I helped my sister-in-law walk to her house

She was coming out of anesthesia

Her speech was mumbled

I told her to be careful not to stumble

The yellow bracelet on her wrist read in black bold letters FALL RISK

That she was trying to balance

A catheter tube came out of her pants

I walked behind her through the grass and up the stairs, a delicate dance

The breeze swirled around us

She was wobbly

It was a test of trust

I helped her to the sofa

She asked if I could bring her a soda

I said, “No, that stuff’s poison”

So I took her some water

I went to get her a banana but she said not to bother

She told me she liked my hair

And the comfy socks the hospital gave her

Plastic stickers on the bottom

To keep her feet from slipping at the beginning of autumn

I told her I brought her some books

She said she’d take a look

I said, “You’ll be on this sofa for six weeks”

She asked how I was feeling

And I thought about how that girl’s so unique

I heard her “ooo-ooo” in pain a few times

I gave her some liquid oxycodone and she began to feel fine

She wanted to walk down to the river

I said, “No, the cold air will give you a jitter

We can watch it from the window”

She said, “Yeah, I know, but it’s not the same”

She went to stand up, I hurried to steady her

It was like a game

We shuffled to the back of the house

Then the back porch, it started to bounce

The river was sparkling

The air turned cold

Carrie told me, “You’re a great friend, thanks for coming out”

I told her she was awesome – a fighter, a tough one

We stood there in the fading sun

Balancing on the wobbly porch

The wind blew and the snowflakes started

In no time that porch collapsed

But there was so much snow underneath we were perfectly padded

She said, “This feels good on my abdomen”

We both laughed

Both fall risks

On the ground again

We watched the river ice over

I told her there’s lots of hope for her – that it will get better

She told me not to be a hermit, that I’m not that bad to hang out with

We shook fists

And in that beautiful, icy wilderness

We helped each other up