Read All the Good Parts for Free Online

shouldn’t have put you in such a bad position. Paul can be a bully.”
    “Save your worrying for someone else,” I said, making him laugh as I tossed his earlier words back at him. “He’s right, though, about the prosthesis. You should have been fitted by now.”
    “For what? So I can go to hour after hour of therapy and never learn how to use it right? So I can get an infection and lose the rest of my arm?”
    “I wouldn’t let that happen.”
    “You won’t always be here.”
    I wanted to take offense at his lack of confidence in me, but he was right. This was a temporary job. I’d look for something better right after graduation.
    “I don’t hold it against you,” he added. “I know this doesn’t pay much.”
    “It’s not that . . .”
    “What is it, sweetheart? Is something else wrong?”
    “Nothing important.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
    I knew he was deflecting again, but I let him. “I’ve got a few things on my mind.”
    “Like?”
    “Life problems.”
    Jerry waited for me to continue. I thought of ending it there, gathering my things and leaving before I embarrassed myself further. But his sincere concern kept me sitting still, and my need to discuss my thoughts with someone outside of my family got me talking. Also, he’d roped me into his family drama, and fair was fair. “I’m thinking about having a baby.”
    “You’ve got a boyfriend? You never said!”
    “I don’t have a man in my life. That’s why I’m struggling with the idea.”
    “Oh.” Jerry shifted in his chair. His cheeks flushed as pink as the wild-caught salmon in his fridge. “I’ve heard that doesn’t have to be such a problem. You gonna go to one of those places? Where you pick a . . . a guy?”
    “Maybe. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
    “No, of course not,” he said, too quickly.
    “You don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    “I’m living proof that you could pick the best partner in the world and still be left with a real lemon.”
    I shushed him, and he shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
    “So you regret becoming a father?”
    “I didn’t say that. He’s an asshole—”
    “But he’s your asshole, right?”
    Jerry laughed. “I hope not. I’ve got hemorrhoid problems and proctitis. What I meant to say was, as hard as it is to believe with a man like Paul, I’d give my other arm for him without thinking twice. It’s a fierce kind of love, and I wouldn’t want to be in this world without it.”
    I thought about that for a moment, and then asked him, “Would you feel your life was incomplete without it?”
    “For me, yes. For other people, they could take it or leave it. There’s all different kinds of love. You might just need one kind or half a dozen, but that’s for you to decide.”
    “How do I know until I have the child?”
    “That’s the rub. You won’t.”
    The implications of that jostled my conscience. “Do you think I’m being selfish?”
    Jerry patted my hand. “That I can’t answer. It doesn’t feel right to judge a person when they have tears in their eyes.”
    Mortified, I tried to blink them away. “Sorry if this has gotten too personal.”
    “You’ve given me a sponge bath. I think that ship has sailed. No need to be embarrassed.”
    “Maybe I should be more embarrassed. It would save you from these conversations.” I tugged on my cardigan and draped my bag over my shoulder. “But thanks,” I said, bending to give Jerry a kiss on the cheek. “See you on Saturday. I promise not to be such a wreck.”
    I was almost out the front door when I heard, “You’re not selfish. Maybe a little lonely, and any behavior is excusable if you’re trying to keep that damn monster at bay. You do what you want, Leona. You do exactly what you want.”

CHAPTER 4
    Nursing 320 (Online): Community Health
    Open Forum
     
    Leona A: Pretty random, but maybe one of you has some experience with this? I’ve got a home-health patient,