nurse said.

“Gale will wake up and find her arms gone unexpectedly. We’ll need you to give her your insight and encouragement. She will be kept sedated for several days. You can expect her to be quite hysterical when she finds out. She will need to gather strength from you, and that of you too. It is Don; isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I’m the one who brought her in with the attack of appendicitis—not to have her arms amputated.”

“Don, if it’s OK with Tiffany, I’d like for you to watch what we’re doing for her so that when we need to do things for Gale, you’ll know what we’re up to and maybe explain it to her later if she asks.”

“I don’t mind,” Tiffany said. “I could use some encouragement myself right about now.”

Don got up and walked over to them and stood beside the nurse. He looked down at Tiffany and said: “The nurse here is right. You’re a beautiful woman. You and Gale could easily pass as sisters.”

“You’re supposed to be encouraging me, not embarrassing me,” Tiffany said as she looked at Don and smiled.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Don said. “But I meant it. You are very beautiful.”

“Lying here without any arms, I don’t feel very beautiful,” Tiffany said.

“Let me try it again,” Don said. “I believe you are beautiful. You are extremely good looking, and when I get to know you better, I know you will be a beautiful person on the inside too.”

“Thanks, I needed that,” Tiffany said.

“Thanks Don,” the nurse said. “Let’s let her get some rest. I need to run downstairs for a moment. Are you going to be here?”

“Yes, I was just going to sit over in the chair and wait for them to bring Gale up,” Don replied.

“Could you keep an eye on Tiffany while I’m gone?” the nurse asked.

“Go ahead. We should be OK for a few minutes,” Don said.

“Yes, go on,” Tiffany said. “I feel comfortable with him.”

The nurse left, and Don sat in the chair. After he sat there for a moment, he could hear Tiffany crying softly. He got up and went over to her.

“What’s the matter? I heard you crying.”

“I’m just lying here feeling sorry for myself. I have an itch, and I can’t even scratch it,” she replied.

“Where is it? I’ll scratch it for you,” Don offered.

“I like you Don, but I don’t know you well enough to ask you to rub me there.”

“Suit yourself,” Don said as he turned back toward the chair.

“Wait,” Tiffany said. “The nipples on my boobs itch. It happens to me just before my time of the month.”

“OK,” Don replied. “Do you or don’t you want me to touch them?”

“This is one of the things that I’m just going to have to get used to.” She gulped as tears came to her eyes again. “Yes, please touch them. The itch is driving me crazy.”

Don reached over and gently touched one of the soft mounds through the thin blanket that covered her. He softly touched the place where he thought the nipple should be.

“That ain’t getting it,” Tiffany said. “Reach under the blanket and hold my nipple between your thumb and forefinger.”

Don hesitantly lifted the blanket, and as he did, he could easily see the heavy bandages on her shoulders. He gently took her nipple with his thumb and forefinger as she had instructed.

“OK, now roll it back and forth like that,” she said. “A little harder. Ah, that feels good. Now the other one.”

Again, Don did as he was instructed. He noticed her moving her butt around as he massaged her breast a little.

“How’s that?” he inquired as he withdrew his hand and straightened the covers.

“That felt wonderful,” Tiffany purred. “You keep that up and I’ll have you in bed with me helping with other parts.”

“I’m not too sure about this,” Don said.

“What’s the matter? Don’t you like feeling my boobs?” she asked.

“Oh no. I like your boobs. It’s looking down and seeing you with no arms,” Don replied bluntly. “I’m having a difficult enough time looking at you. I don’t know how I’m going to react to seeing Gale.”

“You’ll be fine once you get used to it,” Tiffany comforted. “Why don’t you let me get some rest now that you’ve scratched one of my itches. I don’t think I’m quite ready to have you scratch the other.”

Don smiled to himself as he walked back over to the chair. Tiffany was asleep by the time he sat down. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about Gale and how much her life would be changed.

He must have dozed off too. Don awoke with a start when someone brushed his knee as they were moving Gale’s bed into its position. They plugged in the monitors, and wavy lines appeared on the thing that looked like a small TV set over her bed. A nurse came in and announced that the monitor was working at the nurses’ station too. The nurse who had been there earlier asked if Tiffany had needed anything.

“She had an itch that needed to be scratched is all,” Don replied.

“Both of them are probably going to need you for that,” the nurse said.

“I’m not so sure that I’m cut out for this,” he said.

“You’ll do just fine,” she said as she started out the door. “Just ring if they need anything. They both will be sleeping for a while.”

