Jade pulled into the driveway at the stroke of 4:39.
It had been a good day so far, she had slept until about noon. The previous evening had been her final shift at
Bean Gene's
, afterward some of her now-former coworkers took her out for drinks to celebrate. She woke up a little groggy, but fortunately not hungover. Jade put her cell phone on silent as she knocked on the door. A second later, a smiling, plump woman of about 30 answered the door.
"You must be Jade! Come in, my name is Inna," said Inna.
Inna spoke perfect English, but Jade immediately noticed that Inna's vowels were especially nasally. Jade guessed that Inna spoke Ukrainian or Russian growing up, learning English around the same time. The two women shook hands.
Jade followed Inna into the kitchen, where Holly was in her wheelchair seated at the breakfast nook, sipping water through a straw.
"Oh hey," said Holly. "Good to see you."
"Nice to see you as well," said Jade.
Inna and Jade made brief introductions, as Holly led them into her bedroom. It was early summer, so Holly was dressed accordingly; striped top, basketball shorts, and flip flops. Holly's contrasting choices of tops and bottoms seemed a little goofy, but she had explained it best during the interview. Her tops had to be professional, but because she was only on camera from the chest up, the shorts and sweatpants provide easier access. Holly parked her chair next to the bed, and Inna pulled the wooden board out from between the bed and the nightstand. Inna placed one end on the bed, and the other one on Holly's chair. Holly used her arms to scoot her weight over the board, and onto the bed. Inna gently removed Holly's flip flops, and placed her legs on the bed. Inna went into the bathroom, returning a second later with what Jade immediately recognized as a catheterization kit.
"Do you think you're ready?," asked Holly. "Or would you like to see Inna do it once?"
Jade wasn't quite ready, so she opted to watch Inna. Inna gently grabbed the waistband of Holly's shorts, and pulled them around her ankles. To Jade's surprise, Holly was wearing an adult diaper.
"I had an accident," Holly said matter-of-factly. "I'm probably good now, but we're just gonna play it safe."
She turned and looked directly at Jade. "Still want the job?," she asked.
"Beats the hell out of a drive-thru," Jade said with a grin.
Inna ripped open the sides and pulled back the diaper, exposing Holly's paralyzed vagina.
"Clean," said Inna, to Holly's relief.
Inna invited Jade to the bedside, narrating slowly and clearly to Jade as she worked. First she would cleanse Holly's urethral area with a sterile wipe, then she lubricated the catheter and inserted it. Holly's urine drained into a bag. Holly was mentally checked out for this part, it was only after Inna had removed the catheter and started walking toward the bathroom did she begin to speak.
"She's gonna go drain the bag," said Holly. "Go ahead and help me get cleaned up. Roll me onto my side, there's a brief on the nightstand."
Jade rolled Holly onto her side. Determined not to be fooled so easily like last time, Jade gloved up and went straight for the wipes. With Holly on her side, Jade spread her labia and cleaned in between, going all the way back. She repeated once, then Holly was clean. Jade grabbed the adult diaper off of the nightstand, and started threading Holly's feet through the holes. Jade was shocked by how incredibly soft and smooth Holly's feet were. But it made sense, they hadn't taken a step in nearly half a decade, anything close to a callus or blister would've been long gone by now. Once the diaper was fully up on one side, Jade turned Holly onto her opposite side, and pulled that side up. Holly talked her through the process, ensuring there were no wrinkles touching her skin. To prevent pressure sores, she explained. Inna walked back in right as Jade was pulling Holly's shorts back up around her waist. Inna stood by as Holly talked Jade through the transfer process, step-by-step. Once Holly was in her wheelchair, Jade grabbed her left foot, put it back in the flip flop, and gently laid the foot into the footrest. She repeated this process with Holly's right leg.
"Awesome," said Holly. "Time for dinner."
Inna and Jade followed Holly into the kitchen, where Inna pulled a large, brown paper sack from the refrigerator. Holly still did some grocery shopping, but had realized the convenience of a meal preparation service early on. All the ingredients were pre-measured and included, tonight was buffalo mac and cheese.
Inna grabbed all of the necessary cookware and utensils, and opened all the necessary packaging. After she had completed this, she backed off and let Holly get to work. Jade was amazed, aside from the minimal preparations Inna had made, Holly was quite independent in the kitchen. While Holly was already a generally pleasant woman, Jade could tell a huge improvement in her mood when she began to cook, she really felt at home in the kitchen. Once the meal was finished, Holly summoned Luke and Tasha to the table. The children greeted Inna and Jade as they set the table, Tasha still friendlier than Luke. Once Tasha and Luke were seated, Holly began to dish out their plates, serving herself after her children.
Meals were not a part of this job, and Holly's meal preparation service only included portions for three people, so Jade and Inna ate their sack lunches in the backyard. It was around dusk on that night in the early summer, quite pleasant. While making small talk, the two women discovered that they had attended the same high school at different times. After developing some rapport, Jade's curiosity got the best of her.
"So, Holly's accident..." Jade trailed off.
"She tripped," said Inna, not missing a beat. "She was in line at a cafe one morning, she walked up to order, tripped, and her chin caught the counter at just the perfect angle, SNAP!," Inna said, as she made a cracking motion with her hands.
Jade was slightly discomforted, she wasn't sure what kind of explanation she was expecting, but that certainly wasn't it. Jade couldn't believe how a freak accident like that could happen, but it was literally the reason for her employment. Jade empathized with her employer, but she tried to fathom the odds of such an event, she was more likely to win the lottery multiple times! Sensing the tension, Inna spoke up.
"She got a pretty nice settlement out of the whole thing. Her parents were rich to begin with, though."
About half an hour later, Inna and Jade walked back into the house. Jade immediately cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher, Inna cleaned up the kitchen. Holly and her kids were in the living room, watching TV. When their program reached a commercial break, Holly rolled into the kitchen, greeting both women.
"Alright," said Holly. "Jade, how about you follow me into the bedroom."
Holly took the lead as Jade followed her into the bedroom. Jade parked her chair next to her bed, and instructed Jade to place the wooden board between the chair and bed, as she had seen before. Once Holly had transferred onto the bed, she instructed Jade to pull her shorts down. Jade pulled the shorts around Holly's ankles, fully exposing her diaper.
"Hope you're ready," said Holly. "Cath kits are in the bathroom."
Jade walked into Holly's bathroom, and turned on the light. Jade was shocked at the sheer size, Holly's bathroom was enormous. One one end of the bathroom, there was a large, tile stall with a showerhead and a slightly sloped drain. Across from the shower stall was a large padded commode chair on wheels, parked over Holly's toilet. It took Jade a second to find her bearings, but she grabbed the catheterization kit and underpads, and returned to Holly's bedside. Jade rolled the underpad under Holly and gloved up. Jade then ripped the sides of Holly's diaper, and pulled back the front. Holly had had an accident. A mild bladder spasm, but an accident nonetheless.
"You, um, you uh, you peed yourself just a little," said Jade, embarrassed over how much she stumbled over her words.
"Incontinence is a part of living with paralysis" said Holly, not for the first time.
Jade couldn't imagine how Holly felt, laying there helpless having her diaper changed by a woman closer to her son's age than her own. Once Holly was clean, Jade changed gloves and wiped off Holly's urethral area. She had spent her last ten minute break at