The Doctor's Wife by Luis Jaramillo Page B

leaving Lundeen’s. Chrissy overhears the aftermath of this incident. She lies in bed, listening to the yelling downstairs.
    Chrissy drives the boat fast, but she isn’t wild.

Civic Engagement
    The sewer is finally being built, but the Doctor’s Wife and Nancy Taylor haven’t withdrawn from the public sphere. When they hear of a scheme to build an apartment complex on pilings out over the lake, they go to the county courthouse to lodge a formal complaint. It’s not that they’re against development, it’s just that you can’t just let it happen at random, with no thought to how it will impact the people and the land.
    â€œYou have to have your husband’s permission to complain,” the clerk says.
    â€œPardon?” Nancy asks.
    â€œYou’re not the owners of record.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œYou’re not on the deeds.”
    â€œWho’s on the deeds?”
    â€œDr. Hagen and Mr. Taylor. There’s only room for one person’s name on the line.”
    â€œAnd it just happened to be the men’s names that made it on the forms?” Nancy asks, drawing herself taller. She is very angry. The Doctor’s Wife is mad too, but she also feels herself getting the bad giggles, which in turn infect Nancy. Once the giggles strike dignity is no longer an option. The clerk looks on as Nancy and the Doctor’s Wife cry with laughter.

The Doctor and the House Dog
    â€œThe Bergs are moving and Beau needs a home. Beau’s not clipped like a show poodle, he’s shaggy and friendly,” Chrissy says at dinner.
    â€œWe don’t need another dog,” the Doctor’s Wife says.
    Chrissy forces herself to cry. “Please? Otherwise he’ll have to go to the pound. He’ll be murdered.”
    â€œNow, Chrissy,” the Doctor says, and the Doctor’s Wife knows how this will end.
    â€œHe’s not eating,” Chrissy says a week later, lying on her stomach on the kitchen floor trying to tempt Beau with a piece of cheddar cheese. All the other dogs lived outdoors, but since Beau had previously been a housedog it was determined—not by the Doctor’s Wife—that he should continue in his ways. Poodles don’t shed she was assured.
    Beau turns his face away from the cheese, putting his muzzle down on his paws. “I don’t understand. He loves C-H-E-E-S-E,” Chrissy says. Beau is said to be so smart he understands the spelling of the word. “He’s wasting away.”
    â€œHe’ll eat when he gets hungry,” the Doctor says, but days pass and Beau doesn’t eat. Under his shaggy coat he begins to shrink.
    Three nights into the hunger strike, the Doctor slaps his thigh. Beau looks up at him, wagging his tail. The two go upstairs. When the Doctor’s Wife goes to bed she discovers Beau curled on top of the covers. From then on, Beau sleeps on the bed every night and during the day, he accompanies the Doctor on house calls, riding in the passenger seat. The Doctor’s Wife is not glad to have a new dog, but she slips him chicken when no one is looking.

The Long-distance Swim
    The plan is that Chrissy will swim across the lake, and Ann will accompany her in the rowboat.
    â€œJust don’t get run over,” the Doctor’s Wife says as the girls bang the screen door behind themselves.
    The Doctor’s Wife watches from the window in the living room. The small boat makes its way toward the cove. She takes up the binoculars that rest on the table between the couch and the loveseat. All she can see is Ann rowing. Finally, the boat turns around and there are two blond heads visible, both sisters sitting in the rowboat.
    When they come back, Chrissy’s skin is purple.
    â€œYou’re cyanotic!”
    â€œOh, Mom,” Chrissy says, moving past her to get a cookie from the jar.

Sailing
    Ann and Chrissy are in the little sailboat. Ann is the skipper for today. The wind fills the