Maureen was lying in bed with Joanne. She could hear her girlfriend's rhythmic heartbeat. There was a knock on the front door.
"That would be the nurse," Joanne said as she climbed out of bed. Maureen got up too. She could feel her heart begin to race. She was nervous about this whole dialysis thing; it was Joanne's only hope for survival at the moment.
When Maureen went out to the front room, Joanne was shaking the hand of a tight lipped woman in her fifties with wispy red hair piled high on her head. Her beady brown eyes scanned over the apartment with a cynical stare. Maureen took an instant dislike to the woman.
"And this is my girlfriend, Maureen," Joanne said. The nurse nodded stiffly.
"My name is Nurse Judith Penn," she said in a voice as tight as her heavily colored bright red lips. Maureen forced a small, uncomfortable smile. This nurse's ice cold attitude was going to make this dialysis treatment five times harder.
As Nurse Judith hooked up the dialysis machine, Maureen sat on the bed next to Joanne and held her hand. Maureen stroked her mocha cheek softly with the back of her free hand.
"You, pay attention," Nurse Judith barked. Maureen's head snapped up. "You're going to have to know how to do this." Maureen got up and watched Nurse Judith. This woman took her job way too seriously.
The dialysis took over two hours. By the time Nurse Judith left, Joanne was completely wiped. Maureen got changed and crawled into bed next to Joanne. She entwined her fingers with Joanne's and kissed the back of her hand gently. Joanne looked so peaceful and yet…so fragile. Maureen was afraid of breaking her. Joanne cracked her eyes.
"I love you," she murmured.
"I love you too, Pookie." Maureen ran her fingers through Joanne's curly hair until they both succumbed to a deep sleep.
Joanne sat at her desk working on her latest case while waiting for her clients to show up. There were several get well cards littered across her desk and office. It was a daily occurrence for her to receive cards from her coworkers and several of her clients. A voice crackled over the speaker on Joanne's desk.
"Ms. Jefferson, your clients are here to see you."
Joanne pressed a button at the base of the small speaker and said, "Thank you, Marci. Please send them in." Joanne swept her papers off her desk and stood up. a young white couple entered her office. "Hi, I'm Joanne Jefferson."
"My name's Vincent Hudson and this is my wife, Stephanie." Joanne didn't extend her hand. She couldn't risk getting sick with her weakened immune system.
"Nice to meet you both. If you'll please have a seat." Vincent and Stephanie both took a seat across from Joanne's desk. Joanne took a long drink of water. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm sick. It's nothing you can catch though."
"Are you alright?" Stephanie asked with concern written across her face. Joanne nodded as she took a seat in her chair. She could only pray that she was telling the truth.