Don didn’t answer but only nodded as she left. He walked over to Gale’s bed. She looked almost dwarfed as she lay there. She had several tubes and wires attached to her. He gently lifted the covers and exposed her heavily bandaged shoulders where her beautifully proportioned arms had once been attached—arms that had been attached earlier in the day. He noticed a slight crimson color on each bandage. He gently laid the covers back down. He had tears in his eyes—tears that turned into almost hysterical crying as he leaned on the bed rail.

“Get a hold of yourself,” a voice commanded.

Don looked up to see a priest standing there. Don tried bravely to smile as he looked at the man of the cloth. The priest motioned to him. Don reluctantly followed him out into the corridor.

“Son, I’m Father Murphy,” the priest said as he shook Don’s hand firmly. “The staff has told me of the terrible thing that happened to that poor girl. Allow me to offer my condolences to you.”

“Thank you Father,” Don replied. “I still can’t believe this happened to her. I brought her in here with appendicitis, and she winds up a double amputee with no signs of any arms. I feel responsible for this Father.”

“Don’t blame yourself. Accidents do happen,” he replied. “But now, she doesn’t need your sobbing and feeling sorry for yourself. She needs all of the strength you can muster. Both of those girls do. Are you up to the task?”

“I suppose I’m going to have to be,” Don said with a sigh.

“Either you are or you aren’t,” the priest said sharply. “Son, you need to pull yourself together and get back in there or turn around and walk down the hall. The door is that way. The decision is completely up to you. Make up your mind.”

The priest turned and walked away. Don watched him as he walked down the corridor. Don looked at the clearly marked exit door and then back into the room where the two armless women lay. He paused only a minute and then walked back into the room. He stood between the beds of the two armless women. He looked at both of them, and he knew that both of them would need his help. He knew then that he would be up to the challenge.

Don walked over to the chair and sank down. He thumbed through a magazine and soon was drifting off to sleep.

“Is anyone there?” The sound of Gale’s voice startled him awake.

“I . . . I’m right here,” Don replied.

“Don, is that you? I can’t see,” she said.

“That’s because you don’t have your glasses or contacts,” he replied.

“Where am I? What happened to my contacts?” she asked.

“You’re in the hospital. They’ve removed your appendix. It was just about to burst,” he answered.

“Could you please get me my glasses out of my purse?” she asked.

“No,” Don replied. “Remember, you left them at home. You said that your purse was too full.”

“Don, I need my glasses!” Gale said in a panicked voice. “I’m so blind that I can’t see a thing without them. What am I going to do?”

“Sandra went back to your place to get them,” Don replied calmly. “She will be here in the morning. That was your last pair of contacts that you lost, wasn’t it?”

“Where did I lose them?” she asked.

“Remember, we were at the restaurant, and you got sick in the restroom. I found you wandering blindly around the parking lot. You couldn’t see a darn thing.”

“Now it’s coming back to me,” Gale said. “I was scared and felt like a fool at the same time. I just remember being awfully sick to my stomach. How did I sign the forms at the hospital?”

“I read them to you, and you scribbled your signature close to the line,” Don replied.

“Don, will you hold my hand? Being unable to see makes me uneasy,” she asked.

“I . . . I . . . I can’t do that,” Don said softly.

“What do you mean? You can’t, or you don’t want to anymore now that you know that I need glasses even to see the end of my nose,” Gale replied.

“It . . . It . . . It’s not that I don’t want to hold your hand,” Don stammered.

“Don, what’s the matter?” Gale said. “I can’t see you, but I know something’s wrong. I understand why my belly is sore, but I can’t feel my hands, and my shoulders hurt like hell.”

“Well . . . Well, there was an accident,” he said in almost a whisper.

“Speak up. Did you say accident? What kind of accident?” Gale demanded.

“Why don’t you try to get some rest? We’ll talk about it later,” Don soothed.

“I don’t want to rest. I want to know why I can’t feel my hands and why my shoulders hurt when I had my appendix out!” Gale said forcefully. “What kind of accident?”

“We should have the doctors tell you,” Don replied.

“Damn it, I want you to tell me now!” Gale said. “I don’t want to wait for any doctor.”

“The charts somehow got mixed up and they did Tiffany’s operation on you and they took Tiffany’s appendix out instead,” Don said.

“So they didn’t take out my appendix after all?” Gale quizzed.

“No, they took your appendix out when they discovered the mistake,” Don replied.

