The man in the bed at the end of the ward pressed the call button again.
The ward was full and the nurses were all busy. The long-term patient in room 17B waited for a response to his call. He didn’t expect to receive any special treatment, but that was the fourth time he had called, all with no response. It had been going on for days. He didn’t know who was in charge out there, but he had his suspicions. Meanwhile, one of the young nurses decided to have a word with the charge nurse about him at the first opportunity.
“He hasn’t had any visitors for weeks,” she began. “He seems to be perfectly articulate. I’m sure he feels isolated and alone in there.”
The charge nurse nodded.
“He certainly rings the call bell a lot,” the nurse added.
The charge nurse, knowing what a demanding and spiteful old misery the man actually was, shook her head. “You’re right; he’s not a happy case, I’m afraid.”
She didn’t care to explain that it would be best for everybody if her husband was best left with his own miserable company…