“The five of you are traveling together?”

“No. Four. I am an LAK.”

“Sorry. I didn’t notice.”

“You know who she is?”

“Sure. Denise Shore, the actress.”

“She is on a tour. She can’t sit around for six weeks waiting for that to heal. She is going to have to finish the tour with the cast.”

The doctor shrugged and finished the leg. She asked if Denise would need any medication. He said “Yes.”

“Can you give her a sample to go with, something to keep her till noon?”

“Sure. But don’t let her have the meds. She may OD.”

“I’ll dispense them carefully.”

He wrote three prescriptions and handed them to her. “Here is for pain, vitamins and an anti-biotic. If she runs a fever in the next seventy two hours, double the anti-biotic for one dose and get her to an ER as soon as possible. Here is a card, if they need records, call us.”

“Thanks.”

When Denise was settled in the room Carol checked in with the desk nurse. “Make sure she doesn’t get out of the room. She is resourceful. She got away from us tonight and got drunk and hurt.”

The nurse made a note on the chart and thanked her. The note indicated they should watch the patient.

“The doctor said she would be able to leave tomorrow at about eight. Did he mark that on the chart?”

“He marked it that if she had good vitals and the leg checked out she could leave.”

“I’ll be here at eight.”

She called for a cab and went back to the RV about two thirty. She talked to Fritz on the way. The others had the RV ready for sleeping and were sleeping when she arrived. The women slept, got up at five thirty. When Susan unhooked the AC there were two bottles of booze in the locker. She brought them into the RV. “

There is enough for all three of us to get shit-faced drunk here. And let’s face it we all were drunks at one time. What should I do with it?”

“Put it in the back of the closet and cover it. She will never find it there. We may need it if she gets nasty.”

“No. That isn’t any good. She needs to learn to see it without drinking it.” They put the two bottles in one of the cupboards with the dishes.

They pulled out and were at the hospital parking lot at 7:45. The three women went into the hospital and asked for Denise’s room. Susan was carrying a bag of clothes. Debbie was pushing a wheelchair.

Denise Chapter 01: Success in Hollywood

Denise Chapter 17: Denise Finds a Place to Drink
Denise Chapter 19: The Nasty Drunk