Getting Gertie Out

It’s summer vacation. Lanta Cross is sixteen and at odds with Bernadette, her adoptive mother. She’ll do anything to get away from home and out from under Bernadette’s considerable thumb. Already working one part-time job at a local café, Lanta takes another at Saint Catherine’s Elder Care Facility. At first it appears her duties are something she can do blindfolded -- wheeling residents to and from activities, cleaning up their messes, and mainly staying out of the way of the LVNs and the administrator, Ms. Andrews. During her first week at the home, Lanta meets and befriends an elderly lesbian resident, Gertrude Weiss. They bond quickly. Yet not everything is what it seems at St. Catherine’s. When Gertrude’s journal full of her thoughts about her late partner goes missing, the abuse begins. Gertrude’s meals are late and cold. Her seemingly friendly roommate asks for a transfer to another room. As the harassment escalates, Gertrude’s physical and emotional health deteriorates. Lanta and her mother must pool their resources and work as a team to save Gertrude’s life before it’s too late. Will they be in time?

Paul Alan Fahey · Urban

Not enough ratings

22 Chs

Chapter 18

“So it’s true. My friend is seriously ill, isn’t she?” I reached out, touched the thin, white cotton blanket on the bed.

Gertrude. Tiny and frail like a frightened animal curled up in a ball.

“No, she’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Didn’t they tell you? It was only a little fall.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. A fall at Gertrude’s age could be serious. You don’t have to have a nursing degree or college certificate to understand this,” I told her, rubbing it in, knowing she was hired help like myself.

“Don’t believe everything you hear. She slipped in the bathroom getting ready for her shower. She has a small bruise or two. Pulled a muscle. Those can be painful, last quite a while but I assure you they aren’t serious,” she said, parroting Frieda pretty much word for word.

“Yes, but someone should have been in the bathroom with her. She’s not steady on her feet.”

“She’s done it before. It isn’t a big deal.”

Jesus. Not a big deal. I don’t believe these people

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