Carol pulled a small pouch and an ace bandage. “Need to take care of the leg.”

Denise chimed in. “If it isn’t any better till tomorrow we need to have you see a doctor.”

“I did see one. That’s sort of why I have the problem.”

“Well, if I had a leg that was bothering me that much I would find another doctor. I know a good one.”

“I think I can fix it.”

“You shouldn’t be, you know, you should see a doctor.”

Carol stood up, reached under her gown and came out holding her leg. She lay it on the bed next to her dropped off the gown and sat down with her left stump showing. “If I am going to walk on that leg I need to take care of this first. My period starts tomorrow. My leg swells some. You know about fluid retention?”

Denise closed her mouth only long enough to answer. “Well, yes. But not that way.”

“Don’t your upper legs get puffy?”

“Some. I guess.”

Carol carefully wrapped the stump with the ace bandage. Denise watched, stunned. The other two just kept reading like nothing was happening. They seemed like this was an every day occurrence for them. When she finished with the wrapping she checked the inside where the end of her leg fit. “Need to make sure nothing gets in the socket. Any speck of dirt is like having a stone in your shoe, only a lot worse.” She reached over and touched Denise’s upper leg. “That is the part of my leg that I walk on. It is a lot more tender than the sole of my foot.”

Denise touched the point on her leg, her mouth opened and it took her nearly fifteen seconds to say, “How?”

“How, what?”

“How do you live with that?” Carol stopped working.

“I have some choices. I either live with it or I drink or I take pills or I jump out a window or I blow my brains out. Believe me, when this happened I considered all of those options. I even planned it. Then I realized I had a husband and two little girls that needed me. My two oldest were three and five when I was hit by a drunk driver. I have little use for drunks. I was in the hospital for over a month. The leg was gone before I woke up.”