As they walked down the hall Carol handed the doctor a card. It was her nursing license. “I’ll be taking care of her. Susan is a registered counselor specializing in alcohol abuse and Debbie is an LPN that works in an alcohol ward. We were given this opportunity to travel and took it.”

“I assume they wanted you to dry her out?”

“Yes. She is a very valuable commodity but not when she is on the sauce.”

“You have your work cut out for you. She is very dependent and has a very high tolerance for alcohol.”

“We knew that when we started.”

At the RV Susan pulled out a pair of wooden crutches. They helped Denise stand and she checked the adjustment. They were good.

“Now you have to get into the RV. You have to get yourself up the steps.”

Susan went inside and Denise followed her up the three steps. She was pretty good for someone who only used crutches for a little over a week. Susan helped her to the seat and she flopped down. “Damm. This fucking thing is heavy.”

Susan shook her head. “That is a cast, it is not a fucking thing. Get that word out of your vocabulary. You aren’t using it with us.”

“And who is going to stop me?”

Carol had just come in and Debbie was storing the wheel chair. “I am.”

“And who are you?”

”The person who controls your pain medication.”

“You wouldn’t?” It was obviously not a statement but a question.

“Try me. You either behave or I cut it off. You have little pain right now because they gave you something this morning and you still have gobs of alcohol in your system. But when that wears off, I have the pills.”

They started up the RV and headed toward the first meeting. About a half hour later Carol checked her toes. “They are swelling some. Does the cast feel tighter?”

“Yes.”

“Debbie, find a place to pull over.”

Carol went in the back and came out carrying two straps. Debbie pulled off the road. Carol hooked each strap to a hook in the RV ceiling and adjusted Denise’s seat so it was reclining and her legs were under the hooks. She lifted Denise’s leg and looped the strap under the cast. She adjusted it till the cast was higher than her chest. Then she did the same with the other leg.