Chapter 10: Life at St. Josephs

"Well?" asked Emma Watson's mother Dale.

"The wounds have been healing so fast, I'm now ready for a rehab centre. Getting that colostomy out of the picture helps, now that I'm on solid food, or what passes for food here."

"That's wonderful! Mel will love hearing that!"

"And that brother of mine, signing me up as a nudist, has actually done me a favour," Felicity advised her. "I'm sure he didn't mean to do it, though. That St. Joseph's Rehab Centre just a few blocks from your place? Because of its proximity to Buchanan, St. Dunstan's and Bell, anyone who is a listed naturist gets first crack at any openings there. Doctor just told me I'm to be transferred this Friday."

And so it came that the Friday before Christmas Felicity was moved from the general hospital to the rehabilitation hospital with its more specialized resources.

In order for middle school and high school students to graduate, they had to put in so many hours of volunteer work. As it was now clothing-optional, that made St. Joseph's Rehab Centre quite a popular place for the kids to put in the requisite time.

Felicity got used to naked teenagers coming in at all hours of the afternoon and evening, washing her, helping her with essential bodily functions — her bones were still knitting, so she was still largely bedridden — and in general, just being around. One girl, a St. Dunstan's Grade 8 student named Danielle Winter, seemed particularly affected by her, and did everything in her power to make Felicity feel comfortable. A couple of nights a week she would sit with her and read. The two soon grew to be fast friends, with Felicity even helping tutor Danielle in math.

Melanie was over every night between that Friday and Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, the entire family came over and spent Christmas morning with her. The facility allowed patients who were staying over Christmas to have a family Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and the Watsons and Johnsons decided to take advantage of this. Felicity was warned against over-indulgence, as it wasn't too long since her abdominal surgery, but everyone had a grand time. Presents were opened, souvenir photos were taken and even the centre's treatment dog Wan-chan came by for a visit.

Being at St. Joe's meant that you saw a lot of imperfect bodies. Volunteering there, Danielle realized that you didn't have to have a perfect body, in order to be a good person. Her personal body issues were vanishing as she dealt with people suffering from amputations and various other injuries. None of them seemed embarrassed or terrified of people seeing their imperfections, so much more severe than anything her body had wrong with it. It was the final leap to get her over her tendency toward eating disorders.

Many of her friends from her old school were still textile, but some joined her in skinny-dipping at her family's backyard pool, or on trips to Baxter's Island. A couple of sisters swore the gang to secrecy, as "if our Mom finds out about this, she'll ground us until she marries us both off!"

January came in like a lion: Emma Watson's parents held a midnight skinny-dip pool party for the neighbourhood. They hauled the wide-screen TV from the living room to the pool patio and served burgers and hot dogs. Along with the champagne, they had bottles of ginger ale for the kids and the non-drinkers to toast in the new year.

Felicity, Melanie's mother, got out of the rehab facility for the night, although she was still wheelchair-bound. TO Melanie's delighted astonishment, her mother didn't feel the need to get dressed for the occasion. Dale quizzed her on how she was handling her state of dress. "I've gotten used to it," she responded. "If I stay this way, then they don't try to move me out to that rehab facility on the far side of town. Bribing me into staying nude just so I can be close to my daughter isn't fair, but it could be worse, I suppose."

Emma Watson and Billy Thames were not really swimming, but rather relaxing in the shallow end, quietly chatting and occasionally giggling. Melanie Watson and the sisters Margaret and Melissa Mitchener were holding onto the pool at the deep end, discussed the two love birds. "Nothing going on there at all, is there?" asked an amused Margaret, suppressing a snicker.

"Hey, go easy on them," warned Melanie. "I've seen you eyeing John." John was a boy in their class.

"And I've see YOU drooling over Brian!" retorted Margaret.

"I don't drool."