Cannot Wait to Get to Heaven - Fannie Flagg [93]
“Where did it come from?”
Elner looked at her and smiled. “Honey, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Did you buy it at a bakery?”
“No, it’s homemade all right, a friend of mine made it.”
“That’s too bad. I was hoping I could get the recipe from you…she sure loved that cake.”
“Oh, I’d be happy to give it to you. Just give me your address and I’ll send it to you. I have the recipe in the Neighbor Dorothy cookbook at home…. Oh, and here’s a tip: make sure to always check your oven and make sure it’s preheated to the right temperature. Dorothy told me that was the secret to a good moist cake.”
La Shawnda quickly jotted down her name and address on a piece of paper and handed it to Elner.
“I sure appreciate it, Mrs. Shimfissle.” Then La Shawnda looked over at the door and whispered, “And I sure would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anybody about me taking that cake home the other night, or I could lose my job. They’re just looking for excuses to fire people around here.”
“Ahh, I see. Well, no, I promise I won’t mention it. But tell your mother I said I’m glad she’s feeling better, OK?”
As La Shawnda said good-bye, a nurse wearing rubber gloves and pushing a tray came in and said with a big smile, “Good morning, Mrs. Shimfissle,” and from her smile Elner knew she was in for something she wasn’t going to like.
Going Home
After the nurse had checked and rechecked Elner, Dr. Henson, her emergency room doctor, was handed the report. He had come to visit with Elner several times a day since she had been there, and the more he got to know her, the better he started feeling about the human race. All findings had cleared him of any negligence, he was not being fired, and evidently the hospital was not being sued and his patient was doing great, and he was in a great mood.
He opened the door and walked into her room with a big smile. “Good morning, Sunshine.”
“Well, hey,” she said, happy to see him.
“I hate to tell you this, because we wish we could keep you, but I’m sending you home today, young lady!”
“You are? Is my niece coming to get me?”
“Nope. We just called her and told her not to come, because there is someone here who wants to escort you home in style.”
After the nurses packed her up, they put her in a wheelchair and Nurse Boots Carroll and Dr. Henson rolled her to the elevator and downstairs, through the lobby, and then through the big double glass doors. And parked right out in front was a long shiny black limousine. When Franklin Pixton had reported to Mr. Thomas York, the head of the hospital board, about the old lady who fell out of her tree, Mr. York had been fascinated and had replied, “Now, there is someone I’d like to meet.” And so when the chauffeur opened the back door, a distinguished-looking older man stepped out of the back and said, taking off his hat, “Mrs. Shimfissle, I’m Thomas York. I wonder if you might allow me the privilege of accompanying you home?”
“Well, sure,” she said.
Elner and Mr. York chatted away as they drove toward Elmwood Springs, and she found out that even though he was a retired CEO of a bank, he had a fondness for chickens as well. His grandfather had been a chicken farmer. They had a grand time all the way home discussing the superior qualities of the Rhode Island Red versus the blue speckled hen. As they neared Elmwood Springs, she looked out the window. “I just hope Merle’s out in his yard to see me come driving up in a limousine. I don’t remember the trip to the hospital, but I sure am enjoying the trip home. I never dreamed I’d ever get to ride in the back of one of these things.”
When they drove down her street, she asked if the driver could slow down so maybe some of her other neighbors would see her. When they pulled up to her house, Norma and most of her neighbors were waiting for her, and she was so happy to see that Louise Franks and her daughter, Polly, had come to town to welcome her home as well.
After Mr. York had come up on the porch and eaten a piece of welcome home Bundt