An old man in a ditch – Part IV
Posted on February 16th, 2009 by Richard Catto 1,500 views
This is a short work of fiction by Richard Catto.
I woke up in the late afternoon after a troubled sleep. Tammy was sitting next to my bed when I opened my eyes. “How are you feeling now?” she asked me. “Okay, I guess”, I mumbled. She got up and came over to me and kissed me on my forehead. Then she held my hand in both of hers and looked at me with the concerned expression that lovers have for one another when the other is in pain and in need of support and comfort.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked her. “The hospital called me”, she replied, “a nurse spoke to me and told me some of what has happened.” “Oh yeah, what did they tell you?”, I asked. “The nurse told me that you’d collapsed after hearing that your father had died. I’m very sorry.” “That man”, I choked angrily, “was NOT my father!” I was almost yelling. “What? I don’t understand.” said Tammy.
“I found an old man lying in a ditch this morning. I called for an ambulance but he died. I accompanied the medics back to the County Coroner who decided to hold me while they investigated matters. They took a DNA sample from me, and apparently they deduced that the man who died was my biological father, but they must have made a terrible mistake. I’m going to phone my mother tonight and get this all straightened out.” I told her.
Tammy took a few moments to digest this information. “Do you feel well enough to come home tonight?” she asked. “I feel a bit better now. Let me get up and see if I can walk out of here under my own steam.” I pulled the blanket aside and swung my legs out. They didn’t reach to the ground – hospital beds are high off the ground. I slid down and landed unsteadily on the floor. I took a few wobbly steps forward and then had to grab the bed for support. “I don’t understand this”, I said to Tammy, “did they give me any drugs while I was out? I don’t recall feeling this unsteady earlier.” “Shall I go and ask the nurse?” said Tammy. I nodded and she stepped past me, briefly touching my back in a gesture of affection.
Tammy returned a few moments later with Nurse Angela Weston, who immediately shooed me back into bed. “It’s much too soon for you to be galavanting about.” she scolded me cheerfully. She helped me back into bed. “Was I given anything?” I asked her. “Yes,” she replied, “the doctor prescribed a sedative to calm you down. It will take a few hours to wear off. You can go home tomorrow.”
Tammy kissed me goodbye and said she’d be back in the morning to collect me. I felt like an undelivered parcel, left waiting on the shelf. Angela placed a manilla envelope on the bedstead beside me. “Those are the personal effects of your father.” she told me. I grimaced at the word “father”, but decided to let it go, she was only trying to be helpful. “Thank you.” I said “Can I get something to drink?” “This is not a hotel” replied Angela saucily, “but I’ll get you some water.” She went out.
I glanced at the plain manilla envelope wondering ruefully if I should go through a stranger’s last mortal possessions. However, they might give me some clues as to who he really was, I thought. I decided to empty it out on the bed. I opened the envelope and up ended it. Out tumbled a key, a few scraps of tatty paper with scribblings on them, a book of matches from McLarkey’s bar, a crumpled pack of Lucky Strikes and a quarter. That was it. That was all this poor man had in the world when he died. A wave of pity swept over me for this man. Deep inside of me a truth echoed: this was only the beginning of the adventure. I had to unravel the mystery of who this man was.
To be continued…
Tags: fiction, Short story, writing
Filed under fiction |
2 Responses to “An old man in a ditch – Part IV”
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Relax Max Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 16:52A key. Now we’re getting somewhere.
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Richard Catto Says:
February 17th, 2009 at 18:39@Relax Max: So you think the key is important? Maybe it is?
You’ll just have to wait and see.
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