Tomorrow

Tomorrow - Chp. 5

2008, August 16th

                        I really couldn’t see what the delay was in releasing me. The last few days here at hospital were spent primarily with me looking at the four walls in my room. It grew so monotonous that I was tempted to grab some pencils and start drawing just to break the boredom. I was needed elsewhere, at the factory most importantly. Nicholas, I knew could handle things but it had been a week and I wanted to be back at the helm.

When Mother came in this morning she was carrying a bag of clean clothes. It looked like I was finally getting out and it was long past due. I felt more a prisoner than a patient after a week.

“John, slow down. The factory isn’t going anywhere and it’s Saturday.”

I could hear her just on the other side of the curtain. She had been sitting waiting for me while I got dressed, having a cup of tea. I threw that thin hospital gown to the floor and put on some normal clothes. Amazing how jeans and a long sleeve tee could make someone feel human. It also helped knowing no one could see my backside should I forget myself and walk around without a robe. The drafty part was bad enough. No one needed to see my bum on a daily basis.

“I haven’t forgotten what day it is.”

I probably sounded irritable. It was bad of me and I immediately apologized. Pulling back on the curtain once I was decent, I gave mother a sheepish smile.

“Sorry.”

“We still need to sign the forms and the nurse hasn’t brought then yet. Until she does, sit… I’ve brought you tea.”

Doing as I was told, it felt good for that moment to enjoy having a cup. Inside my room it was quiet, but the usual noises and sounds from just outside could be heard. The clatter of footsteps, someone working on a keyboard, the ever present beeping of heart monitors or call buttons at work and it was those things I wouldn’t miss.

Peering at the door, I looked as a figure walked by, a woman though she was no one I recognized. Watching this unknown woman made me think of my sister, strangely enough. Mother had come alone but I was expecting the two of them to fetch me.

“Fanny’s not here?”

I thought my sister would be as arriving eventually but so far, it looked like it was just mother and I that morning.

“She had other plans. You know how she is.”

“Now that… I do remember.”

When mother frowned at me, I felt my ears burn. It was a peculiar sensation and it made me think of the old saying that someone must be thinking of me just then. I could guess at whom it was, and I would be right, but brushed the thought aside. I didn’t want to think her but someone always brought her name up in conversation.

“Have you remembered anything else, John?”

She was trying not to mention specifics and I was glad for that, yet we both knew what she meant. Margaret, the girl I was engaged too, the one I didn’t marry. She had come around, the day after I awoke and stayed for a while. I know I felt happy at first, seeing her as she was all smiles that following morning. It was nice to see after enduring her tear stained face the day before. It would have continued being a pleasant morning if she hadn’t started up on the remembering part, just like mother was doing now. Funny; but with mother asking, I didn’t feel as uneasy or irritable.

I thought a minute and shook my head. The blanks were still there.

“No, nothing. As far as I’m concerned… it’s 2003.”