The doctors say they want to keep me in the hospital a bit longer, until my fever has gone. This is a good thing for two reasons:
I was in my hospital bed, resting. Over the beeps of all my machines, I could hear the sound of voices arguing. I pressed the ‘up’ button on my bed so that I was sitting, tidied up the colourful wires on my chest and reached over to pull open the curtain around my bed.
A young woman with a sweet apple face was standing in the doorway of my room, talking to my nurse. She was holding the handles of a wheelchair, which pushed an old lady. This old lady had no teeth and her dark eyes were empty.
‘I do not want my mother in this room,’ the young woman said.
‘I’m sorry,’ the nurse said, ‘but this is the only bed we have left. The ward is full.’
The old lady was making chomp chomp eating movements with her mouth. I know all about this bodily movement because my friend Tam does this when he is nervous. I wanted the old lady to stop worrying, so I tried to be friendly by waving at her and smiling. It took a while, and my hand was a bit sore because I had a needle stuck in it, but after a few waves, the old lady looked up at me. When the light went into her eyes, I saw that they were the very same colour as mine: chocolate brown.
‘We have the same eyes, you and me,’ I said.
The young woman started talking faster to the nurse, her voice louder. ‘I’m willing to pay for an upgrade to a private room.’
‘It’s not about payment. We simply don’t have the beds.’
‘I do not want my mother in a shared room with her.’ She pointed at my bed and I looked around, wondering what was upsetting her. After all, this was a very nice hospital.
‘There’s nothing wrong with my bed or the room,’ I told her. ‘This is a very nice hospital and the sheets are comfy and soft.’
The young woman stopped talking. Her mother laughed, her mouth wide and happy. She had lines like the whiskers of a cat spreading out from her eyes. I thought she was beautiful.
‘It would be so nice if you could stay here with me.’ I was careful not to tell her that I would be going home in the morning. I didn’t want her to be disappointed.