The Art of Starting Over

Chapter 33 - Happy Birthday

The elevator stops on every floor. We go up, down and up again. I check the time. It's already eight o'clock. I hope Ms Atkins hasn't been in to see Millie yet. Romina said she usually sees her patients first thing in the morning.

Finally, we stop on the second floor. I walk out with a small luggage full of stuff for Millie. According to the internet, they should remove the drain and catheter today unless there are complications, and maybe stop the morphine, depending on the pain. Millie will want to have it stopped, but I'll tell her to keep it if she's still uncomfortable. There's no reason for her to suffer unnecessarily.

I practically run to her room and sigh out all the pent-up anxiety from my wretched dreams, relieved to find Millie sitting up, her back resting against two pillows and chatting cheerfully with a nurse. The nurse hands her a cup of black coffee and starts removing her drip.

"Now, as I said," she tells her. "Keep the morphine a while longer, at least until the physiotherapist comes to get you out of bed. Then take a shot and I'll remove it for you. But at least you'll be covered for the first time you get up."

The nurse notices me and smiles warmly. She's a tall, blonde, middle-aged lady with kind brown eyes that crinkle at the corners when she smiles. I thank her as she walks out.

I notice that the bed next to Millie's is still empty, which is a blessing considering the amount of stuff I brought with me. I also notice a pretty, clear vase holding a large bouquet of lilies, sunflowers and irises taking up all of Millie's bedside cabinet. The bunch Sosa brought yesterday was smaller and had carnations in it.

"I thought flowers weren't allowed in your room," I say curiously as I start unpacking her things.

Nanna Millie smiles mischievously. "Apparently, the risk is not that high if they're brought in by a handsome, young man."

I freeze in my tracks. To my knowledge, Millie doesn't know a lot of handsome, young men. My heart races as I force myself to continue unpacking Millie's clothes and placing them neatly in her cabinet.

"You should have seen the girls while he was here," she goes on humorously. "Six nurses and carers must have come in to make sure my IV was running okay. I think that's why Agnes removed it."

I give her a tight smile while I open her drawer and organise the items inside, adding today's newspaper, her novel and a new box of tissues.

"I'm surprised you didn't bump into each other in the corridor. It hasn't been ten minutes since he left."

"He came early," I comment shortly, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes. He couldn't stay long. He has an early meeting," she answers absent-mindedly. "I told him he doesn't have to visit every day but you know how he is. There's no convincing that man."

'No kidding!' I think to myself, trying my best to ignore the tightness in my chest. I keep myself busy, hoping that Millie doesn't notice my flushed cheeks as flashbacks from my dreams come to me in waves.

I prepare a clean towel and facecloth on her wheelie bed table together with her shower gel, deodorant and brush.

"How's the coffee?" I ask.

She narrows her eyes at me, evaluating whether I'm being serious or funny. Stifling a laugh, I take her cup and wash it in the kitchenette.

I stare at all the flowers in front of the Madonna as I dry and polish the scratched cup. Then, hearing a commotion in the corridor, I turn around just in time to see Ms Atkins and a small flock of junior doctors and medical students rush by. I hurry up and follow them to Nanna's room.