Codebreakers

“Oh, that’s right – pepperoni pizza is my favourite. That’s what we’re having so haul that body of yours out of the chair and come into the kitchen.”

Jo chuckled as she walked to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and stopped to look in the mirror. Who was that looking back at her? An old woman. Who was running out of time. Who was ruining a chance at friendship. She dried her face. She’d made up her mind.

Martha set two places at the kitchen table. A spinach salad and a bottle of red wine sat between them. A lit candle flickered.

“This is lovely.”

Martha smiled.

“I’m glad you like it Jo.”

Her face became serious.

“This is an apology dinner Jo. You’re right, I am nosy and I’m sorry.”

Jo got up from her chair and walked over to Martha. She took her face in her hands.

“Martha, you have nothing to apologize for … nothing. You have taken care of me. Look at me! It hasn’t yet been a month and I’m as good as new. You have fed me like a queen – except of course for this pizza – and helped me with my exercises.

But most of all, we’ve talked and laughed and you’ve made me feel … that you are my friend.”

Jo took her hands away from Martha’s face and returned to her chair.

“And I just kept rebuffing your invitations to tell you my story. I had my reasons but they just don’t seem to make much sense anymore.”

“Jo, wait, I’m sorry I pried. I haven’t been completely honest with you. I didn’t leave the hospital because of my hair or the rules.”

“Martha, whatever your reasons, I’m sure you made the right decision.”

“I don’t know but what I do know is that I couldn’t take any more. I worked in the emergency room and one night I was checking the vitals of an elderly woman whose death was imminent. As I brushed back some hair from her forehead with my hand, I heard a voice saying ‘She’s circling the drain.’ I turned around and saw a doctor standing at the end of the bed looking at the chart. I said, ‘Pardon?’ and he looked at me and chuckled and said, ‘She’s in the departure lounge’ as he wrote something on the chart.”

“There’s this code that some doctors and nurses use to keep their distance but I was fed up with patients being turned into amusing one-liners. The doctor seemed to waiting for a response from me or at least a laugh. But I just couldn’t participate or ignore it anymore. So I asked him ‘Doctor, what if this was your mother? Would you want someone talking about her that way?’”