This is the English version of my previous Chinese short story.
I wrote the Chinese version first so I do apologize if it sounds funny and of course, I am no writer neither so it’s not fancy.
I do however, really liked the story myself and think that it would resonate with people from other cultures too.
This is part 1 of the trilogy. I will post the rest when I get the time.
Here goes the story.
The chords
The facility I work in has a geriatric ward. The elderly people who live there are either just retirees, needing to be cared for, or, have various degree of dementia.
One elderly man was particularly interesting.
He wasn’t really that old, perhaps in his early seventies. He wasn’t very tall neither, and with his straight posture and gold-framed glasses, he looked perfectly healthy to any passerby, except he did suffer from dementia. At times, he couldn’t recall who he was, where he was, or what year we were in.
There was one time he told me the story about that tree, that tallest tree outside the window.
“I planted that tree many years ago you know? It was only as tall as my hips,” He said, waving his hand as he spoke, “look how tall it is now ... time flies, time flies.”
I didn’t know if I should believe him then, until I dug out his file and it said he lived in the area since the 60s, and under occupation - he was a gardener.
Maybe he did plant that tree.
Maybe his mind wasn’t that far gone I thought. But of course, life has to prove me wrong.
The day after our conversation he became confused. He had been hovering behind the ward’s locked door, waiting to be let out.
He thought his wife was in hospital and he needed to go look after her. It took a lot of convincing to make him believe his wife had fully recovered and would be visiting him very soon.
We took him back to his room, gave him some cake and tea, and just as we settled him down to eat, his son arrived.
He must have seen his wife though his son’s eyes. The moment his son set foot in his room he jumped and grabbed him, yelling as he tried to get out, “We’ve got to go, there’s no time to lose! Your mother is very sick! We need to go to the hospital! “
His son tried to calm him down without success, losing his patience he said, “Dad! Mum’s dead for almost 16 years! Would you just stop all this nonsense??”
Some truths should never been told.
Before we knew it all hell breaks loose. Plates and cups shattered everywhere, tea spilled all over the floor, the old man was yelling, “How dare you? How dare you saying such a thing! You, I, let me teach you a lesson!!!” While hitting his son with a pillow.
Needless to say I was pretty shocked to see him like that, he had never shown such aggression before.
Security was called and we gave him a shot of tranquillizer while the guards held him down. The drugs kicked in shortly and he drifted into an induced sleep.
Patients becoming agitated and aggressive are no news in this ward, we talked about it for a little bit and that’s it.
Things turned a new page when an old lady moved into the facility. Her name was Elizabeth, she carried a stuffed toy cat with her all the time while she wondered around the corridors of the ward.
Her story was also the most interesting one but I’ll tell you when we have a chance.
This story is about our old man, who, had now developed an interest in Elizabeth. He started off watching her as she walked along the hallway, then he joined her in her walks, around and around in circles.
Elizabeth didn’t seemed to mind having someone beside her, in fact, she enjoyed his company as she sat beside our old man during meal times.
We talked about this behaviour at our meeting and that’s when I learnt his wife was also named Elizabeth, and before she passed away she would always sit in the garden with her ginger cat on her lap.
Someone muttered that we should hold a wedding for them as a joke, but somehow that suggestion had taken ground and we all thought it may even help with treatment. We asked the old man’s son for permission (Elizabeth didn’t have any family) and away we went for wedding planning.
On the big day we helped the couple get dressed, gave Elizabeth a bouquet and turned the music on.
As they walked down the hallway from one end to the other, I swear I saw sparks lighting up in our old man’s eyes. Elizabeth was wearing the biggest smile in days on her face.
We could only imagine that they were revisiting their past on that carpeted hallway that day. I am not even sure if our old man had confused this Elizabeth with the one who he loved so daringly.
We could but only hope this “wedding” with no vows nor kisses nor holding hands could somehow leave a mark on their bewitched minds. Yet even if they couldn’t remember a thing, seeing those smiles on their face for just that short while was still priceless.
Love knows no boundaries, and doesn’t fade with time.