The coughing man

  Kalen was a city girl, she had never lost any of her family members, she didn't face any struggles, and neither did her family. They were well taught from a young age, and her and her brothers acted like it. She was in grade twelve, and was a regular at the nearby hospital, because she was finishing her high school community service hours. Recently she had a conference with her family and the guidance counselor, to talk about her future. Although her life seemed to be going steadily, the guidance counselor wanted her to do more. When she entered the room on Thursday night, the first thing he said to her was "If you don't make some sacrifices, your life is going to be a haphazard". To Kalen, she thought she was on the road to success, but the truth is she had started putting minimal effort into her schoolwork when she started the school year. She would often be found daydreaming through class, but as long as she completed the work, nobody cared. The counselor asked Kalen to give him a description of where she saw herself in ten years. Kalen replied with "I sort of see myself studying volcanic eruptions, and working with others to find a way of making cities safer from the disasters caused by them. Besides, what I do now won't be that relevant in the future"." That's what you think right now, in the future you'll wish you worked harder", the counselor replied. The meeting ended after about half an hour, and Kalen was left wondering what she was doing with her life.

   Later at the hospital, she was walking through the hospital's long, white hallways, and she overheard a man coughing. Usually she would ignore the sounds of the patients at HuckleBerry hospital, but this time, her interest had piqued. She stepped slowly towards the sound, leading her to a hospital room with a man who had been condemned to fifty years of jail time, but had been sent to the hospital after showing crystal clear signs of pneumonia. Nobody was ever seen going into that room, with the exception of attorneys and doctors. On the table inside Kalen found him watching tv, and she thought he must have subscribed to the hospital's network. There was a garbage bin next to him, covered in lilacs and tulips. The bin was filled with tissues, most of them had mucus, but a few were soaked in blood. Though that didn't disturb Kalen, she had seen many other things in the past years at the hospital. Even though her parents suggested she do it all at once, she figured she would volunteer ten hours a year, as that would make her less stressed. Her friends thought that she was crazy, but she could care less what they thought. As she was looking at the person in the hospital bed, he startled her by introducing himself. The man's name was Chester Wilson, and Kalen hadn't seen him very often, though sometimes he would be found in the garden. He was always in the same spot, next to the statues of doves on branches, staring into the empty space around him. It was a small hospital, for those only who were nearing death. He greeted her sickly, as though he was on his last breaths. He was. Mr. Wilson had been there for about four and a half months, but according to his patient's sheet, he wasn't responding to treatment very well. Kalen looked at the man brightly and said "Good evening Mr Wilson, I was about to leave but I thought I might come visit you, if I'm not a bother". "Not at all dear, it's rare that I get any visitors". Mr. Wilson was about sixty seven, but he looked like he was nearing his nineties. He sounded like it too. Kalen was about to ask if she could help him with anything, but not before he started coughing into his next tissue. She then asked, and he responded with "I don't need much, just company. This hospital gets lonely sometimes you know, with the boring decorations and the constant check ins with the doctors. The only one who comes to see me is my wife, Dorothy". Kalen was unaware that he had a significant other, which intrigued her to ask more. "Do you have any kids? "she asked. He looked tired, but Kalen could tell he was just lonely. "Yes, we adopted three children, but as they grew, they left because they were tired of the trials in court. "Kalen didn't mean to be invasive or rude, but before she could stop herself she asked "Why were you facing jail time? "Mr. Wilson went silent, before saying "I was in a truck crash, and I caused six cars to go flying off the freeway. I made it out with just a broken arm, but eight people were killed". Kalen was taken by surprise, as he didn't look like a reckless driver. "It would have been defined as a closed case, if not for my wife and children", he continued. "Did the doctors say anything about how long you'll be here for? "she asked. He breathed a long sigh, then said "They tell me that they are trying their hardest to help me recover, but recently I was informed I might not make it to June". He looked saddened, and this brought the same emotion to Kalen. It was April 27th, so he didn't have much time left. Kalen could tell that his life was ending on a bad note, but she thought if she spent time with him, she could make his life just a little better. Over the next two weeks, Kalen visited him every day, even when she wasn't supposed to be volunteering. He looked happy when she was there, and that made her want to keep visiting him. One night, she had a dream, in which Mr. Wilson was standing at the foot of her bed, waving happily. He walked towards her, gave her a hug, then walked away. She tried running towards him, but she soon found that she couldn't move. When she woke up, she was fearing something bad happened. She went to the hospital as soon as she could, but found a nurse cleaning out the room alongside a red faced woman who was sobbing uncontrollably. Kalen had grown attached to the man in the past two weeks, so when she received the news of his passing, she was disheartened .She thought back to the guidance counselor, and her courage was stripped away. She couldn't stop thinking about what the point of doing anything in life was, if she would die eventually anyway. All she could do then was comfort the family. Kalen embraced the woman, who she assumed was his wife. She was soft and fragile, but was shaking unmanageably. The nurse retrieved a box of tissues, handed it to the woman, and she proceeded to wipe away her tears. "Ms. Wilson, would you like to take a walk in the garden with me?", Kalen asked. "Please call me Dorothy, I never liked being called Ms. Wilson", she replied. Dorothy grabbed her items, then strolled with Kalen to the garden that was at the back of the hospital. The sky was a shade of blue that could only be described as melancholy, as if it knew how upsetting the occasion was. They sat down in the spot Mr. Wilson always sat, the wooden bench next to the statue. Dorothy wiped her face, then spoke. "Thank you for spending your time with him. Chester told me about you, and how happy you made him". This made Kalen smile. He only had so much time left in the world, and she made it better for him. Kalen thought about how she also only had so much time, and so she might as well do her best to accomplish everything she wanted. She realized she wanted to work in a hospital, talking to patients and making their lives more enjoyable. Kalen wasn't sure what to say, so she said the only thing that came to mind. "It was no big deal, I just spent a little time with him". Dorothy looked over at the dove statue. She sighed, then said "and yet you impacted him so much. He always looked unhappy before the last two weeks, then he started being cheerful when I visited him. He even started singing to me again, well ,as best as he could", she chuckled out. Kalen didn't know he sang, but Dorothy said he was an opera singer before everything happened. "Will you tell me the story?", she asked. Dorothy explained everything, which made Kalen cry. She spent more time with Dorothy, and discussed her life when starting university. One day Dorothy brought her children with her. Their names were Simon, Melissa, and Anthony. Melissa said one thing, that allowed a new insight to Kalen. "My father was a good man, but his circumstances were unfortunate."