Three Word Wednesday CCXVI: advance, pander, shuffle
The halls were that depressing shade of green you don’t see anywhere on earth except old schools and hospitals. An old man that looked more like he should be a patient was continuously buffing the floors.
Jack shuffled along, sloppy slippers barely clinging to sockless feet. Shoulders slumped, head down, hair thin and messy, dandruff flaked on the shoulders of his red plaid flannel robe. One pocket hung half-off and he could have used a clean hanky. His advance was watched by no one except crazy old Mrs. Klusendorf who was parked in her doorway, tied to a wheelchair. She was surrounded by a cloud of eau de urine and regarded him suspiciously as she nodded and hummed to herself.
“Hey there, Mr. Thomas. You are just in time for your meds.” The smiling perky blonde nurse peered up at him and he let his lip curl half his mouth into a grotesque parody of a smile. He nodded but didn’t speak. She poured him a little drink of water and handed him the paper pill cup.
He turned up the cup and tucked the pills into his jaw and swallowed the water and did the half smile thing again, pandering to her nurture needs. She smiled back at him. He pointed behind the desk. She turned and looked. “Oh yes! We are starting to decorate for Christmas! Won’t that be fun?â€Â She grinned at him as he thought about what it would be like to have his fingers around her neck, watching her face turn red as she struggled, and then blue as the lack of oxygen had it’s final effect.
He would help Mrs. Klusendorf tonight. He nodded and waved to the nurse and shuffled back down the hall, patting old Klusy on the shoulder as he went by. No one should be tied in a wheelchair. It was nearly bedtime and then four hours before bed checks. Plenty of time.
