Page 13 of Snow Blind
She didn't remember seeing Passion Fruit’s fist come to her face. She knew it had to be her face because Helen's jaw hurt. It hurt badly.
"Did you hit me in my freaking face?" Helen asked, sitting up, but had to lie back down because of the headache.
"I hit you in the jaw, knocking you the hell out," Lashonda said, coming into the living room holding a tray.
"And why in the hell did you do that?"
"To teach you size doesn't always seem like a threat if you know the math," she said, setting down the tray. You can hit someone in the solar plexus to stun them temporarily or hit their jaw, like I did to knock you out. A blow to the temple will jar the brain, also causing unconsciousness and can be dangerous. These things you will learn this week."
"Oh goodie," Helen replied facetiously.
"Whatever," Lashonda added. "I need you. We have to remove Bryan's catheter, get him on his feet, and in one of these chairs."
"Who is we, little woman? I don't want to see that man's wiener, and I sure as hell don't want to see you remove the catheter."
"He needs to be on his feet," Lashonda remarked, "so let's move."
"I don't think I like you, Penis Whisperer," Helen mumbled under her breath. Slowly, she got to her feet, walking into the room where Bryan lay awake looking at them both. The gauze wrapped around his face gave him the appearance of an unemployed mummy extra.
Helen could tell he was in pain, and she felt for him.
Passion Fruit spoke, "I need to remove the catheter, get you on your feet, and get some broth into your belly. If you can hold down the broth, I will give you a couple of acetaminophen tablets to help a bit. Then this afternoon you can have some mashed potatoes."
"Okay," he said softly, feeling defeated. Helen stared into his eyes as Lashonda gloved up, pulled back the covers, and took him into her hand. She removed the catheter holding the bag of yellow body waste up to the light.
"There is only a little pink in it today, but you do have internal injuries, so we need to move slowly, Bryan," Lashonda stated.
She stuck his penis back into his underpants as if it were a thing she did each time she had completed her daily usage of the tool. He didn’t react to her touching him. The pain may have prevented him from thinking of anything sexual.
"The bathroom you will use is the one off the kitchen next to my office. It is wider and will accommodate this walker," she said, pushing it to him. "I will need to go and get you some clothes but first, we need to get you on your feet."
Bryan said little as he attempted to swing the cast to the floor. Helen moved to help him on the mischance he would fall, but Passion Fruit held her hand out to stop her. They watched him struggle, the pain-riddled body moving as best he could. Finally, he was on his feet and leaning into the walker. His arms shook from the strain.
"We're going to the chair in the living room," Passion Fruit said, grabbing the sheeting from the bed and wrapping it around his waist. She held one end; the other she gave to Helen.
He moved slowly, going from the room where he'd been resting to the living room and the chair. Sitting down made him wince. Passion Fruit moved the table over so he could rest the casted foot. His eye held shimmers of tears, and she passed him a cup of hot broth.
"Now we can begin," Passion Fruit told him.
Helen wasn't sure what they were beginning, and neither was Bryan. The hot broth seemed to make him feel better about his lot in life. Passion Fruit was watching her.
"Cranberry, I need you to go into town to get him some clothes, shoes, and items for this cold weather," Passion Fruit said. "Do you have any cash?"
"I do."
"Good; use that. Not a lot of things; he has a cast so the pants will need to be cut to fit over it, so keep it reasonable," Passion Fruit told her.
"On it," Helen said, rising to get her purse. She wasn’t sure why she had to use her money, and knowing she wouldn’t get reimbursed, because, hell, no one knew Passion Fruit had this man in her home. She didn’t argue. Helen was happy to be out of the house for a while.
