Becky sat on her bed and stared at the bare walls of her room. It was a bit eerie today, it felt like the walls were showing her what she was inside, plain, bare and extremely empty. She shifted her weight to yank the duvet cover from underneath her, the old steel frame creaked echoing through her room.

 She sighed heavily, her head steadily dropping towards her belly. Her chin now bobbing on her breasts. She lifted her head and aimed her chin at her breasts, setting them off on a jiggle. She smiled and did it again. She did that repeatedly for a few more minutes till the novelty wore off.

 She looked at her feet, they were gnarly, frail and extremely ashy. She felt a bit embarrassed and tried to tuck her toes; it was excruciatingly painful. Her palms pressed against the spring mattress, she tried to hoist herself off the bed. 

 “AAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

 She groaned, trying to push off the bed, her toes now pressed against the floor with the same pressure her palms were fixed on her mattress trying to find the right leverage for momentum.

 “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

 Becky stood, now slightly hunched over, one palm pressed against the wall, another pressed against her knee. Her brow polka-dotted with sweat, she couldn’t believe how much effort it took to get out of bed. She lifted her head, her palm still pressed against the wall, she steadily inched towards her bedroom door. Her mind focused on one thing and one thing only, being able to use the toilet today without making a mess on the floor before Gaudencia came to clean up.

 As she inched towards the door, still in agony her legs slowly dragging across the floor incapable of bending her knees she felt a sense of relief. She had made it this far without the pressing urge to go back to her room and use a bedpan today. As she reached the end of the corridor, just about to open the toilet door, she felt this weird woozy sensation. Her free hand clasped her forehead as she tried to stabilize herself. After about 10 seconds she mustered the strength to shove open the door and yelled, 

 “I made it! I made it!” just as she opened her eyes from her celebratory yelp. A stench chocked her, the woozy sensation returned. She looked down ready to use the loo and locked eyes with its occupant, and lo and behold, it was Gaudencia her nurse.

 “I might as well clean up after you today?!” They both laughed as Gaudencia slammed the door and Becky yelled for a wheelchair to sit on as she waited her turn.