gangs

Fourty

Andrea.

After lunch, Ashton immediately ran off to go to a page and I slowly walked back to his office.

As I walked down a hallway near, I heard an older man yelling.

"Nurse! Nurse!"

I slowly entered the room, wondering if anyone was helping him.

"Oh thank god- I dropped my pudding cup and they told me not to get out of bed, but that's the best part of the meal" he exhaled once he saw my face.

He was probably in his late eighties, but still happy.

I bent down and picked it up, giving it to him.

"What a blessing you are" he smiled to me.

"Don't forget you have a button to call the nurse right beside you- just so you don't have to yell" I reminded him, seeing him glance to the button.

"I always forget about that old thing." He smiled.

"Well I'm glad I heard-" "you're not a nurse, are you?" He asked me slowly.

"No sir, I'm just here" I smiled lightly to him.

"You know- I could use some company- if you have time of course."

So I sat.

And we talked.

"So what is a young girl like you doing in a hospital?" He asked me.

"My - uh- dad is a surgeon, so I'm here a lot" I told him slowly.

"Bad relationship with the dad?" He asked me slowly, noticing my hesitation to say dad.

"Well- I'm adopted" I explained to him slowly, making his eyebrows raise

" I was adopted too!" He grinned widely.

We took turns telling stories to each other- his much more interesting than my own.

"Why are you here?" I asked him slowly. 

"Cancer" he told me slowly, but his smile never dropped.

"I've tried the treatments, and they aren't working- so I'm basically just staying comfortable until I leave." He told me, almost breaking my heart.

"My kids and grandkids never come see me- my wife passed five years ago, I'm just spending my last few weeks with the nurses and doctors" he spoke to me.

"I'm sorry." I spoke to him.

"No need to be" he let the smile come back onto his face.

"I've accepted it- and I'm ready for it, I want to see my wife." He told me firmly.

"I'm sorry about your kids not coming" I spoke, my heart breaking for the old man, who clearly wanted nothing but company.

"Ah- I don't want to be a burden on them anyway, they shouldn't see me this weak and be exposed to all the disease and viruses in this hospital, it's better that I'm alone." He told me with a smile.

"You're not alone" I told him, seeing him look to me.

"Well, not at this moment" he laughed lightly to me.

I'll make sure he won't be alone in his final moments either.

So we continued to get to know each other.

He had a good personality, he made good jokes and told really good stories.

"What's your name, kid?" He laughed lightly as I saw Ashton enter the room.

"Andrea Irwin" I told him, seeing him smile.

"Johnny Johnson." He smiled back to me.

"Mr.Johnson- I see you've met my daughter" Ashton spoke, making me turn my full attention to him.

"Oh no- you're his daughter? Just ruined it for me!" The old man joked loudly with a smile on his face.

"I'm just kidding- you've got the best dad around" he corrected himself, sending me a even bigger smile, making me laugh lightly

He was right.

"Well I am sorry to intrude, but it is actually time for medicines and Calum can't come here to give them to you, so I'll do it for him today." Ash spoke with a smile as he handed Johnny a cup with pills in it, making Johnny shiver lightly.

"I can't wait until the day that I don't have to take one of these pills again" he spoke before quickly swallowing them.

"Can I continue to talk to her until I fall asleep? I enjoy the company." the man asked Ashton, making Ash look to me.

"That's up to her, Mr.Johnson." Ashton smiles to me, kissing my head swiftly as he left the room.

"I'll stay" I spoke to the hopeful old man as he looked to me.

The more we talked, the more I noticed him slurring and the drug talk coming out.

"I miss my family, you make me miss my daughter." He slurred out to me.

"I'm sorry" I spoke to him.

"Don't be, I'm very thankful that you came in here, I don't get to talk to anyone very much, I enjoyed it today, thank you." He spoke, his eyes shutting.

"Don't thank me, I'll be back tomorrow- okay?" I asked him.

"Please." He managed to mumbled before I noticed his body completely relax.

I left and went to Ashton's office, where he was packing his bag to leave.

"He fell asleep?" He asked me.

"Yeah" I told him, grabbing the blanket off the couch and folding it.

"I feel bad for him" I told ashton after a few moments of quietness.

"I do too, but he's happy Andrea- and I'm sure he really enjoyed your company today, thank you for being so compassionate to him."

"I'm going back tomorrow" I spoke as he brought me into a hug.

"You can, but please be precautious Andrea, he's sick and he doesn't have very much time left, I don't want you getting too attached." He told me slowly.

"We gotta make his last few days his best."