Mitch came home tired but anxious to see how the sisters had fared today. He was greeted in the hall with a kiss from Kelsey. “Busy shift?”

He nodded. “Yes, and I told Steve I’d cover for him again tomorrow. His mom is having TIAs, they think.”

“Sure, hon. Glad you can help Steve out.” She let him pass into the house.

“Hey, Mitch. Have a good shift?” Meghan stretched on the couch and got up.

He seated himself at a stool at the bar. “Long shift, busy. I’ll be covering for Dr. Shultz again tomorrow.”

“Are you hungry?” Meghan asked.

He shook his head. “No, I grabbed a bite on my way home.” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I’m going to get a shower. Meghan, would you mind making a cup of that hot chocolate? It sounds really good right about now.”

“Sure. I’ll have it ready when you’ve finished cleaning up.”

Mitch went to shower, and Meghan heated up milk in a pan before pouring it over the cocoa packet contents in each of the three cups she made. She used a small whisk to mix the powder in thoroughly, and had it ready and steaming when Mitch emerged 10 minutes later. Kelsey and Meghan were seated in the living room and were sipping their mugs. Mitch grabbed his from the kitchen bar and joined them.

“That hits the spot,” he declared, after taking a cautious sip of the steaming brew.

Meghan smiled. “The guys at the station like it in the evenings sometimes.”

“How do you make this?” Kelsey asked. “It tastes different from the way I make it.”

“Easy: I pour the mug full of milk, then pour the mug into a saucepan. I heat up the milk, dump the powder into the mug, and then whisk in the milk. Milk makes it taste oh-so-much better than using the hot water the directions call for.” She sipped her cocoa and sighed.

Mitch enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes before looking at both sisters. “I need to put on my doctor’s hat for a minute, ladies.” He leveled a finger at his wife. “Did you take your meds? Pain level?”

Kelsey nodded. “We took our meds like good girls around 6 pm with some leftover pizza. Pain is a 2.”

“Good. What about you, Meghan? Pain level?”

“A four,” she said, softly. She’d been downplaying her discomfort in front of Kelsey, but Mitch wasn’t buying it.

“Only a four?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

“Yes.” She sighed. “I’ll be glad when this is all over.”

He looked at her with compassion. “I’m sure you will be.”

Meghan cleared her throat. “Um, Dr. Mitch? I had a question to ask you.”

Mitch picked up on the level up in formality and knew she had an important question. “Ask away, Meghan. I don’t bite.”

She chuckled nervously. “Kelsey and I were talking earlier about the surgery, and she was answering questions about it that I had. One of the things we talked about was the… ah, the…”

“The prep?” he asked. She just nodded.

“Kelsey said you had a better prep method than the laxatives.” Meghan squirmed in her seat.

Mitch gave Kelsey a knowing look. “Yes, I do. Would you like me to tell you about it?”

“Yeah,” she replied softly.

Mitch settled back in his seat but stayed turned towards Meghan. “Laxatives, as you may know, do clean you out well, but they can be rather harsh on the system. I tend to recommend a prep technique that was used before the laxatives became commonplace. Essentially, you would be on liquids only for two days, the second day being clear liquids only. The afternoon or evening before the surgery I would administer an enema series. This way everything solid will have passed through your small intestine, and then we clean out your large intestine thoroughly with the enemas.”

“What is an enema series?” Meghan wanted to know.

“It’s similar to the enemas we did the other night. I’d be giving you 3-4 enemas, and using some different positions and nozzles to make sure the water gets up really far into your colon. General parlance typically refers to this as ‘enemas until clear’. We want the water flowing out of you to be clear, so you’ll do enemas until that occurs. Like I said, that’s usually 3-4, instead of just the two the other night.”

“What is the purpose of the bowel prep anyway?” she wanted to know. “I mean, they’ll be operating on my ovaries, not my intestines.”

“Having the bowels cleaned out helps with space issues somewhat inside your abdomen, but the biggest thing is reducing the risk of infection if an accidental nick happens to the colon,” Kelsey answered.

“So, decreased risk of potential peritonitis, then,” Meghan responded.

“Yes. As I said, this is just an option for you.” Mitch relaxed back into his chair again and drank on his cocoa.

Meghan thought for a moment. “Dr. Mitch? I think this sounds like the route I’d prefer to take. Would you be willing to….” She trailed off.

