Arthur and Iris

Hospital Visit

He hated the smell.  That antiseptic assault with bleach mixed in.  Even the corridors annoyed him.  The shiny tiles that make shoes creak and slap down their long corridors of doom.  As he made his way to medical ward 2 where Iris, his wife lay, he tried to shut it all out and think about their home, the farmhouse, the green fields and wild hill beyond.  Fresh, free from this toxic frightening world he found himself.  There were a group of visitors waiting outside the ward.  Like cattle not allowed into the parlours until the buzzer sounded.  Arthur stood cap in hand conscious of his huge size dwarfing everyone.  He was not designed for indoors, his father had always joked, “as big and thick as a barn”.  His only brother George had been his father’s favourite.  George has been the exact opposite to Arthur.  Small, slight with quick movements and sudden gusts of temper.  His father described George in glowing terms to anyone who’d listen.  “He’s bigger than he looks George, sure there’s four feet of him underground!” That boy has massive roots, don’t judge him on what you see above ground.  For Arthur, he accepted his position on the farm as the one who did most of the chores but got none of the praise.  His size seemed to annoy people, especially his father. 

The buzzer sounded and the doors opened and George went in carefully trying to avoid bumping things or people.  Two turns of a corridor and there was his Iris looking pale and thin on a bed surrounded by tubes and equipment.  Arthur went to her bedside clutching the brown paper bag in his massive rough hands.  His voice was concerned as he kissed her wrinkled cheek,

“Hello love, how are you doing?”

Iris looked at him with a weak smile and responded

“All the better from seeing you, Artie.”

Arthur’s heart gave a jolt.  The love he felt for her stung his eyes and made him ache inside.  

“Good, good sure the house is empty without you. And mind you the dishes are piling up and it’s an awful mess”, 

complained Arthur trying to talk away emotions.  Iris laughed and reached for his hand with two of hers.  Her hands disappeared in his shovel like hand and he held them tenderly like fragile chicks feeling like the enormous useless monster his father made him feel. As they looked eye to eye, Iris whispered, 

“They say I can get home at the weekend.” 

Arthur realised that this hospital room felt suddenly more like home than anywhere else because she was here.  She’d filled his life with love and wonderful memories, this tiny woman.  And the wonder of her filled his heart.  His face creased in delight to be with her again.