Chapter 4

She knocked again at the door, having been certain that Mary was somewhere within. She'd heard someone knocking about moments before, certainly Mary hadn't gone out. Especially not when the snow was coming down in sheets outside. Rhoda had barely been able to see the driveway through her apartment window. Mary would be crazy to be outside today. But then why wasn't she calling for Rhoda?

She tried the handle again but it wouldn't budge. Locked.

"Mare, are you in there?" Rhoda tried again.

She heard the shuffling on the other side of the door. Stepping back, she braced herself to see the woman whose face had run through her head all day while she'd built the new display window at work. She felt foolish thinking back on it now, how she'd imagined what Mary would look like in all of the new clothing items, how she determined if it was Mary's color or style. She'd thought almost all of it would have suited Mary just fine and if she were a rich woman she'd gladly buy all of it just to dress Mary up in like a doll. A human doll all her own.

How ridiculous. Rhoda had never been interested in playing with dolls. Such foolish, childish thoughts.

The door swung open and instead of the well-put-together Mary Richards she was accustomed to, Rhoda found quite a frightful sight before her. There was Mary in her pink robe, hair flattened down about her pale face, little sweat beads peppering her forehead, her hand shaky and limp.

"You look like death, kid." Rhoda tried to joke, but felt genuinely worried.

"Oh, Rhoda. You probably shouldn't come in. I've had this bug since this morning. I called in sick. And I meant it this time." Mary groaned, moving back to her still rolled out bed. She collapsed into its recesses.

"Mare, why didn't you phone me to let me know? I could've brought some liquids, some medicine, held your hair for you." Rhoda shut the door behind her, determined not to leave her friend in this miserable state.

"You're too kind. Really, I've managed. I can manage." Mary insisted, sitting up in the bed, pulling the blankets up around her suddenly chilly body.

Rhoda sat at the edge of the bed and placed the back of her hand to Mary's forehead. "You're burning up, kid."

"Rhoda, go home. I don't want you to catch whatever it is I have." Mary looked at her with those sad, puppy dog eyes. They practically begged Rhoda not to leave.

"I'm going to get you a cool washcloth for your forehead and a bowl. Do you have anything fizzy to drink?" Rhoda was all the way to the kitchen, ignoring Mary's dismissal. She opened the refrigerator. "No, and there's no way I can get out in this snowy mess to fetch anything for you. Guess we'll just have to make do with some water and…" she opened the cabinet doors and rummaged around, "ah, crackers."

Running a rag under freezing cold water, she rung it out and returned to Mary's side, pressing the cloth to her warm forehead. "Hey kid, I've got this."

Mary smiled at her appreciatively. "Thank you."

"Don't even mention it." Rhoda winked at her. "You've felt this crummy all day?"

Mary just nodded weakly.

"You poor thing."

"You had work today, it wasn't like I expected you to babysit me. I'm a grown woman after all." Mary spoke indignantly.

"Of course, it's just…" Rhoda smoothed her fingers through Mary's hair, pressing it away from her neck. "I don't like seeing you sick."

"Me, either." Mary frowned. She scooted over in the bed, her little way of offering Rhoda some space to sit beside her. Rhoda slid out of her shoes and climbed in, keeping only a little distance for the sake of Mary's illness. The TV was all set up so that Mary could see it from the bed. Rhoda's eyes fell to the screen. It was set to some silly night show she usually only half-paid attention to.

"Did you catch the news? Ted was something tonight." Rhoda inquired opening the box of crackers and handing a few to Mary.

"He's always something." Mary nibbled at the edge of a cracker. "Couldn't seem to pronounce traffic. Traffic is almost always what he reports on. I mean really I see the similarity but talking about how bad 'terrific' is just doesn't pack the same punch."

Rhoda laughed.

"Don't you have some wild plans for the evening? Am I keeping you?" Mary glanced over at Rhoda.

"Oh nah. Besides it's a whitewall out there. Couldn't see my hand in front of my face if I tried. Guess you're stuck with me for the evening." Rhoda lightly nudged Mary.

Mary shrugged, "I don't mind it."

They smiled at one another.

Mary turned back to the television show, as if engrossed in its silly characters. Rhoda took the poor, sickly looking woman in, watched the even rise and fall of her chest, watched as she struggled to keep herself together for Rhoda's sake. But upon realizing she was staring, Rhoda glanced away, to the TV. They sat like that for some time, sat together until Rhoda felt Mary's body gradually drifting closer to her own.

She could hear steady breaths coming from her temporary bedmate – and though she'd been pondering this exact situation for the past few months it hadn't exactly played out like this in her mind. Rhoda glanced over and found Mary fast asleep.

She watched her sleeping peacefully, looking much healthier in sleep than she had awake.

Rhoda decided that she was no longer needed, nor probably welcome to just curl up and sleep all night beside her friend. No, she should collect herself and make her way to her own apartment.

She stood slowly, silently from the bed. She returned the washcloth to the kitchen along with the crackers. She poured Mary a new glass of water, taking it back to her bedside. And just as she shut off the television, Mary stirred in the bed.

