Atonement
A fiction
Lying on my back on a hospital gurney is not my favorite place to be. You know what I mean?
Of course you do. If you are old enough to read this, but nah, maybe not. Anyway I have a weird story.
So here I am wearing this flimsy little hospital gown and smelling this hospital smell. I guess it smells better than some places where I have spent time. If I could read something it would also be good but all I can do is lie here and stare at the ceiling. And guess what the ceiling looks like? Yeah, a bunch of acoustic tiles with lots of little holes in them. I started counting the little holes several times but I keep losing count. My late wife spent some time in hospitals before she passed, and waiting for procedures she always complained about the ceiling. She told a few people that they should put interesting paintings on the ceilings but they never did. The one chapel had sky scenes, blue skies and white puffy clouds on the ceiling, but I think that was mainly for family members who thought praying would make a difference. Yeah, I wonder what she would think if she could see me now. The way she was, I guess she would get it. No, this isn’t the way we had planned it. But you know the saying, “Life is what happens when we were planning something else.” We had all these ideas about growing old together. Where we would retire. Sure, I…
