We are now attempting to ride the ToT for the THIRD time.
The sign still says a 45 minute wait. But I see people. moving. and hear elevators. dropping. and hear young girls and men who sound like young girls. screaming.
"We're going" I proclaim and look at BabyPJ. "We as in the collective we. are. going!" and I point to our merry trio.
PJ gives me a half smile. Half scared to death and half "I hate you bbn"
RonStoppable looks at me skeptically. "Are you sure she, as in the collective she, is riding?"
I give Peej a determined glance. It's the same glance I give dd when she tells me she's watching "Drake & Josh" instead of doing her homework. The look I gave my boys when we removed the diapee, and donned the big boy britches. The look I gave my Labrador Retriever, when he thought it would be a good idea to taste our brand new kitten. The look my border collie gives ME, when she wants to go molest our neighbor's cattle. The look that says "My way or the highway". tee hee hee
"She's riding." I answer. I turn towards Peej "Come on, this will be fun."
Now allow me to clarify. I'm not asking PJ to ride 'Kingda Ka' at Six Flags, or 'Millenium Force' at Cedar Point. I'm not even asking her to ride RockNRoller Coaster. I realize she has limits. But in the few months I've known PJ, I have come to realize that she is a stronger person than she sometimes thinks she is. I know she can do this, and when she starts to lose faith, I will have faith for her. Sometimes life really is this simple. She'll ride. She'll thank me later. We'll mooooove on.
While in line, we try to decide where to have lunch. But asking PJ or I to make such a mundane decision is like asking Hiliary Clinton to become president of the Rush Limbaugh fan club. (i.e. It ain't gonna happen). RonStoppable mentions pizza. Oh great! Another trek to the other end of the park.
The line moves quick-ish, and we soon enter the first room of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. We watch Rod Serling on the t.v. and enter into....
The Twilight Zone.
Are there any "Twilight Zone" fans out there in TR land? My family loves them. Although, dd hates the episode with the ventriloquist dummy. It completely freaks her out. I will admit I do find those dummies a bit odd.
My brother had one of those things when we were kids. I thought it would be a goog idea to remove the dummy's tiny tuxedo and put one of my little night gowns on him instead. HEY!! Did y'all know those dummy heads are really hard? Especially when they come flying across the room at a high rate of speed and POP you in the mouth? My brother and I simultaneously yell "MooooooooooooooooooooM!!!!!" and race up the stairs, me with my bloody lip, and my brother with his cross dressing dummy. Good times, good times.
Back to ToT: I can tell PJ is scared. She has a deer in the headlights look. I give her a squeeze and say "You CAN do this."
She shakes her head no.
"Yes, you can." I say calmly, "and besides, it's a short ride."
"How long will we be in there?" she inquires.
"Two minutes tops." I say confidently. (even though I have no idea how long the ride actually is.) I have learned, as a nurse, that when patients are in put in stressful situations, they often look to the nurse to hold it together for them. Hence, I employed this tactic with PJ. The old "never let them see you sweat" mentality.
"Two minutes?" she says quietly and nervously.
"Yes. Hey, look at me." PJ is trying to look all around us, and get herself worked up, but I've decided to redirect her thoughts.
"It's just a ride. We'll get in, it will move slowly in the dark at first, we'll move up, the doors will open, we'll look over the whole park, and then we'll drop."
"How many times will we drop?"
Great question, but impossible to answer. I've read the ride operators can change the drop pattern at will. It could be two, it could be ten (well, probably not ten, but you knowwhatimsayin')
"Two." I reply "Sometimes more, but usually two." I completely made that up. I don't know what the usual number of drops is, but I'm not going to let her see me falter.
"There's the chicken exit." Peej says and points to the way out.
"Yes. For chickens. Which you are not. You'll be so proud of yourself for doing this. It's your Disney rite of passage. heh. I'm proud of you for coming this far. Don't quit now."
"Two minutes?" she asks again.
I look intently into her eyes. "You can do anything for two minutes. Give me two short minutes, and your life will change forever."
The CM asks how many in our party.
"THREE!" I say, and smile at Peej.
She just stares at me and then asks "How long will we be in there?"
I know I've answered this question umpteen times, but it's oko. I get it. She's scared. She's not thinking clearly. Heckfire, she probably doesn't even remember this conversation.
"Two minutes and it's over. We're done. We move on"
We stare at each other for a moment. My eyes are telling her she has the ability to ride this thing, her eyes are saying "Screw you babynurse"
We board the ride. RonStoppable, me, and then PJ. Right before the elevator door closes, I look at Peej.
"Do you need a hand?" I ask and hold mine out.
She nods her head and grabs my hand. tightly.
I LOVE ToT, but it's hard to just sit back and enjoy it, b/c I know Peej is scared.
"Breathe." I whisper. "DePp breath." That's an old joke between PJ and I. Who wouldn't love a (johnny) DePp breath?
She kinda smiles at that, but she's distracted.
"Are you ok?" I ask her.
She slowly nods her head yes.
"You're doing great." My hand, however, is not. I'll worry about the blood supply to my fingers after the ride is over.
"Smile pretty." I tell PJ, as we reach the top and they snap our picture.
Too late, she's closed her eyes and ducked her head. Oh well.
DOWN we drop,
UP we go,
DOWNwe drop,
UP we go, (Well, there's the 2 drops...uh oh)
DOWN we drop,
UP we go, (we'll stop now, I'm sure of it)
DOWN we drop,
UP we go, (Oooops, I underestimated the number of drops.) WOW. 4 drops!!!
. I mean, yikes! poor PJ!!!
I look over at the brave lil ballerina. She's slightly pallid, BUT is that the beginnings of a smile I see on her face?
The ride ends, and we exit.
"Psssst. You can let go of my hand now." just sayin'
AHA! Now she is smiling. A for reals smile.
"You did it!!!!"
"I did, didn't I?" she says.
"What did you think?" RonStoppable inquires.
"It wasn't TOO bad" PJ decides.
I think Mr. T says he is proud of her. I do too. She has conquered her ToT fear with just a little help from a babynurse, and a whole lot of pixiedust.
Is this like the telephone game?
I'm glad that I could teach you something.
It's still funny and interesting and you're a great writer. No self loathing, carry on, I want a new installment. 
(actually if I'm following the rules I'm supposed to catch up first)
or two 
How will I ever trust you again?
