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."You see, that wasn't too hard now was it?" She took Randa's hand and led her towards the kitchen."Anything madamdesires, I'll do my best to grant.""Those may be your famous last words.""Just this evening I hope.""You're unstoppable.""I learned from the best." Denise waggled her eyebrows.The women entered the kitchen as Randa asked, "The best?""You know, that impassioned woman who kept me awake for more than half the night.""Are you complaining?"Denise pulled the blonde into her arms."Never."Chapter 22The week after Valentines Day was blissful for Denise and Randa.Sara's condition had seemed to stabilize and the house settled into a routine that gavethe younger women time to explore the new aspect of their relationship.The days and evenings were reserved for Sara and work, while the nights werereserved for each other.The exploration started on the holiday continued and they became more comfortable with each other's bodies.The long nightsspent in each other's arms were the most restful either had ever spent, each finding a feeling of rightness and contentment.Randa and Denise split the nighttime duty of repositioning Sara allowing the other to continue to sleep uninterrupted.Uninterrupted, unless the oneremaining in bed chose to be a one-woman erotic welcoming committee on the other's return.It was the middle of the night late in February when Randa made her way downstairs to turn Sara.Moving quietly, the nurse slipped into the room as shehad done so many times before to look at the woman who had become almost as close to her as her own mother.As Randa reached to gently wake Sara, her hand stopped short of touching the woman's shoulder.The training drilled into the blonde came out and sherealized something wasn't right with Sara.Pulling back, Randa slipped her professional demeanor on and began an assessment of the older woman.Theproblem hit her almost immediately.Despite having the ever-present oxygen on, Sara was still struggling slightly for breath.Randa observed the breathingfor a moment and saw what she believed was the problem.They would need to call Dr.Macarthur first thing in the morning, but it was the talk with Denisethat the blonde dreaded more than that.Waking Sara, Randa completed the repositioning and kissed the older woman goodnight.Randa climbed the stairs slowly.This news is going to hurt Denise.I thought it was tough to give her bad news before, but now that we've moved beyondthe 'just friends' stage it's going to hurt like hell to tell her what she has to know.Randa walked into the room she had shared with the poet for over a weekand looked at the sleeping woman.This will wait until morning; I'm not going to wake her up right now.The nurse slipped quietly into the bed where Denisereached for her in her sleep.Randa closed her eyes, allowing the warmth and security of the brunette's embrace to banish temporarily the chill that hadsettled in her heart.***The next morning Randa woke to find the bed empty.She was just starting to rise from the bed when Denise walked in toweling her hair dry.Just the sightof the taller woman was enough to pick the nurse's pulse rate up pleasantly."Good morning, love," Randa said to the poet.Denise approached the bed and leaned over to give the blond woman a lingering kiss."No doubt about it," the nurse sighed, "you absolutely know how to say 'good morning' right."Denise chuckled."What are you doing up so early? I thought you might sleep in as you were up with Sara last night."Randa frowned as she remembered the conversation she needed to have with Denise this morning."Denise, could you sit here with me a minute beforeyou go downstairs? I want to talk to you about Sara."Concern was evident in the poet's voice as she said, "What's the matter? Has something happened to Sara?""No, no!" the nurse said.She reached up and drew Denise down to sit on the bed."Sara is okay, love.I think though that there has been a change in hercondition and we are going to have to do something about it.When I went down to turn her the last time, I noticed there was a problem with her breathing.Ithink she's had further weakening of her respiratory muscles."The nurse felt the brunette's hand tighten around her own."Further weakening? I didn't notice anything yesterday.She seemed the same as always.""During the day she's taking deeper breaths because she's awake but at night she breathes more shallowly and her respiratory muscles aren't strong enough to hold her lungs open fully," Randa explained."I think we need to contact Dr.Macarthur and get a C-PAP machine for Sara.""Whatever you think is best, Randa, but what exactly is a C-PAP?" Denise asked."C-PAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.It's a machine that's connected to a mask Sara will need to wear at night.The mask is a prettytight fit over her nose and mouth
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