The Professionals Circuit Archive - A Voice in the Night	 A Voice
in the Night

 

by Krisser 

 
 I heard the door open, but I didn't think nothing of it, just thought it
was one of the night nurses. I glanced at the mirror, I was wrong.

 He stood there, watching the heart monitor. So caught up in his anguished
expression, I lost my moment to move and announce myself. I slid down the
wall more quietly than I ever thought I could. Even down here I could
still watch him, the one they call Bodie.

 Some of the nurses call him handsome. Most, though, call him a ghost
because he haunts the corridors and this room. He just appears and
vanishes, spooks some of the night staff. He doesn't do any moaning or
talking for that matter, it's almost like he's afraid to ask.

 Tonight, it had been my turn to clean the loo, Mr Doyle is supposed to be
waking and moving around tomorrow. So I wanted it done up nice for him.
I'd been just about finished when Mr Bodie'd come in.

 I could still see Mr Bodie, I had angled the cabinet mirror when I had
first come in so I could keep watch on Mr Doyle's bed using the room door
mirror.

 He stood next to the bed, didn't pull up the chair, like I thought he
might've. No, he just stood, looking down at Mr Doyle, eyes blinking a
lot.

 "Ray? Ray you awake yet? You need to wake, got no one else to appreciate
me humour." Mr Bodie waited but Mr Doyle didn't answer or nothing. I knew
the poor man was still out.

 "I was out there, found your shooter, but I found myself feeling much
like a one-winged bird. Need you out there beside me, ya know. We're that
mobile ghetto, needs two of us to make it work."

 He picked up Mr Doyle's hand and curved his fingers around the
unresponsive ones. Didn't seem to mind, just stroked back and forth with
his thumbs, almost absentminded-like.

 He took a deep breath, I hoped he wasn't going to cry. Harder than
watching a woman cry, watching a man. Don't seem as natural as with a
woman.

 He didn't, just stood all stoic, a little half smile on his face. He kept
one hand in Mr Doyle's and the other he used to caress his cheek and
forehead.

 His voice was low, but I heard him quite clearly.

 "Ray, we don't lie to each other, that's one of our rules."

 His hand stopped, looked like it just hovered over his face then brushed
his cheek again. He was so gentle, so very gentle.

 "I stand guard, you stand guard. You watch, I watch, but recently, I do
more than watch, I want. Not your problem, though, won't bother you with
it, never fear.

 I watched him brush the hair from Mr Doyle's face as he steadied his own
breathing.

 "They said you had a hiccup...fight with all you have, mate, you live for
two. As long as you breathe, I breathe. As long as your heart beats, mine
does. You are all that I am. What you mean to me is far beyond this life….
I stand by your side and watch your back. Never doubt that, but you have
to fight."

 It was said like a vow, a promise. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone
say something they've meant more. I wanted to curse the world for making
it so difficult for him. It seemed like he was almost broken. I wanted to
grab a sticking plaster to fix it but all he needed lay asleep in that
bed.

 Then, the most romantic gesture happened. It wasn't the gentle kiss on
the forehead or nose, it was the press of fingertips to Mr Doyle's throat.
He felt the heart pulses against his skin. He smiled, closed his eyes with
a tremulous breath and a single tear escaped rolling down his face. That
single tear seemed more poignant than my own dam burst.

 Mr Bodie froze, I froze…a sound from Mr Doyle.

 It was a hoarse whisper at best.

 "Bodie?"

 "Here."

 A hard swallow, then from that same whispered voice, "I'm stayin'."

 I felt like dancing. I stayed motionless and hidden but I still felt
giddy. I don't know what it'll mean for them, but something warm seemed to
settle in my chest. I had great hope, for them and for me as well.

 Mr Bodie pulled the chair right next to Mr Doyle's bed. He sat as close
as he could get and rested his head against the covered thigh. Mr Doyle
rested his hand atop the dark head and they both fell asleep.

 I crept out silent as a mouse and finished my shift in a buoyant mood.

 -- THE END --

 *July 2007*

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