He smiled reassuringly at her. “Of course, Meghan. I want to help you however you need or want me to. We can go into more of the nitty-gritty tomorrow, but with your surgery on Thursday, we would need to start the liquid diet on Tuesday and do the enema series Wednesday. I’ll be sure to clear my calendar Wednesday afternoon.” He noticed her biting her lip but didn’t mention it.

Chat soon turned to other topics as they finished off the cocoa. Bed soon beckoned, and they hit the sack.

**********

Monday came and went. Mitch had gone over the liquid diet with Meghan and drove her to the store to pick up a few items. He was surprised when she placed a whole chicken into the cart. “Uh, Meghan…”

“No worries,” she assured him. “Kelsey requested I make some chicken soup. I’ll strain it so I’m just having broth, and then there’ll be soup for y’all. I like to make it from scratch.”

Mitch nodded. “Okay, you had me wondering there for a minute.”

Meghan got some ginger ale and apple juice and went in search of Jello. “Am I allowed any kind, or am I stuck with lime?” she asked.

Mitch chuckled. “They won’t be doing a colonoscopy, so get whatever flavor you like.” She smiled gratefully, tossing in a packet of cherry, strawberry banana, and mixed fruit flavors.

She added a few other items to the cart and checked out.

**********

Tuesday morning dawned bright and early. Meghan wandered into the kitchen, yawning, and spotted the coffee pot brewing. “Good morning!” Mitch greeted her from behind.

Meghan startled. “Geez, Mitch! You about gave me a coronary!”

He laughed. “Sorry. I think the coffee is about ready.”

Meghan contemplated the pot. “Am I allowed to doctor my coffee, or does it have to be black?”

“You’re allowed dairy products today, but no cream tomorrow. You can use sweetener both days.” He pulled cups out of the cabinet for them.

She nodded and doctored hers with gusto. “Gotta enjoy it while I can,” she said, responding to his look.

He chuckled. “Making that soup today?” She nodded. The phone rang, and Mitch went to answer it. “Hello?” He walked back towards his office with the cordless phone.

Meghan drank her coffee while setting the water kettle on to boil. When it sounded, she measured out hot water into a bowl and stirred in a packet of Jello. Once it dissolved, she added another cup of hot water and stirred that in as well. She ladled this into a clean cup and sipped on it. Guess this counts as breakfast, she mused.

Mitch made a brief stop in the kitchen to replace the cordless phone and headed for the bedroom. She heard voices talking for a while, then Kelsey appeared following Mitch. Mitch had changed into scrubs and his lab coat was draped over his arm.

“Did you get called in again?” Meghan asked.

“Yes,” he sighed. “With Dr. Shultz out, we’re short-staffed. He already texted and said he’ll be back tomorrow, and I let the scheduler know I need Wednesday and Thursday off.” He kissed his wife and gave Meghan a brief side hug. “Remember, liquids only today. Jello can be solid, but nothing solid otherwise.”

Meghan nodded. He kissed Kelsey again and was out the door.

Kelsey looked at her sister and shook her head. “You’re making soup today?” Meghan nodded. “That’ll be good for when he gets home. I know he doesn’t mind filling in for others, but it does wear him out.”

**********

Meghan made soup that morning, adding plenty of onion, celery, and large round slices of carrot to the whole chicken she had cut up and put in the pot. Once the chicken was done, she removed the pieces, deboned them, and added half of the shredded meat back to the pot. She put the rest into a freezer bag, labeled it, and stuck it in the freezer for a later meal. She seasoned the broth created by the meat and finished it with some rotini pasta. She put the pot on the back burner and let it simmer slowly, building flavor and making the house smell divine.

She cleaned up her mess and thought about her sister’s accident a couple of weeks prior. At the same time, Kelsey came into the kitchen and stood next to her, leaning her head on Meghan’s shoulder.

“It smells good, sis.” Kelsey smiled.

“Thanks. It’s good to be able to do something productive.” Meghan made to move away but stopped at her sister’s quiet words.

“Thank you, for caring for me with the accident. You saved my life.” Kelsey spoke softly, but Meghan was aware of how much depth was behind her sister’s words.

“You’re welcome. I love you, Kelsey.” She gave her sister a hug, mindful of her arm.

“I love you too,” Kelsey whispered, returning the hug.