Her Peaceful Sleep
By
Alejandro Canton-Dutari
Copyright by Alejandro Canton-Dutari, 2011
I
Sleep came faster than ever. In fact, he hit the pillow with almost a dry thump without even bothering to take off his shoes. The air conditioning was at full blast, but he had no wish to cover himself. All he wanted to do was sleep after kissing her good night and getting no response in return.
Suddenly he heard a loud scream, very loud, coming from the adjoining room. He couldn't but just listen… and listen. He started to call the nurse, and kept asking if her patient had awakened.
"No, her condition hasn't changed."
"But she's screaming.., she's awake… go look at her…" He insisted, still not being able to move in his makeshift bed, and his hearing perception became increasingly aware of the screams becoming louder… louder.
All he had to do was jump out of bed and go around the half wall that separated his cloister, which is how he felt in the dining/guest sleeping area. Suddenly he saw her smiling in be hospital bed and decided that everything was going to improve.
But she kept screaming, each time increasing pitch. And he finally impelled himself from the couch and went into the room.
She was peacefully asleep. No smile on her lips. A peacefully asleep…
II
“You can’t take her away without a voluntary discharge form,” spouted the head nurse while the husband and two orderlies were starting to transfer the young woman from her bed to a stretcher.
“Don’t worry. I already filled it out… here it is,” as he disconnected the respirator and covered her face with a hand balloon pump and started to send air into her lungs.
He was aware that the hospital staff was extremely wary of voluntary discharges, and would usually hide the necessary forms. By stating that they were out of them they were able to stall the irate relatives when something had gone wrong and wanted to take their kin somewhere else.
The previous day he went to the ward he worked in and slipped a voluntary discharge form into his hospital robe and, once in his office, he filled the blank spaces. He was quite aware of the bit about the hospital not being responsible for anything that might happen to the patient once out of the premises.
The man arranged a private ambulance service to transport his wife to the rest home where she would be cared for. He had to be very stern with the driver, who liked turning on the siren, blinking lights and feel the power as the traffic would disrupt itself to let the noisy transport through. “Not this time… you go as slow as possible, and unnoticed.”
III
“Dad, are you sure you want to disconnect her from the respirator?” His daughter-in-law was concerned about the immediate consequences of taking his wife off life support.
“Well, if there is a time to believe in God I’ll just say that whatever He wants will happen.” She had to seem convinced. After all, her mother-in-law always abided by her husband’s decisions.
“She’s going to be transferred to the garden, and I’m not allowing it.” He went on.
“What’s the garden?”
“That’s what we call the ward for the severely brain damaged patients. All we do is water them and toil around. It’s a neurological joke in this hospital.”
