For Life

Part 46

Ant sat in the car park for the longest time,sobbing uncontrollably,not even thinking about making his way home, until eventually another car pulled up in front of him and Ant observed some poor guy going through exactly the same as he was.

The distraught man actually carried who was probably his wife out of the car and into a wheelchair,just as Ant had done with Dec.

Ant watched intently before drying his eyes and blowing his nose and making his way home.

He felt so helpless.

Dec was so ill and suffering so much and there was absolutely nothing that Ant could do about it.

He couldn't even talk to him,let alone be with him,all Ant could do was keep in contact with the hospital and hope for good news.

But even that wasn't easy,as the hospital was overwhelmed by the situation and no one there had much time spare to keep him updated,so he felt well and truly alone.

He called Dec's family to once again inform them that he had caught Covid and this time it was much worse and he'd had to rush him to hospital.

The family were beside themselves with worry at this news,but were also extremely worried about Ant being alone at this awful time and some of them begged him to come and stay with them.

But Ant knew that that would be breaking the rules,he had to stay home and isolate once again,with just the dogs for company and anyway,he really didn't want to travel anywhere,he wasn't up for it plus it would mean being further away from the hospital.

It was so ironic,Ant thought to himself.

How he'd always longed for the quiet life,some peace and tranquility and now he had it.

But not like this.

This was absolutely nothing like what he wished for.

He wanted the quietness,but he wanted Dec to be a part of it,not cooped up in some hospital room with God knows what going on around him.

How at that precise moment,Ant yearned for the noise,the chaos,the excitement,the fun,the laughter and the happiness of just being around Dec brought to everyone who knew him.

He would happily have had a thousand people partying in their home right now,if it meant Dec could be there too.

Ant vowed that he would never,ever grumble to himself about Dec's lifestyle again,if only he would pull through and come home to him soon.

Ant wasn't a particularly religious man,but he found himself praying to God more often than he'd ever done in his entire life.

The phone calls to the hospital still weren't very informative,all he'd been told so far was that Dec was on a ventilator and was stable.

Ant called several times a day,each time hoping that there would at least be a tiny improvement in Dec's condition,but that hadn't happened as of yet.

And Ant's complete feeling of helplessness and the emotional agony he was going through,meant he stopped looking after himself.

He stopped showering,didn't get dressed...what was the point he thought to himself,if he wasn't allowed to go anywhere?

Luckily,his kind neighbours were willing to walk Melachi and Amira once again and for that Ant was extremely grateful.

But he spent most of his time just laying in bed or on the sofa,doing nothing,not even turning the TV on.

He didn't know it,but his neighbours had become extremely worried about him and started bringing him meals they had cooked and offered to do any shopping or chores for him,as well as walking the dogs,but Ant always declined.