The four girls from the office sat around the bed chatting amiably to cheer the patient up.
It had happened the previous afternoon. Reception had been particularly busy with lots of calls coming in. The company’s elderly telephone operator was now in the intensive care unit with wires and tubes strewn across her body. The incident came out of the blue. One minute she was sitting, the next, she was on the floor.
The drugs hadn’t worn off, but she was doing her best to keep up with the conversation. It was very thoughtful of them to take their lunchbreaks to come and see her. She lifted her head and looked at them bleary-eyed. “Did the call get put through?” she asked.
“Of course it did,” the youngest girl said, “I was there when it happened. You silly thing. Fancy you worrying about that!”
They all giggled.
She laid back in the bed and closed her eyes. It wasn’t clear to her whether she’d had a heart attack or not, but the doctor had said it was likely that she’d simply been overdoing it. He had said that stress comes about when you feel under pressure to do something and you are having trouble coping. He said that untreated it can lead to serious illness. On learning that she had been doing the same job all her working life, and considering her age, he suggested that she think about retirement.
She’d had time to think about what he said. Her health would definitely have to take priority. She wouldn’t be going back. Just because she had never really done anything else, it didn’t mean she couldn’t give it away.
She opened her eyes, they were still giggling. “It was lovely of you all to come in to see me.” She smiled at them all. “I think I should tell you that I won’t be coming back.”
Shocked faces stared back.
“Oh! Don’t say that. The place won’t be the same without you,” one of them said.
“No. It’s nice of you to say that, but I really think it’s time for me to stop. I’ve had time to think about it you see, laying here. I have to consider my health. I know I’ve been with the company a long time but that doesn’t mean I can’t move on. I need to slow down and find something else.”
Her visitors looked on with glum faces.
At that moment, a distant ringing came through the ward.
The old lady picked up the digital ear thermometer and held it beside her head.
“Good afternoon, how can I help you?”