Scene One – Take Two
Ron sat quietly, dutifully, outwardly complacently staring out the large window that stretched across the rear wall of the living room and studied the hills over a mile off in the distance while Ben performed his ritual of lightly tugging and straightening and smoothing out Ron’s pant legs, stopping at times to pick off specks of lint or dust.
Ron wondered what it might take to convince Ben to drive him to a remote spot in those distance woods, allow him to disembark from the van and then have Ben drive off. The thought was quickly dismissed as being a completely unfair request to ask of Ben, yet still, it gave him some hope a fleeting moment of feeling still in control of his own destiny.
“Ben,” Ron said, still staring out.“Yes.”
“That’s green coming in, isn’t it?
Ben looked up and gazed out the window as well.
“Where?
“On those hills.”
Ben looked at Ron and back out the window.
“Yes. The trees are starting to leaf.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Ben looked back at Ron, studied his face, his eyes, his nostrils that flared ever so slightly with each breath.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Just having a bit more trouble with colors than usual today.”
Ben gazed on Ron a moment longer before giving a final touch to Ron’s pant leg.
“Did you tell Beth?” Ben asked.
“Tell her what?”
“Where we’re going?”
‘No.”
Ben followed gaze out the window shared a moment looking out.
“Do you know what kind they are?” Ron asked.
“What?”
“The trees, turning green.”
“I don’t know. Maybe elms.”
Ben turned from the window and then back to picking at a stubborn piece of lint.
“You don’t want to tell her?” Ben asked.
“No. I’d rather not.”
Ben finished with Ron’s pants then stepped around to the rear of the wheelchair and pulled out a large strap in the sack hanging down. He deftly slipped the band through Ron’s arms, across his chest and secured Ron to the chair.
Ron coughed slightly, his chest struggling to work the muscles to force a more strenuous expulsion.
“Too tight?”
“No,” Ron said between coughs.
“You know, we don’t have to go today,” Ben said, checking the belt with his large hands, making certain that the strap had not trapped a fold in Ron’s sweater that was pressing against his chest.
A touch of spittle emerged from the corner of Ron’s mouth. Ben grabbed a tissue from the table nearby and dabbed at the clear phlegm.
“I’m fine. I want to go.”
“You’re sweating.”
“Am I?”
“I’ll be right back.”
“All right.”
Ron moved his hand to get his fingers in a position to push against the joystick that would move his wheelchair forward. He kept pushing at the stick but the chair did not move. He pursed his lips, sighed and looked back out the window.
Ben returned with a damp washcloth and gently ran it across Ron’s forehead and then over his entire face.
“The chair’s not working.”
“What?”
“I tried moving and it wasn’t responding.”
Ben looked down at the joystick and the adjoining LED display.
“It’s off.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Were you trying to go somewhere?”
“Just closer to the window.”
“We’ll be going in a minute.”
“Good.”
“But, I don’t like how you’re still sweating. Do you feel hot?”
“No. I guess I’m just getting excited.”
“There’s not something pinching you, is there?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Let me check.”
Ben removed the blanket and checked to see if Ron’s catheter was caught beneath his leg.
“Everything okay?”
“The tube is.”
Ben unsnapped the belt that he just placed around Ron , let it drape to the sides and then unhooked the chair’s upper belt that held Ron upright.
“What are you doing? Getting me totally undressed?”
“Twice a day is plenty.”
Ben pulled Ron forward, letting Ron’s head rest against Ben’s chest, the coarse knit of his shirt pressing against Ron’s forehead. Just inches away, behind the shirt, Ron could smell the barrel, hair-covered chest of his caregiver.
“Oomph.”
“Okay?
“Yes.”
Ben kept Ron’s head leaned against his chest as he worked his hands down the back of Ron’s shirt.
“A little wrinkled, but nothing that should be causing any problems.”
Ben reached further forward and reached his hands down under Ron’s pants. One more feel along both edges of Ron’s pants and a final run of his hands along the back of Ron’s shirt.
“Okay.”
“Everything good?”
“Yeah. Like you said…
“Just nerves.”
Ben pushed Ron back up.
“Oomph.”
“Again with the oomph.”
“I like the oomph. The oomph is good.”
“Hmm.”
“What now?”
‘You’re tilting.”
Ben leaned over, reached both hands down and grabbed the back edges of Ron’s pants along the belt line. He gave a quick tug which shifted Ron in his chair. Ben stood back and reviewed his work.
“Much better.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” Ben said, re-securing Ron into the wheelchair and wiping Ron’s face with the washcloth one last time.
copyright © 2012 Philp Zweig
I'm not sure why but I like Take 2 better than the first scene.
ReplyDeleteI do too.
ReplyDelete