"Don't go." Mary whispered in the half-darkness of the snowy evening.

Rhoda felt her heart pounding in her chest. Heavy beats, reverberating loudly against her rib cage. She wondered if Mary could hear it in the quiet of night.

"Mare," Rhoda looked down at the half-asleep woman.

"Please." Mary's eyes were open. She looked so frightened laying there.

Rhoda fidgeted, uncertain. She knew she should leave, make some excuse that she would check on Mary in the morning…but the other part of her wanted, desperately, to lay beside Mary all night. Even though she was burning up with sickness. Especially because she was sick.

"Let me change and I'll come right back, okay?" Rhoda found herself saying before she could think it through more.

"Promise you'll come back."

"Of course, I'll be real quick." Rhoda assured Mary.

And true to her word Rhoda raced to her apartment, changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, pulled on a robe and was back to Mary's in a matter of minutes. She locked Mary's door and made her way through the snow-lit room to Mary's fold-up bed.

"You came back." Mary sounded distant, delirious, perhaps.

"Yeah kid. I'm back. You better scoot over a little if you want me to have any room." Rhoda laughed, noticing that Mary was somehow right in the middle of the bed.

Mary complied, moving over to accommodate Rhoda, to make room for her in her bed.

Rhoda could hear Mary's breathing. She listened as it slowly evened out again, lost to dreamland.

Rhoda didn't sleep a wink.

Mary's fever broke the next morning.

Rhoda made them eggs and bacon and coffee and Mary devoured the food as if she hadn't eaten for weeks.

"Expecting a famine sometime soon?" Rhoda quipped as she sat with a piece of jellied toast in her hand. "Want the rest of my eggs?"

Mary stopped and looked up from her plate, as if realizing she'd been shoveling food into her mouth uncharacteristically. "No, no. I'm not sure what overcame me. I'm just…ravenous. That flu must've really gotten to me." Mary stood, collecting up their plates from the table.

Rhoda nearly protested, having not been done with her breakfast, but the plates were already tossed in the sink before she could open her mouth. Thank God she'd managed to salvage the piece of toast.

"You sure you're feeling good enough to go to work?" Rhoda inquired, staring on with concern as her friend scrubbed the dishes until they sparkled clean.

"I'm sure, Rhoda." Mary smiled at her. "You'd better get dressed if we're going to make it on time."

Rhoda stood from the table to make her exit just as Phyllis came waltzing in. Rhoda felt her pulse quicken, her heart beating just a little bit faster as she realized she was still in her pajamas and the bed was still out, unmade on both sides. If Phyllis looked, really looked, she'd know.

And Phyllis saw everything. At least Rhoda felt like she could see through her in that moment that their eyes locked and Phyllis' eyes twinkled just the slightest bit.

"Couldn't be bothered to get dressed for work?" Phyllis retorted to Rhoda as she tried to sweep past only to find herself blocked in.

"Very funny, Phyllis. I was just on my way to change." Rhoda was too tired to deal with the woman, too shaken to make some witty comeback.

"What was going on here this morning? Did you two have breakfast in bed? Some fun, single girls' pastime?" Phyllis eyed Mary, who came from behind Rhoda to straighten out the bed, beginning the process of turning it back into a couch.

"Here, let me help you." Rhoda offered, knowing Mary would still be out of sorts.

"Go on, we've got to leave soon." Mary shooed her away before returning her attentions to the woman who had just unwelcomingly entered into her apartment. "As a matter of fact, Phyllis, we did not have breakfast in bed. I was sick with the flu and Rhoda came to check on me this morning, isn't that right Rhoda?" Mary eyed her briefly as she made her way to the door.

"Uh, yeah. That's right, Phyllis. I came down to check on our sick Mary but she's all better now." Rhoda frowned a little at Mary as she spoke. Was Mary ashamed that they'd shared a bed? There was nothing to hide, nothing had happened between them. They might as well have slept a floor apart.

"Just a twenty-four-hour bug was all it was." Mary tossed a throw pillow back atop the couch.

"Well I came by to see if you could watch Bess tonight, but now that I know you've been sick I'll have a baby-sitter come by." Phyllis was slowly backing out of the room, as if she might catch the illness, as if it lingered. Rhoda rolled her eyes, inching ever closer to the door.

"Well that's too bad, Phyllis. Let me know if you can't find someone. I'm certain I'm not contagious anymore." Mary was responding in her annoyingly dutiful tone as Rhoda made her escape, racing up the stairs to her apartment.

Rhoda tried to reign in her thoughts, but she kept wondering, had Mary felt ashamed of the previous night? Was that it?

Rhoda was certain, then, that it would never happen again.

She let it drop, tried to let it roll off her back. She was cracking jokes like normal on the car ride to work. She acted her normal, chipper self as if Mary's denial of their night of sharing a bed hadn't affected her. And why should it? It had been nothing. Mary was her friend. They were friendly together. That was all.

Rhoda convinced herself of this thoroughly.

Until she got an unexpected phone call that night at 9:30pm. "Rhoda would you…would you come down here. I can't sleep."