Nursing Home

By Nick Gilmore

Published: 27 Oct, 2024

Sunday

It’d been ages since I’d last seen Juliette. She was coming out of the kitchenette on the top floor just as I came out of the lift today. I asked how she was but the answer was in mime and hand gestures. She’d just grabbed a snack on her way from the office to the next resident who needed her attention.

“Iris is fine today.” she said through a piece of cake.

“Yeah, she looks quite bright.”

“Hello Mum! It’s Nicholas. How are you doing today?”

“Not bad.”

“That’s good. You’re looking better today.”

“Yeah. Feeling better.”

“Do you need a drink?”

“Yeah.”

I held her cup to her mouth but before she’d drunk any it was dribbling down her front.

“Eh? Oh! This lid doesn’t fit Mum. I’ll go and change it.”

Her carer met me in the corridor.

“I used a loose lid today,” she said, “so that I can take it off and let Iris drink directly from the cup.”

“What!? She’s drinking without the spout!?”

“Yes.”

“Wow!”

“I know! But she completely refused her lunch today. Wouldn’t have anything. Could you try to get her to eat something? A yoghurt? Milkshake?”

“Of course!”

“Mum? Are you hungry?

“No.”

“How about a milkshake?”

She was hesitant but agreed to that. And she drank the lot without a problem. She finished all her squash too.

Then she started talking.

“How are the others? You’re the only one that comes.”

“They’re all OK Mum. The reason you’re here is because it’s just down the road from me and I can come and see you every day. They’re all still working so they can’t come and see you during the week anyway. Do you want one of your fruit jellies?”

“Yeah. Help yourself to one.”

“I already have!”

“My nan’s over there. Let her have one too.”

“Looks like she’s asleep. I’ll try later.”

“Good”

She talked a bit more. I told her how nice and sunny it was outside, how The Dog had got me up before dawn again and how happy she was that Lesley hadn’t gone to her dad for the day again. Then I read a chapter to her. Suddenly, out of nowhere…

“Have you see Vera lately?”

“Not recently Mum.”

Not knowing who Vera is or was, I suggested I message my Eldest Sister to see if she knew how Vera was.

“What does she say?”

“She hasn’t seen the message yet Mum. It’s Sunday afternoon. I reckon she’ll be in the pub still.”

“Yeah. She is, knowing her.”

And then…

“Has she had the baby?”

“Yeah. She’s got three now.”

The look on Mum’s face told me that I may have got the wrong end of the stick. She may have been asking about Vera’s baby but I took it to mean Eldest Sister’s baby. That’s who she was talking about the last time she asked. I didn’t tell her that Eldest Sister’s baby is well over six feet tall, has a huge beard and has been married for a year now. I just changed the subject.

“You look sleepy Mum. You have forty winks and I’ll go home to start cooking the dinner.”

“Yeah. Alright. Don’t be long. You can come back later and take me home.”

It seemed surprisingly early in the cycle for her to be talking about going home. That’s a Day 4 or 5 thing. Not a Day 3 thing.

Bloody hell.

Author’s Note

My Mum is in a nursing home in a small village in the Thames Valley. The photo is not of the home. I used an AI image generator to give the reader some idea of the home she’s in.

All, some or maybe even none (you’ll never know!) of the names have been changed to protect privacy and hide real identities. If you think you recognise someone then let me know and I’ll edit the post or remove it entirely

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