“OK, what operation was this Tiffany supposed to have?” Gale asked impatiently.

“She had cancerous tumors growing on both of her upper arm bones and was supposed to have both arms amputated,” he almost whispered.

“. . . Are you telling me that my arms were amputated by mistake?” Gale quizzed softly after a long gulp.

“That’s what happened,” Don replied. “As soon as they discovered the mistake, they amputated Tiffany’s arms too and did your appendix.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Gale said softly as tears began to well up in her eyes. “I’m having a hard time grasping what you just told me.”

“I’m so sorry that this all happened,” Don said. “I feel responsible. I brought you here. I would give anything if it could have been me instead.”

“Don. I want you to hold me. Please,” Gale asked softly.

Don did as she asked. He slipped his arms around her as he leaned over the bed rail. He could feel her crying as he held her for a long time. The crying subsided, and Gale had slipped back to sleep. Don slowly and gently pulled his arms out from under her and straightened up. He quietly stood there looking at her.

“That was a tough thing for you to have to do,” Tiffany said softly.

“I didn’t know you were awake,” Don whispered as he turned to her.

“I haven’t been able to sleep,” she replied. “I’ve been just lying here with my eyes closed.”

“So you heard it all?” Don quizzed.

“Yes. You did a good job,” Tiffany said. “I really feel sorry for her—waking up unable to see and then finding out that someone cut off your arms by mistake. I just wonder what must be going through her mind?”

“I’m not sure,” Don puzzled. “She was obviously upset and shaken. She took the news in stride. I’ve seen her a lot more upset about things that I considered to be only simple and insignificant things.”

“I don’t think the full impact about what happened to her has hit her yet,” Tiffany said. “I bet there will be a lot of screaming and hollering when she wakes up the next time.”

“Maybe so,” Don replied. “She’ll probably really raise a fuss when she can see again. I think she’s really insecure when she can’t see. She’s an extremely visual person. How are you doing?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m glad that you’re here to talk to,” Tiffany replied.

“Don’t you have family or friends to be with you?” Don asked.

“No, I was raised in an orphanage until I graduated from high school. I got a job and my own apartment, then worked my way through college,” she explained. “I’m was still working at the same place until this happened. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now.”

“What kind of work do you do?” he asked.

“I worked for a high tech company. I assembled chips using a microscope,” Tiffany said. “I guess my career at that company is pretty much washed up.”

“I’m sure that you’ll be able to find another job once you get fitted with prosthetic arms and learn how to use them,” Don observed.

“I’m not getting arms. My insurance would only cover the cost of the cancer operation and hospital. They won’t pay for arms,” she said as tears began to form in her eyes. “My rehab is going to consist of some therapist trying to teach me to do things with my toes.”

“I’m sorry. I . . . I didn’t realize . . . ,” Don stammered.

“Don’t be sorry. It was my decision to go ahead with the amputations, knowing full well that I wouldn’t be getting prosthetic arms,” she said. “They would pay for mechanical arms, but without any stumps, I’m told they’re pretty much useless. They said to function without stumps what I really need are the myoelectric kind. They said even then they are not that perfect.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I’m told that they’re heavy and sweaty in the summertime. They need to be recharged often,” Tiffany said. “They take a lot of practice to learn how to run them effectively, and besides, they still don’t have any feeling.”

“I guess that’s one of the things that concerns me about Gale and her inability to see without glasses or contacts,” Don said. “If she’s wearing prosthetic arms and needs to find her glasses, how is she going to do it if she can’t feel anything?”

“I don’t think she could,” Tiffany replied. “She’s going to need you for a lot of things. Now let me try to get some sleep again.”

“OK,” Don whispered and bent over and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“What was that for?” she quizzed.

“For helping me understand the depth of Gale’s problems,” he replied, then turned and walked over to the chair. Sleep was soon upon him. . . .

The sun was shining on him through the window when Don opened his eyes. He looked at his watch to be sure what day it was. It had now been five days since the accident. The doctor had kept Gale heavily sedated during that time. Tiffany had been up and walking around. She was not in the room. Don was unsure why the doctor had continued to sedate Gale the way he had. Don was just coming out of the bathroom when Doctor Morton came in the room.

“Good morning Don,” Doctor Morton said. “How’s Gale doing?”

“Well, I’m not a doctor, but shouldn’t Gale be up and around by now like Tiffany?” Don asked.

