Still August 11th, 2012
I found Eve in a cushy room on the third floor talking to Melanie from the homeless shelter while the drama of the Summer Olympics played out on the flat screen bolted to the far wall. She looked exhausted, weak, and pale but I was so happy to see her I almost didn't notice. Almost.
"My landlord just called, she said some hairy guy with a big red beard just told her I was in the hospital." Eve announced.
"Guilty." I responded with a smile. " I didn't know which hospital you were in, figured if I waited around long enough someone who knew would show up."
Eve had a half eaten tray of food propped up in front of her, she was just finishing lunch when I arrived. Melanie left muttering some good wishes on her way out. Probably heading back to the shelter for the evening. I snagged the remote out of Eve's lap and pulled up a chair next to the bed changing the channel to an Adam Sandler movie. We watched part of it for a while then got to talking. The nurse on duty came in to listen to Eve's heart. She looked at me sideways before moving Eve's gown to the side.
"It's alright," Said Eve "It's nothing he hasn't already seen."
We both had a chuckle at the nurses expense.
"Alright, your heart sounds pretty good, is there anything you need before I go?" Asked the nurse. Her name tag read 'Rachel' I remembered that Rachel means 'The lamb of god', odd random thought.
"No I'm fine." Said Eve.
"You wanted some coffee earlier." I pointed out.
"Did you want some coffee?" Asked the nurse.
"Yes, my daughter ordered the food, she probably left out the part about the coffee." Said Eve with a nod.
"How did you want it? Cream and Sugar?"
Eve nodded.
The nurse left and I took Eve's hand in mine. We watched some more of the movie with some intermittent conversation. We sat that way until I had to leave to make coffee for a meeting on the other side of town. It was a good meeting, that one almost always is.The church where we have the meeting was having a book sale. I perused some of the available literature, surprisingly a lot of it was Buddhist. Very open minded church that one. Almost bought a book title 'Be Your Own Guru' but my inner Guru advised me against it since the two dollar price tag would leave me flat busted on cash. Talked to my sponsor on the ride back to the shelter, he offered me his couch for the evening if I couldn't get in.
"Having your own place is about feeling secure. Even if it's just a closet with a toilet, even if it's a shithole..." I cut my sponsor off.
"It's your shithole."
"Exactly. Yeah I can't believe you've been able to go on for so long without that kind of security... it's a good thing though because some day soon you might have a sponsee that needs someone like you to show them where all the resources for homeless people are around here."
"Miguel said the exact same thing to me not too long ago...well close enough anyway."
Miguel is my sponsors sponsor. My Grand sponsor if you will.
The shelter was very short on guests when I got there so I had no trouble getting a bed for the evening. The coordinator that evening was buzzing about the place checking on everything when I arrived. He paused when I checked in and talked to me briefly about the latest 'development' in the shelter.
" I told everyone this earlier and 90% of the people that stay here don't have a problem with it but I'll tell you so you know, just to be clear. People staying here need to shower, I even explained why... bacteria builds up and makes you smell, so when you shower you can't just stand under the water, you've got to use soap and scrub."
I nodded, knowing he was just being thorough and not talking about my hygiene specifically.
"Maybe you should get one of those poles with the sponge at the end of it for the non-compliant." I said with a smirk.
The staff member laughed.
"Yeah I bet that would go over great. Hey got some mail for you."
He handed me a letter with the Universities logo on it.
I tucked it away and headed into the eating area trying not to think about it too much.
I found Eve in a cushy room on the third floor talking to Melanie from the homeless shelter while the drama of the Summer Olympics played out on the flat screen bolted to the far wall. She looked exhausted, weak, and pale but I was so happy to see her I almost didn't notice. Almost.
"My landlord just called, she said some hairy guy with a big red beard just told her I was in the hospital." Eve announced.
"Guilty." I responded with a smile. " I didn't know which hospital you were in, figured if I waited around long enough someone who knew would show up."
Eve had a half eaten tray of food propped up in front of her, she was just finishing lunch when I arrived. Melanie left muttering some good wishes on her way out. Probably heading back to the shelter for the evening. I snagged the remote out of Eve's lap and pulled up a chair next to the bed changing the channel to an Adam Sandler movie. We watched part of it for a while then got to talking. The nurse on duty came in to listen to Eve's heart. She looked at me sideways before moving Eve's gown to the side.
"It's alright," Said Eve "It's nothing he hasn't already seen."
We both had a chuckle at the nurses expense.
"Alright, your heart sounds pretty good, is there anything you need before I go?" Asked the nurse. Her name tag read 'Rachel' I remembered that Rachel means 'The lamb of god', odd random thought.
"No I'm fine." Said Eve.
"You wanted some coffee earlier." I pointed out.
"Did you want some coffee?" Asked the nurse.
"Yes, my daughter ordered the food, she probably left out the part about the coffee." Said Eve with a nod.
"How did you want it? Cream and Sugar?"
Eve nodded.
The nurse left and I took Eve's hand in mine. We watched some more of the movie with some intermittent conversation. We sat that way until I had to leave to make coffee for a meeting on the other side of town. It was a good meeting, that one almost always is.The church where we have the meeting was having a book sale. I perused some of the available literature, surprisingly a lot of it was Buddhist. Very open minded church that one. Almost bought a book title 'Be Your Own Guru' but my inner Guru advised me against it since the two dollar price tag would leave me flat busted on cash. Talked to my sponsor on the ride back to the shelter, he offered me his couch for the evening if I couldn't get in.
"Having your own place is about feeling secure. Even if it's just a closet with a toilet, even if it's a shithole..." I cut my sponsor off.
"It's your shithole."
"Exactly. Yeah I can't believe you've been able to go on for so long without that kind of security... it's a good thing though because some day soon you might have a sponsee that needs someone like you to show them where all the resources for homeless people are around here."
"Miguel said the exact same thing to me not too long ago...well close enough anyway."
Miguel is my sponsors sponsor. My Grand sponsor if you will.
The shelter was very short on guests when I got there so I had no trouble getting a bed for the evening. The coordinator that evening was buzzing about the place checking on everything when I arrived. He paused when I checked in and talked to me briefly about the latest 'development' in the shelter.
" I told everyone this earlier and 90% of the people that stay here don't have a problem with it but I'll tell you so you know, just to be clear. People staying here need to shower, I even explained why... bacteria builds up and makes you smell, so when you shower you can't just stand under the water, you've got to use soap and scrub."
I nodded, knowing he was just being thorough and not talking about my hygiene specifically.
"Maybe you should get one of those poles with the sponge at the end of it for the non-compliant." I said with a smirk.
The staff member laughed.
"Yeah I bet that would go over great. Hey got some mail for you."
He handed me a letter with the Universities logo on it.
I tucked it away and headed into the eating area trying not to think about it too much.
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