Challen and Addy

Chapter 11 (Challen): Crush It

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

After talking with Pilot/Uriah -- I still wasn't sure what to call him -- he'd left and I'd gone back into the hospital. The nurses had been talking when I walked up to their station and stopped as I looked at them.

"Can we help you?" one of the nurses I hadn't met yet asked me.

"Have a question for you. It's really nice today, and I was wondering if there's any way to take Addy outside, just for a while, to get some fresh air."

"She can't sit in a wheelchair yet, sir." You dumb, clueless motherfucker was left unsaid.

"I know. I meant in her hospital bed. Can we wheel her bed outside?"

"Sure," she said. "Let me just round up a few of us who are just sitting around with nothing to do, and we'll get right on that."

"Please," I pleaded, thinking maybe Addy wanted to look at something other than the four white walls of her room. Breathe some air that didn't smell like antiseptic. "Are there some orderlies that could help? Even for just five minutes. If Addy even wants to. You'd have to ask her first."

The nurse looked at me. "Well, I had been planning to just start pushing her bed out of her room without her permission, but you're right. Maybe I should ask her. Why didn't I think of asking the patient what she wanted?"

"Will you ask her? Please? Just to give her a break."

"I'll ask her, but only because I suspect you won't leave me alone until I do."

Smiling, I thanked her. "Appreciated."

I leaned against the station's counter and watched her walk into Addy's room. 

A few minutes later, the nurse walked out, giving me a half smile. "She said she'd love to go outside, but she doesn't want you going with her or anywhere near her."

"Didn't think she would," I said quietly. "I'll stay away."

A few minutes later, I saw an orderly walk into Addy's room, and the nurse followed after him. Stepping into the waiting room, I positioned myself so I could see Addy's door, but I'd be out of the way. Not in her face.

It didn't take too long before the orderly came out of Addy's room, pushing her bed, the nurse walking beside my wife. Addy didn't notice me, but I kept my eyes on her the every second before she was whisked out of my sight and onto the elevator.

Wandering over to the waiting room window, I looked out onto the bench that faced the parking lot, hoping there was a nicer area they could take Addy to. Although, after being cooped up for all this time, the fresh air alone might have been enough for Addy, even without a view of anything but cars.

They must have taken her someplace else because I didn't see her from where I was standing. Twenty minutes later, I heard my wife's voice thanking the nurse and the orderly for breaking me out of here.

I watched as she was wheeled back into her room and went to wait for both of them as they came out of Addy's room.

"Thank you both," I said. The nurse nodded at me and walked into another patient's room and the orderly grinned at me and went on with his day.

The next day, I brought each of them gift cards and left them at the nurses' station for their next shift, wondering if there was a way to arrange for Addy to have daily outings. I'd need to talk to the charge nurse to see if it could happen.

I sat in front of my computer in the waiting room, letting my mind wander as I dealt with some routine emails. Today had pointed out something to me in a very real way, and it underlined how far I'd gotten away from what was important.