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Even the mightiest fall down

Even the mightiest fall down

Grace walked down the corridor, the click of her heeled boots masked by the beeping of machines, the nurse’s bustling and the voices of the visitors. She stepped into the plain and lifeless room that her grandfather shared with two other patients, the lost hope of ever leaving filling the air and further dampening Grace’s spirits.

“Bonjour grand-père,” she greeted. She bent down to kiss his weathered cheek and then turned to face the nurse doing her daily round of check-ups. “How’s he doing today?” she asked as she moved to stand by the nurse.

“I’ll ask Dr. Tregoning to come in and give you his diagnosis,” the nurse, Beth kindly said. “Aren’t you supposed to be at Uni dear?” she questioned, flipping the page on her clipboard and jotting something down. “In the meantime, can you please help your grandad fill out the food order for the following week please? None of us have been able to get the message across.”

“Sure,” Grace smiled as she went to sit in the chair next to her grandad’s bed and brought the eating tray with the menu closer. “Alors grand-père, qu’est-ce que vous voulez manger pour la semaine prochaine ? Pour le diner demain le bœuf avec des légumes rôtis, ça sent bien, » Grace said, reading the menu out loud in French to her grandad. They continued like that, her reading out the different options and then ticking the one which he gave a slight nod to until she heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see Dr. Tregoning patiently waiting.

“Oh Doctor, I didn’t see you there,” she said after rising to her feet and meeting the doctor halfway. “Thank you for coming in.”

“It’s my job Grace,” he smiled at her indulgently. After working many years at the hospital, he had seen his fair share of uncared for and forgotten patients. It was nice to see young Grace love her family enough to stay at her grandfather’s side until her parents came to keep him company.

“So are your parents coming in today or would you like for me to tell you the news now?” he asked.

“My parents will try to make it, but I think it best if they could come home and rest today. They haven’t been getting a lot of sleep and they’ve been worried sick, so it would be easier if you could just tell me now,” she replied. She tucked a curl behind her ear, only for the sake of something to prevent being idle.

“Well, we have decided against a hip surgery for the grandfather. We feel that it would cause him more pain than anything else and unfortunately there’s nothing left for you and your family to do except to wait it out and see what will happen,” he told her. “There’s a strong risk of organ failure for older patients who become bedridden, however we hope that that won’t be the case with your grandfather.”

“Thank you Doctor, I’ll tell my parents tonight and if they have any questions, I’ll ask them tomorrow,” she said.

“You’re a good girl Grace,” he said, giving her a kind pat on the arm. “I’m curious though, I heard you fluently speaking French to your grandfather as I walked in, where did you learn?”

“Well my mum’s family are French so I grew up with the language. My parents enrolled me into the French Australian Preschool and then I went to Telopea Park School, where I followed the French curriculum until year 11, where I decided to do the International Baccalaureate instead of the French one,” she recounted.

“Ah. So I’m guessing that you’re in University now?” he enquired.

“Yes, I’m doing a combined degree of Law and Psychology at the ANU,” she answered.

“Shouldn’t you be studying? Law degrees are no picnic in the park,” he said.

“Yes, I’ve already made that unfortunate discovery,” she laughed. “However, my Uni hours are a lot more flexible than my parents and I have a car, whereas my younger brother doesn’t. My grandad needs someone to translate for him because he never believed in needing to learn English,” she said. The thought of her proud French grandad now relying on her to translate for him brought tears to her eyes. Even the mightiest fall down.

“Well I better get going,” the Doctor stated, clearly noticing the tears forming in Grace’s blue eyes. “Take care Grace,” he said before moving on to the other patient’s beds.

After smiling at the doctor, she sat back down in her chair with a sigh. She turned to see that her grandad had fallen asleep. He didn’t look like the honourable man that she had looked up to her younger years. The one who read Le Petit Prince to her, who lifted her up onto his shoulders, who helped her sneak out to parties. Who was this stranger lying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of every limb? His face was no longer noble and regal with his still thick grey hair and piercing blue eyes that she had inherited. She sighed once again and looked down at her watch to see that it was time to pick her brother up from college.