DAY THIRTY NINE

The three women were scheduled for a second fitting.  This time Brittany felt Penny and Margie were ready, Barb’s stump should have more time to shrink but it was close.  With the three of them together there was no way he could tell Barb she was not ready.  She would make all three sockets and if Barb’s needed replacement or adjustment, the workmen’s compensation would have to pay.  Sometimes the emotional needs of the patient were important too.  They spent the morning being casted and serving as moral support for each other as the casts hardened.  By noon they were headed to the mall in Penny’s little blue car.  They had discussed their apparel and had decided to all wear skirts for their day out.  What each had done was to dress to be as impressive on their crutches as possible.  At the leg shop they found that there were nude color short stockings that put the proper pressure on the stump. They each bought one and put it on.  With their moderately short skirts two to four inches of their stumps were exposed.  They turned quite a few heads as they made a tour of the mall.

About 2:30 Margie had an idea.  They should drop in at the station for a visit.  They were welcomed heartily.  The chief saw them and asked them into his office.  Except for the crutches they looked more like women of the street than cops.

“Are you ready to come back to work?”

Barb looked at him and laughed, “Sure, I can see us chasing suspects down the street on crutches.  Just think of it, you can’t run way from me because I’m an amputee.”

He laughed and then resumed his question.  “I wouldn’t expect you to be on the streets on patrol there are a lot of other things that several bright police officers could do even with limited mobility.  You know we are quite short handed with the three of you off.  Then there were four officers hurt week before last, only one is coming back this week.  That leaves us seven officers short.  And there are tons of leads to run for this case and we have ten other open cases that are taking lots of manpower.  Many of them can be done by research here, FAX’s, or phone calls.  Some could involve a home visit.  That would depend on your ability to handle it.  If you really feel up to it and the doctor says it’s fine with him I would like to see you back.   We would avoid sending you on home visits with danger.