Chapter 15: Need You Now (part 1)
Mary sat on the couch in her new apartment as she read. She was now nearly eight months along and sharing the place with David.
There was a knock on the door that disturbed the silence of the room. "Who is it?" Mary called out, even though she had a good idea of who it was.
"Rhoda!" Rhoda answered from the other side of the door.
"Hold on," Mary responded. She set her book down and took her time getting up and walking over to the door.
"Looks like the place is coming along here," Rhoda said, looking around the place as she walked in. Each time she went there, no matter how short of a time period between visits, the place seemed different. There was always something new done to the place.
"Thanks," Mary smiled as she closed the door.
"So, how long is Davy, the lover boy supposed to be gone?" Rhoda asked as she set her purse down on the table by the door and then headed over to the couch.
"Just tonight, and Rhoda, thank you for spending the night here. I just can't get used to sleeping in an empty apartment again," Mary said as she went over to join her.
"Anytime. I actually like it better here than I do my own place," Rhoda replied.
"Didn't you get my old place?" Mary implored. She could have sworn that she heard Phyllis mention something to Rhoda about the possibility.
"Nah, Phyl found a replacement for ya. A real nut job if ya ask me. The other day, the lady came up to my place to ask if she could borrow some sugar," Rhoda explained.
"So? What's wrong with that?" Mary inquired.
"Because, while most people use that for baking, she had to have the sugar in cubes so that she could finish building her fort," Rhoda stated.
Mary softly laughed. "Have you seen it?" she questioned.
Rhoda nodded. "Yeah actually. I had to go down and help her keep one of the walls steady while she started the ceiling to it. It's actually kinda impressive if ya think about it. A life size fort build outta sugar," she said, truly thinking about it.
"It's different," Mary agreed. On that note, she wanted to change the subject. There had been something that was kind of bothering her."How's Phyllis doing? She hasn't been by here in a while," she implored.
Rhoda shrugged. "Her usual. Bess is getting ready to start high school so I guess Phyl is trying to give her some sort of crash course in something," she replied.
"Really?" Mary asked, trying to think of what Phyllis would be trying to teach Bess.
"What else would you call teaching her how to do make up, fix hair and be popular?" Rhoda questioned.
"I don't know. Anyways, what do you say we go out and get dinner?" Mary asked. She was starting to get hungry, and for some reason fidgety.
"Sounds good to me," Rhoda said as she stood up to go grab her purse.
"Good," Mary said, following her.
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"Sorry we had to come home early," Mary said as she entered her apartment. She had been feeling sick and wanted to come home early.
"Don't worry about it kid," Rhoda assured her as she followed her in and closed the door behind her.
Mary forced a small smile. "I'm still sorry though. I know that you were looking forward to watching Casablanca," she said.
"If you're not feeling good, you're not feeling good," Rhoda replied. She made her way over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for something for dessert.
"Thanks," Mary responded as she went and sat down in the kitchen.
"I guess you do what you gotta do," Rhoda commented as she continued to search the fridge.
"Right," Mary answered, starting to get a bit irritated. This was not new to her, she knew that Rhoda wasn't about to let it go, and she just wasn't in the mood for it.
Rhoda, who hadn't caught onto Mary's mood quite yet, closed the fridge and sat down with a small cup of strawberries. "I mean, I know it's not everyday that you get to see Humphrey Boghart on the big screen, and I really do believe that he would make you feel better," she stated.
"Alright! Let's go!" Mary snapped. With a huff, she stood up and started for the door.
Rhoda stood up and followed her. "I'm sorry Mare. No, we don't have to go. Really," she said.
"All right," Mary sighed. Lowering her head, she pinched her nose between her eyes.
"Hey, Mary? Are you all right there? Ya haven't been yourself since we got to the restaurant," Rhoda questioned as she approached her.
"Just tired I guess. I've been worn out a lot lately," Mary answered and then looked up to her friend. She could see how concerned she was, and forced a smile to try and let her know she was fine.
"Understandable," Rhoda responded with a nod.
A moment of silence fell between the two before Mary yawned. "I think that I'm just going to go ahead and go to bed," she stated.
"Okay. I'll see ya in the morning then," Rhoda said. As she watched her go off to her room, she started to wonder whether or not she was really all right. She knew that she wasn't feeling good, and she did expect her to not completely be herself, but there was something even more off about her tonight. There seemed to be more tension or something.
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It was the middle of the night when Mary's eyes popped open. A sharp pain went through her back. That was the moment that she knew that something was wrong.
As carefully as she could, she pulled herself out of bed and slowly made her way over to the door and left the room. "Rhoda?" Mary whimpered as she entered the living room. The pain was starting to spread through out her abdomen.
"Yeah?" Rhoda asked, sitting up. She hadn't been sleeping all that well, so any noise would have woken her up. It was as soon as she saw the look on Mary's face, the fear and discomfort, that she knew she had to be worried. "Mary? What's wrong?" she questioned.
"I don't know," Mary confessed, near tears.