Second Lives by P. D. Cacek

Author:P. D. Cacek [Cacek, P. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2019-03-18T11:58:44+00:00

PART FIVE

SEPTEMBER

Chapter Twenty-Two

Timmy

“He’s dying, Miss Nora.”

Nora nodded and turned to look at the man laughing at cartoons and eating ice cream from a big plastic bowl the nurses had given him. The nurses loved him and spoiled him rotten. Only a few of the nurses knew what had happened. Both Doctors Cross and Ellison thought it best to keep it that way, but Nora didn’t think it would have been a problem. The nurses and hospice workers were God’s own angels on Earth and took the fact that Henry now wanted to be called Timmy and behaved like any normal almost six-year-old in their stride.

After all, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen that sort of thing before with Alzheimer’s patients.

“He’s just a big kid,” they told her, “and really sweet…not like some of the others.”

Yes, Timmy was a good little boy.

“Miss Nora, did you hear what I said?”

Nora nodded. “I heard, Martin.”

“He came through the pneumonia with flying colors, and we’re treating his respiratory and blood pressure issues as before, but the disease is still progressing. Alzheimer’s physically changes the structure of the brain – there’s no way to stop or reverse it, but you already know that. Timmy’s dying. His brain is shutting down and taking his body with it. I’m so sorry.”

Nora made sure her face was calm when she finally turned around.

“Henry already died, Martin, and I accept that. It’s just so unfair to Timmy. He’s just a baby.”

“I know, but you have to remember, Timmy already died once.”

“But he came back. Why would God do that only to take him away again so soon?”

When he couldn’t answer, Nora reached out and squeezed his arm.

“I’m sorry, Martin, I shouldn’t take it out on you. It’s just…. Oh, it’s just that I’m pissed off.”

An explosion of laughter blew Dr. Cross’s face apart. “Miss Nora!”

“Well, I am,” she said and squeezed his arm again before looking away. Timmy was trying to spoon another tablespoon of ice cream into his mouth without taking his eyes off the lobby’s large-screen TV. Bless the nurse who’d put the oversized bib around his neck. “Poor little thing, he gets hit by a car and when he wakes up he’s stuck inside a dying old man. Where’s the sense in that?”

“I don’t know, Miss Nora.”

“Well, maybe I do. Yes, maybe I do know why.” Nodding, Nora met Dr. Cross’s eyes. “I’m going to take him home.”

“What? No, Miss Nora, we brought him here because….”

“Henry was here because I couldn’t handle him at home anymore, but this is Timmy and Timmy is just a little boy. I think I can handle a little boy, Martin, don’t you?”

“A little boy in a grown man’s body…a body that’s slowly breaking down. Miss Nora, be reasonable, he can’t walk more than a few feet without gasping for breath.”

Nora lifted her chin. Stickin’ it out, was what Henry used to say. “Oh, Lord, watch out! She’s gettin’ feisty now. Look at that chin, she stickin’ it out, ready to fight.

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