Bedridden @ otoh

Bedridden

Margaret Mayfield squinted in the early morning sunshine streaming through her window. “You there!” she called to a young man in the hallway, “Come here and pull the curtains for me.”

David Roderick, new to the nursing staff at Merok House assisted living facility, entered the room. With fewer than two dozen residents he had learned their names, if not their medical histories, before starting his first shift. “Good morning, Mrs. Mayfield. That sun is awfully bright today, isn’t it?”

The old woman appraised his physique as he pulled the curtains to and then blinked several times as her eyes slowly adjusted to the diminished light. “Yes, and it really shows my age I hear. Call me Maggie. You another doctor?”

“No ma’am, I’m a nurse. My name is David.”

“A nurse? Are you gay?”

David was temporarily flummoxed. Before he could reply, Maggie burst into a loud peel of laughter. “I’m just teasing you, David. Now, don’t ever call me ma’am again, okay? I just told you, it’s Maggie.”

“Okay Maggie, you have quite the saucy tongue, don’t you?”

“Are you making a pass at me now?”

“Oh, no ma’ -aggie,” he corrected himself.

Again her laughter surrounded him. “Hee hee, I’m going to have fun with you, dear. Not as much fun as if I were fifty years younger, but still….” And she laughed some more.

“So that’s how it’s going to be? I guess I need to stay on my toes around you, Maggie.”

“You could stay on my toes, but I’d probably just kick you in the head.”

This time David laughed. “Okay, Maggie, I don’t know what that means.”

“As long as you laugh at all of my jokes, it doesn’t matter. But I was just thinking of a young man I knew a long time ago. You remind me of him. Do you play football? Or pool?”

“Yeah, both actually. That’s some kind of coincidence! He was someone special to you?”

“Special? Yes. We met at a music festival — I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of Beaulieu? — and I was his first….” Maggie stopped and stared into the distance as if she could see back in time. Suddenly she looked at David again and continued. “I was the proverbial older woman, but I made enough of an impression that he wrote a song about me.”

“Is that right? Anything I would have heard?”

“Probably well before your time, I’m afraid. We’ll save the rest of that story for another day.”

“Okay, Maggie. Do you need anything else right now?”

“No, thank you David. I look forward to talking to you later.”

“Me too, Maggie.” And with that he left, wondering if the poor old dear was demented while Maggie hummed a tune he recognized but couldn’t quite place….

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Posted on February 4th, 2010 Tim 16 comments

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16 responses to “Bedridden”
1. Oliva Tejeda February 5th, 2010 at 00:54
  
  Maggie is indeed a saucy one and she’s also immortalized for the ages. Very clever idea and the old lady really made me smile. ~ Olivia
  
  Thanks, Olivia. Are we sure that this Maggie is THE Maggie? I’m glad she made you smile. ~Tim
2. Peter Etherington February 5th, 2010 at 01:54
  
  Ha! Funny! An amusing piece with a pleasingly sassy old codger!
  
  Thanks, Peter. I hoped she was likable in spite of the teasing she gave David. ~Tim
3. Mel Morton February 5th, 2010 at 08:02
  
  Great fun to read. I love character’s like Maggie who say whatever they want! They’re fun to read and to create them!
  
  Neat idea and link to the song too.
  
  Thanks, Mel. Maggie was a lot of fun to write. I’m glad you enjoyed reading. ~Tim
4. Marisa Birns February 5th, 2010 at 18:17
  
  I always love reading elder feisty characters, whether male or female.
  
  And I really enjoyed the repartee between Maggie and David.
  
  So at one time, Maggie joined the wild music and wilder behavior and inspired a younger man to a path of fame. And younger women, heh.
  
  Thanks, Marisa. I was so intent on trying to get Maggie’s viewpoint right that I didn’t even think about the younger women Rod has been with. ~Tim
5. CJ February 5th, 2010 at 22:19
  
  Fun – gotta love the elderly that still have a good time! Nice story, cool idea!
  
  Thanks, CJ. I hope I’m one of those feisty old people some day. ~Tim
6. Linda February 5th, 2010 at 22:21
  
  Liked the way you painted both characters — I ‘got them’ immediately. And who’s the forgetful one? Very good… Peace, Linda
  
  Thanks, Linda. It’s always good to have characters that get gotten easily. ~Tim
7. PJ Kaiser February 5th, 2010 at 23:49
  
  Nice story – i love inspiration from a song! I need to break out my ipod now … These characters are wonderful and i loved the snappy dialogue between them. If it weren’t for the title, i’d expect maggie to start dancing across the floor. Well done!
  
  Thanks, PJ. I actually started with the idea of a bedridden character teasing a younger caregiver and brought in the song elements later. ~Tim
8. Chance February 6th, 2010 at 08:57
  
  crumbs, should of seen that coming . good stuff and it gave us a good laugh .
  
  Thanks, Chance. I’m always happy to give someone a laugh with my work. ~Tim
9. Carrie Clevenger February 6th, 2010 at 14:05
  
  Ha! She’s not THAT old huh. Nice add with the video too!
  
  Thanks, Carrie. I think she definitely falls into the “young-at-heart” category. ~Tim
10. Tony Noland February 6th, 2010 at 14:46
  
  Nice – Maggie is *definitely* the proverbial older woman.
  
  Thanks, Tony. She’s a fun character to work with. ~Tim
11. shannon esposito February 6th, 2010 at 15:45
  
  I hope I’m as fiesty as Maggie when the time comes. Bet she has some stories, too
  Love the line about the “sun really showing her age” she hears. Nice clue in the beginning!
  
  Thanks, Shannon. It was fun to work in references to lines from the song. I think that one works a lot better than the others. ~Tim
12. Laura Eno February 7th, 2010 at 09:39
  
  Cool story, Tim! I liked Maggie’s outlook on life. Long live fiesty women!
  
  Thanks, Laura. Long live feisty women [but do you think they could go a little easier on us men?] ~Tim
13. Skycycler February 7th, 2010 at 09:44
  
  Great piece Tim. ‘Old’ is only equal to ‘dead’ in the minds of the unimaginative. My dad used to play this song – I hadn’t heard it in a long time – thanks!
  Simon.
  
  Thanks, Simon. Your DAD used to play the song? Now I feel old. [grin] ~Tim
14. mazzz_in_Leeds February 9th, 2010 at 08:52
  
  Growing old (dis)gracefully is where it’s at!
  Nice portrait of Maggie, Tim- and a good reminder that I need to let my hair down more often, while I still can!
  
  Thanks, Mazzz. Let’s all let our hair down together… wait, does that sound dirty? ~Tim
15. Cathy Olliffe February 9th, 2010 at 10:12
  
  HA! Loved the video cue at the end of the story! And I just LOVE that song! Always wondered who it was written about. Now I know.
  Tasty little read, slamming ending. Thanks!
  
  Thanks, Cathy. The song has always been one of my favorites too — even before I met… um, never mind. ~Tim
16. aymiee February 18th, 2010 at 22:19
  
  Yes !! I do like this story. I love your conversations. I was envisioning Shirley MacClane and Chris O’Donnell for some reason.
  
  Thanks, Aymiee. If I ever get a movie deal, I will consult with you on the casting! ~Tim

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