“In most cases, yes,” Doctor Morton said. “I wanted her to be aware what had happened to her when I weaned her off the morphine. We’ve both told her several times what has happened to her. I wanted her to have a quiet time to rest and to contemplate what she was up against. I guess it’s time we get rid of the morphine drip.”

“What happens then?” Don asked.

“She’ll come around in a couple of hours, and we’ll get her up on her feet,” he replied as he turned off the tube of the IV bottle. “Be sure to stay with her. She will become more lucid and will have questions I’m sure. They will probably be the same questions that we’ve both answered several times. I’ll be back in a little while.”

The doctor left, and Don sat back down in the chair. He was mentally bracing himself for the questions that were sure to be asked of him. A nurse came in and removed the IV line and took away the bottle. After about an hour, Gale began to stir.

“Don, are you there?” she called.

“I’m right here honey. Let me kiss you before I put your glasses on you,” Don said.

He bent down and gave Gale a very passionate kiss, which she responded to. When the kiss broke off, he slipped her thick glasses on her.

“There, how’s that?” he asked.

“Better. Thank you,” Gale replied. “I hate wakening up blind and not being able to see a damn thing.”

“I bet it’s a real pain,” he agreed. “Doctor Morton was in before you woke up and has eliminated the morphine and IV. He didn’t think that you’d need it for pain, and that you’d be able to think better.”

“The pain isn’t too bad anymore,” she said. “Now maybe I’ll quit having those crazy dreams.”

“What kind of crazy dreams?” Don quizzed.

“I kept dreaming that we went out to dinner, and I came down with appendicitis,” Gale began. “I got sick and lost my contacts, then got lost. You found me and took me to the hospital where they cut off my arms by mistake. The best part of the dream was that you were there every time I woke up.”

Don bent down and kissed her again, then quietly said: “Honey, it wasn’t a dream. It really happened. You don’t have any arms.”

“Come on Don. That’s not even funny,” Gale said without looking down, but looking Don straight in the eye. “I know I have arms because I can still feel my hands cramping.”

Don straightened up and gently lifted the blanket and sheet that covered her. He pulled it down to her waist.

“OK. If you still have arms, raise your right hand and show me two fingers,” he said.

“I can’t see my hand, but I can feel it,” Gale said. “Is this some kind of trick? Don, quit fooling around. Why can’t I see my hand?”

“Because they were amputated along with your arms,” Don said. “Look here at your shoulders. The bandages are where they did the operation. See, it’s the same on both sides. You are now a double arm amputee.”

Gale slowly looked down at her shoulders the best she could. She looked back and forth at both shoulders several times. Don could see her squirming as she tried to raise her arms.

“My God Don, they cut off my arms!” Gale screamed.

“Try to calm yourself,” Don said.

“Calm myself! I wake up and don’t have any arms, and you want me to be calm!” she screamed.

A nurse and Tiffany walked into the room.

“It sounds like someone’s awake,” Tiffany said.

“Who are you?” Gale demanded.

“I’m Tiffany,” she responded as she stepped closer to Gale’s bed. “I’m the one whose arms were supposed to be amputated, but they got to you first.”

“They sure as hell did,” Gale snapped back. “Now what am I supposed to do? Shit, I don’t have any damn arms.”

“Live with it,” Tiffany replied quickly. “What choice do you have now? They sure as hell aren’t going to put them back on. You’re just going to have to make the best of it. Now pull yourself together and get on with life.”

“Sure, a life without arms,” Gale responded. “Just look at me. They’ve made me into a helpless cripple with no arms.”

“So. What’s the big deal?” Tiffany said. “I don’t have any either.”

Gale didn’t say a thing. She looked closely at Tiffany standing there with her robe on. The nurse removed Tiffany’s robe so that Gale could get a better look at her standing there in just her hospital gown with the empty sleeves.

“Look Gale, neither one of us have arms now,” Tiffany said. “We both need to learn skills that will allow us to lead some kind of life. I think if we work together we can learn how to do things and not be completely helpless. What do you say?”

“Shit, I don’t know,” Gale responded. “I went out for dinner, and the next thing I know is I wake up without arms. I need to try and think this out. Why don’t all of you leave me alone for a while? I need some time to try and put this in perspective.”

“Think about what Tiffany has said,” the nurse replied. “It makes a lot of sense.”

Everyone left the room leaving Gale alone. As she thought about her predicament, she began to cry softly. Soon her crying was sobs. She knew without a doubt what was now in store for her.

E N D