Johnathan Colourfield's Short Stories - 2. The Time Went By

“Albert... Where Am I? I’m in Saint Mary’s aren’t I?” the elderly woman asked.

“Mum... no... You worked at Saint Mary’s years ago; you are in the General now. Can’t you remember?” Her daughter reminded her.

Albert just sat there, staring into space, his way of dealing with things, just to sit and think. He often did this, sitting around the house on his own while his wife was in the hospital. He had the time to think, and the time to lose his mind... A deafening shriek could be heard from the other side of the ward. This often happened at this hour, a stroke can take the strangest of effects on a man, the unbearable shrieks, and the elderly woman wondered how on earth people usually sleep in here.

“I’ve been in here for 5 weeks haven’t I? I know I have, I’m sure”

The machine that was connected to her IV drip started to beep…

The cousin Jesse started “Oh my god… Nan flatten your arm...”

The Nurse came over and just said to the elderly lady “Oh Emily... you always have to do this sort of thing, your drip has come out... when your family go I’ll come and replace it alright?”

“Oh good… have you checked the dinner list... and I’m sure I’ve been here for 5 weeks”. She was adamant.

“Nan... you’ve only been here a week. You have been ill for 3 weeks on top of that...” the boy in the corner said, his posture nervous, he was clearly worried...

“Oh… so that makes it...” She did a calculation in her head. “Four weeks…. Have I really been ill for a month?”

“Yes Nanny.” A young child looked at her grandmother as if she was already lost...

A Nurse approached them and asked for Albert and Elise, her daughter, to walk with her. She walked off in several directions until they found a quiet little room on the other side of the hospital... “We don’t think she’s going to make it through the night...”

A deafening silence…