Perilous Assurance

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  "Damn this leg." Mattie slammed her fist down on the side of her bed, and her hair fell over her face into her eyes. She tilted back her head and took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. Why wouldn't it tighten enough? She leaned over and once again inserted the stump of her lower left leg into the padded socket of the prosthetic and put her weight on it, then wrapped the leather corset around and up over her knee to secure the wood apparatus. After pulling and tightening the laces, she stood up and walked around her bedroom, leaning on her cane, and was satisfied that her upper leg was finally secure enough to hold her weight, and she smoothed her hair, sat back down and wrapped the bandage around the juncture. All right, that was the last straw. She couldn't let problems with her prosthetic make her late to her classes. She needed to make an appointment with the prosthetist. This was getting to be too much. She reminded herself to find the phone numbers and call after her classes were done for the day.