How It All Goes Down
- It's Monday morning and Celia doesn't seem to recall firing Minny. She's also really ill.
- When Minny's cleaning, she hears funny noises coming from the bathroom. When she goes in, she finds Celia bleeding into the toilet bowl.
- Celia asks Minny to call Dr. Tate. Celia was pregnant and she miscarries her baby into the toilet. She asks Minny to take it away before Johnny sees it. Minny decides to wait and let the doctor handle it.
- Celia reveals that she's been pregnant for five months. This is the second baby she's lost.
- Minny asks her why she drinks so much – doesn't she know that makes it harder to carry a baby to term?
- Celia says she doesn't drink. The bottles Minny saw are "catch tonic" – a supposed remedy for women who have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term.
- She's afraid she'll lose Johnny if she doesn't give him a baby soon. She's actually lost three other babies, not one. She doesn't want Johnny to know about this.
- Minny admits she met Johnny and that Johnny knows about her. She tries to make Celia understand that Johnny loves her. She's sure Johnny will be patient with her.
- Celia says that Dr. Tate is mean to her, that he yells at her and isn't doing anything to help.
- Dr. Tate arrives just after Celia passes out. Minny waits anxiously while Celia is examined. She sees a nurse come out with a tin box that must have the baby inside it. She's relieved they don't leave it for her to clean up.
- The doctor comes out and tells Minny that Celia is sedated. He says, "You make sure she doesn't miss her appointment on Friday. I'm not driving out here just because she's too lazy to come in" (18.106).
- It's only half an hour before Johnny comes home, so Minny gets busy cleaning the bathroom.