Peppermint Heart Candy

Monotonous grey, plastic, utilitarian chairs  made his shirt stick  uncomfortably to his back.
A small square wooden table with a scattered collection of magazines, mostly women’s, motoring and medical journals
Often staring at the black edged clock  on the wall,
whose hands moved round so slowly, that time appeared endless
The  heavy silence broken by the sound of heels walking with purpose through  the corridors -
rattling keys  impatiently.
He knows this room well now....too well
Double doors open and he looks  up, expectantly, hopefully..
A porter pushing an elderly man with his leg in plaster
Disappointed, he turns back to re reading the same paragraph of the Readers Digest
he has been staring at for 40 minutes.
His hand constantly checking his pocket, patting it reassuringly.
The smell of stewed tea  wafting through the room reminds him of much he loves coffee.
He breathes deeply , his breath rasping and dry, trying to keep the panic he always feels,
under control.
The double doors from the Oncology department suddenly swing open
And finally……
There is joseph, her nurse, pushing her chair.
She looks frail and tired
He pulls her blanket closer round her tiny legs, and thanks Joseph
Dropping a gentle kiss on his beloveds head he placed the thing he has been nurturing in his pocket
lovingly into her hand,
because he knows she loves them.
A peppermint heart candy…..
she looks at the candy, then at the man who’s world she  knows she  alone exists in,
and smiles a wobbly smile’
‘Home James’ she whispers and together they head towards the exit

An homage to My Dad.