Dixie Takes Up Sewing

This piece of the tale is a collaborative effort of Barb Carlson and myself. She has posted this as well, along with Dixie's last episode. Link to Barb's post is below.

Tia helped Dixie carry Launa into the farmhouse. She nearly tripped going up the stairs, but they managed to get her inside without dropping her. I hope this lady knows what she's doing, Tia thought. I sure don't.

Tia looked around at the simple farmhouse as they duck-walked Launa into a first floor bedroom. Nice place, but why is Dixie here? Good thing she showed up when she did, though. I feel stupid for not thinking about blowing the horn at the bear.

Tia helped Dixie get Launa onto the bed. "Thank you," Tia said. "Do you know what to do for her? We can't go to the hospital ... we just ran from there because they tried to shoot us!"

Tia sat on a nearby wooden chair. "I don't have enough gas to get much of anywhere, anyway." Tia felt herself shaking, not entirely from the rain. "Don't let her die, okay?" she said in a small voice. She blinked, letting the tears run down her face.

Dixie peered down at the ashen skinned woman, and sighed heavily. "Tia, right? Listen, sugar, I've been a nurse for a lot of years, and I can tell that your pal is in a lot of hurt here. I'll do what I can, but I'm not promising anything. She's apparently lost a lot of blood, and I could tell when we carried her up here that she's dehydrated. Give me a sec to check her out."

"Tia, do me a favor, and run out to my car." Dixie said, tossing her the keys. "In the trunk, you will see a blue box full of medical stuff. Bring it to me, ok? The whole box. I thought I would only need a couple four-by-fours. man, was I wrong."

Gingerly rolling Launa over, Dixie discovered that she was bleeding from a gash on her back that had, at some point in the recent past, been sutured. Several of the stitches had torn, leaving a gaping wound. It was difficult to keep the fear off her face, but if she didn't do something soon, this gal was a goner. Suddenly she was glad she sent that sweet, terrified girl out of the room.

Tia trotted out the front door and looked around to be sure the bear wasn't nearby. Then she ran down the steps to Dixie's car and opened her trunk. She spotted the box amid a jumble of shoes, shopping bags and purses. Interesting. I wonder what this is all for? She pulled out the box and shuddered as she saw a bag of IV fluid, and a big syringe on top of some other things. Oh God, I hate needles, she thought, cringing.

She ran into the room and saw Dixie bending over Launa. She was horrified to see the blood on Launa's gown.

"Is she okay?" she asked, her teeth chattering from cold and shock. "Where do you want this?" she asked. She wasn't sure she wanted to get too close a look.

"Put it over here on the table, hon," Dixie said as she crossed the room to the kitchen table. "Then do me another favor and lug that coat rack over by your friend."

Dixie pulled several bags of fluid from the box, searching for the right solution. "Ah, here we go," she said, grabbing a bag which read D5W, a package of tubing and several other packages which Tia assumed were needles and bandages.

Dixie worked quietly, only breaking the silence to ask, "She's not diabetic, is she?"

"I don't know," Tia said. "I just work with her. Or I used to, anyway."

"This will have to do, but it ain't too bad, considering." Dixie said admiring her handy work. She had inserted an IV skillfully into Launa's right arm, and hung the bag from the coat rack.

"This will rehydrate her a bit. Now Tia, do you think you can hold her over for me, so I can sew her back up? I don't want to lay her on her belly, because she will have a problem breathing, so I need you to hold her on her side, OK?" She smiled at Tia reassuringly. "I don't think it will hurt her, because I gave her a healthy shot of Demerol. Believe me, right now, she feels better than either you or me," Dixie said, breaking the tension with a nervous laugh.

"So, how you holding up there, girl? You look like you've been rode hard and put away wet," Dixie said with a smile. "I'm almost done here. Let me ask you something. Is her name Lana, like Lana Turner, or Launa, with a "u"?" nodding at the still form lying on the bed.

"With a "u", why?" Tia asked.

"This is freaky, ya know. I've been having some trouble sleeping, and a friend of mine from upstate gave me a card with the name "Launa-with-a-u" on it, to call for help with my issue. I just find it a little odd to meet someone with the same name so soon after getting the card."

Tia shook her head, "I don't know anything about a card or anything like that." She looked around the room and asked, "Is there anything I can change into? I don't have any clothes and I'm soaking wet." She looked down, blushing, and said, "And I peed myself when the bear growled at me."

Gently taping a large bandage over Launa's sutures, Dixie helped Tia position their erstwhile patient on her side, placing pillows against her back to prevent her from rolling back onto the fresh sutures.

"I have no idea if there is any hot water," Dixie answered, "but the bathroom is upstairs. You can root around in the closets for something to wear, but to be honest, I haven't been in this house since I was a kid, so I have no idea if there are any clothes here or not. It's a Goddamn miracle I found it myself, let alone getting here just in time to find Smokey out there trying to sniff up your friend," Dixie said as she eyed Tia's trembling.

"Go clean up, and if you can't find anything to wear, I've got a suitcase in the car." She stood up and said, "I'll see if Uncle David left anything to eat in this place. I don't know about you, but I'm flippin' starved," Dixie said, heading to the kitchen. "Later, you want to tell me how the heck you two got in this predicament?"

Dixie breathed a sigh of relief as she opened one of the cupboards. The refrigerator was empty, but the pantry was stocked with a huge array of home canned fruits and vegetables. She was glad to see several cases of bottled water as well.

The recent events had successfully taken Dixie's mind from her own troubles, and for that she was grateful. Grabbing a quart of peaches, and a couple forks, Dixie headed back to the parlor, to wait for Tia.

Link to "Launa Meets Dixie, Sort of..."

Link to the next installment "Dixie and Tia Have a Talk"