Chapter Ten

It was the early hours of the morning, the hospital was just beginning to come alive, patients walking in and out of the hospital, nurses taking their morning shift, Patricia sat at the waiting room with Morris, who looked as though he just got up from sleep.

“good morning Morris” Patricia said, with a smile on her gleam

“good morning to you too” Morris mirrored the look on Patricia’s face

“you still look sleepy; you couldn’t get good sleep at night?”

“well, the night was cold, so sleeping became quite a big deal, how was your night?”

“my night was great” Patricia nodded her head

Morris smiled “you know you are really transparent, it’s good though”

“transparent! How?”

“you can’t hide an emotion, like now it’s so obvious that you are happy, when you are displeased you don’t also hide it, it’s all visual, your mood, I like that though, unlike those who tend to hide emotions, and end up hurting themselves and other people”

“thank you” Patricia smiled widely “it’s a habit I learnt from my mom”

“good morning nurse Patricia” James rolled his oxygen tank slowly, as he approached Patricia, then he smiled.

“Good morning Mr. James, hope you slept well” Patricia faced James, as he stood in front of her

“yes, I sure did, I’m going to the cafeteria to get breakfast, so I’ll see you later”

“that’s fine, make sure you don’t eat oily foods, because of your health”

“yes ma’am” James displayed his thumbs-up at Patricia

Patricia scoffed, and began to laugh, so did Morris

“that man is funny” Morris said

“he is” Patricia said while still laughing, “alright…” Patricia stood up “I’ll leave now to resume the day’s job, so I will see you around later”

“alright then, have a great day” Morris smiled

Christopher laid on his bed, moping at the ceiling, then a knock came on his door.

“come in” Christopher mouthed

The door gave way, as nurse Nne walked in, holding a pen and a paper

“good morning sir” Nne said, as she approached Christopher’s bedside

“good morning”

“how are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m fine, thank you”

“any headaches, or pains?” Nne held his hand checking for a pulse

“none, I feel ok, so can I be discharged now?” Christopher was displeased

“we’ll still have to observe you for some days, and be certain that you are actually fine”

There was silence in the room for some moments, then Nne turned to take her leave…

“please call me nurse Patricia, I want to see her”

“alright” Nne said, then turned to take her leave.

Nne closed the door, as she walked towards the waiting room, in search of Patricia, she sighted Patricia speaking to another nurse at the counter, Nne walked toward Patricia.

“good morning ma” Nne said

“good Morning Nne” Patricia replied

“ma Christopher says he wants to see you”

“hope all is well?” Patricia was worried

Yes ma, all is well, he just wants to see you”

“alright, once I’m done here, I’ll head to his room”

“alright ma, by the way, I like your hair” Nne smiled

“thank you” Patricia smiled in return.

Moment later, Patricia opened Christopher’s door, and walked in

“good morning Christopher”

“good morning nurse Patricia”

“you asked to see me, is all well?” she asked, her eyes rummaging through his body and expression to detect any default.

“well, it depends, do you have a friend?” he asked her, his eyebrows furrowed.

“yes, I do”she answered and Christopher sat up.

“can you do anything for that friend, no matter what it will cost you?

Patricia took some time to process the question “yes, I think I do. Why do you ask”

“well, I have a friend that needs me to be there for her, and I can’t, I want nothing more, but to be there for her, but being in this hospital is hindering me, it really hurts me, and I want to be there for her when she needs me, because she has been there for me too, when I needed her help. I want to plead with you to please allow me be there for her”

“if my guess is right, this friend of yours is Priscilla, right?”

“yes, it is”

“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, but what does she need your help for? If you don’t mind me asking”

“she has an appointment with her dentist tomorrow, and it’s their last meeting, I’d really love to be there with her, I’ve witnessed other appointments, but this is very important, because it’s her last, so if you could release me for some time, I’d really appreciate” he said with pleadfull eyes.

“this is a hard one, really, but you have never asked me for anything before, and I’d hate to disappoint you so I’ll see what I can do, by the way, what time is her appointment?”

“it’s by two pm”

“alright, that’s my break time, so I would drive you there, and bring you back, I need you to know that this is not allowed, I’m risking my job doing this, is that okay?”

Christopher abruptly gave Patricia an unexpected hug “thank you ma, I won’t forget this, I appreciate”

“you squeezing me too tight” Patricia winced in pain.

“I’m sorry” Christopher released Patricia from his firm grip will a light chuckle.

“you are welcome, so we’ll see tomorrow, have a great day” Patricia smiled

“thank you”

Patricia turned to take her leave.