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Keith shook his head, stifling a yawn.
Yuri rose. “Close your eyes. Don’t fight it. You can tell me about that Christmas tomorrow night when it’s my shift.” His hand was warm on Keith’s shoulder. “Try to sleep.”
“Okay,” Keith got out before another yawn erupted. He closed his eyes.
Maybe he could sleep at that.
Talking about Michael
Saturday, December 17, 2022
“What have you got there?” Keith asked when Heidi walked into his room, a long box tucked under one arm, and a plastic bag in her hand, its sides bulging.
“Christmas!” she announced, grinning. She placed the items at the foot of his bed. “Anna gave me the go-ahead to get you a tree.”
If Keith had possessed a Christmas list, Anna would have been at the top, closely followed by Heidi. Then he realized he could add another name—Yuri. His late-night conversation with the nurse had resulted in a deep sleep that had lasted until the morning, something he hadn’t experienced for a while.
He was real easy to talk to.
Easy on the eye as well. Santa had exceptional taste, it seemed.
Heidi glanced at him. “You look brighter today. Did you have a better night?”
He nodded. “I think I needed it.”
“So the meds finally worked, huh?”
“It wasn’t meds.” Keith told her about Yuri. “Just what the doctor ordered.”
Heidi’s grin was back. “A conversation with a hot nurse? And he was hot, wasn’t he?”
Keith pretended to appear scandalized.
She laughed. “I was joking about Santa, but it seems he was listening. Anyway, I’m glad you had someone to talk to when the pain got bad. I must find him and thank him.”
“You won’t find him here. Yuri only works nights,” he told her.
“Then I’ll be sure to get Anna to pass my thanks along.” She peered at the room. “Now, where shall we put your tree?”
“How about on the table by the window? I can see it easily from there.”
“Fine. I also brought lights, and some of the decorations Mom gave me, from when we were kids. You can tell me where to put them.”
Keith passed a pleasant hour watching Heidi adorn the tree. The lights reflected in the shiny baubles, sending shafts of color around the room, decorating the white walls and ceiling. When she was done, she stepped back with a flourish.
“Ta-da!”
He smiled. “It’s perfect. Thank you so much.”
Anna came into the room, her eyes shining when she saw the tree. “That’s great. You’re a lucky man, you know. We usually don’t allow things like this in the patients’ rooms.”
“But I’m a special case, aren’t I?” It was the closest Keith had ever gotten to saying the words out loud.
You’re letting me have the tree because this is going to be my last Christmas, isn’t it? Assuming he made it to Christmas Day.
Keith had always been the most positive of people. A glass-half-full kinda guy, Michael used to say, and it was true—then. But the last few years had robbed him of his optimism.
Who am I kidding? It began long before that.
