“Ahhh, fuck off!” rasped the old man. “Go on! Get the fuck out of here!”
I breathed a silent sigh of exasperation. The nurses told me he’d be this way.
"Now, Mr. Wiggington, I just want to chat for a bit,” I replied, trying to sound as pleasant and soothing as possible.
I was tempted to wipe it off for him, but I decided to let it stay put until I could determine what his mood was today. Our first meeting.
“Mr. Wiggington, my name is Meredith Chan. I’m your new patient counselor. I just want to talk with you for a bit and see what I can do for you, see how you’re feeling.”
He laughed, a dry repetitive sound, like an old car trying to start. “Yeah, that’s what the last little bitch told me. I doubt you’ll listen any more than she did.”
I crossed the room and arranged myself on the chair near his bed so I could get a good look at him. So old. So frail. The skin on his bald head was stretched tight; his liver-spotted scalp shined like a marbled bowling ball. His face was impossibly creased; his arms covered with thin, flabby, freckled skin. A tube ran out of a slit in his throat; other tubes exited or entered various natural or man-made orifices. Except for his face and arms, his body was neatly covered by clean white sheets.
I noticed his eyes. Pale, pale blue, still glistening with life. Shining with hatred.
“Mr. Wiggington, they say you’ve been... difficult... lately. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Difficult? God damn it, if they’d just do as I ask there wouldn’t be any difficulty!” With that, he locked eyes with me, grimacing as he filled the bag at his side. I tried not to show my revulsion.
“But Mr. Wiggington, the President wants to meet with you next month, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible if you continue to be...upset. Don’t you want to meet the President?”
He laughed again, this time provoking a barrage of dry coughs. “No, hell no! I met his predecessor, and his predecessor, and his predecessor - going back twenty-five years, when I broke the record. Fuck that pipsqueak. I didn’t vote for him anyway.”
I managed a wry, patient smile.
“Can you believe that shit?” he continued. “I go 125 years without meeting so much as a mayor, then the fucking President of the United States comes waltzing in, on my birthday, like he’s taking credit for it. Shit, they doped me up good for that one. All smiley happy. I barely remember meeting the bastard. And they do the same shit every five years. Well, all I want is to be left alone, to be let go, and I could give fuck-almighty if the President wants to see me this time.”
“But, Mr. Wiggington, if we let you go, you’ll...”
“Die? Ha! That’s the idea! Enough’s enough. One hundred and fifty years is enough for anybody. How many sitcoms can you watch? How many baked potatoes can you eat? How many pretty girls can you fantasize about before it just gets old?” With that, he looked me up and down suggestively. “After a while, it all just gets old. Day. Night. Eat. Sleep. Watch TV. It’s all just the same old shit, after you’ve seen it enough. Besides, it’s not like I can do anything about any of it. My body’s shot. Can’t even move, not even to wipe my own ass, which I think they sewed up - probably before you were born. The body just goes, young lady, like a fading calendar in the barber shop window, just going, going, but never quite gone, until you get sense enough to throw it away. Can you believe I retired early? Early! Fifty-five and nothing to do! At least, not ‘til the wife decided I was loony as a stooge. Put me in this place. God damn - retired early so I could get ninety-five years of this shit. Now they say I’m nuts so they can’t let me go. But then they get all concerned because the President wants a photo op. Well, fuck that bastard, fuck all of them, and fuck you!” He laid his head down on the pillow, as if to say that’s that.
I waited a few seconds to respond, weighing various responses, various tactics. Difficult situation. Mentally unstable, way back when, anyway. Very, very intelligent. Wily. Who could have guessed he’d end up being the oldest human being on record?
“Mr. Wiggington.” I cleared my throat. “You must understand. You’re very special to us - to everyone. You know – we’ve told you before – we can’t let you go. You know you have a history of...problems. But now, you can’t take care of yourself. You need people to help you out. We have an obligation to help you. So, why can’t you just be a little...nicer?”
“Nicer! I tried nicer. Goddamn. Nicer and nicer, for years – decades. Apparently not “nicer” enough to get the fuck outta this place. I tried nicer. Now I’m trying nasty. Hoping some orderly or doctor will get fed up – just enough to choke the ever-lovin’ shit out of me.”
“Please...” I began, but he interrupted me.
“Fuck fuck fuuuuck fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! F! U! C! K! Fuuuuuuuuck!” he chanted like a spoiled child. “Piss piss piiiiiss pisspisspisspisspisspiss! P! I! S! S! Peeeeeeeee-yuuuuuusssss!” I think he would have stuck his fingers in his ears if he could have.
I could see this was going nowhere fast. “Well, Mr. Wiggington,” I said loudly as his chant progressed through “shit”, “goddamn”, and “asshole”. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He ignored me as I shut the door on my way out.
#
Several days later the admin buzzed me in to see Director James Arbill.
“How’s our favorite patient, Ms. Chan?” he asked happily. He knew I’d been assigned to work on our “special case”, and I could tell by the expansive look on his face that he was expecting good news.
“It’s about Mr. Wiggington,” I said. “I’ve been spending quite a lot of time with him, and...well, I’m not making any progress. He’s still being...uncooperative, and I’m going to recommend we have the President visit with Mrs. Potts.”
“What?” he practically screamed. “Potts? Good grief. What would be the point?”
“Well, we could tell him that Mr. Wiggington is a bit under the weather; and besides, Mrs. Potts is 143.”
“Look. Meredith. Second oldest just ain’t gonna cut it. The President wants a photo op with Numero Uno. Wiggington is a source of tremendous fund – pride – at the Institute, and if we can’t show that he’s getting the very best of care, then, well, what will people say?”
“Mr. Arbill! It’s not a matter of what people say. We’re here to take care of these people. Now, as I said before, I’ve spent a lot of time with Mr. Wiggington over the last couple of weeks, and...I don’t think he’s actually crazy.”
“Not crazy? Wiggington? That old bird has been giving us fits for decades. He’s as loony as they come! We go through the same thing every five years. The President wants a photo op. We talk Wiggington into it, or we give him some medication so he can handle it.”
“Medication? You mean drug him up so he plays nice, don’t you? Are you really concerned about him, or do you just want the publicity?”
“Now look here,” he shot back, pointing a finger and walking around to the front of his desk. “I’ve been running this place for nearly 30 years. I know how to strike a balance what’s beneficial both for our patients, and for...everybody. I don’t need you to tell me what’s what.”
“I’m not trying to tell you your job. I am telling you that in my professional opinion Mr. Wiggington is not insane. I’ve looked over his records, and while it’s true that he did have some emotional problems a long time ago, his most recent medical write-ups don’t match with what I see.”
Arbill laughed. “My God, if he’s not crazy, why’s he act the way he does? Every other word out of his mouth is sheer vulgarity. He won’t eat or drink, except through a tube. If he wasn’t paralyzed he’d need even more medication so he wouldn’t hurt himself. Would a sane man do that?”
“Yes,” I replied. “If he was tired. I think he wants out, Mr. Arbill. I think he’s just old, and he’s tired. He has no family left, no one comes to visit him. I think he’s tried every other way out and all that’s left him is to heap abuse onto a system that’s ignoring him.”
“Okay, look,” said Mr. Arbill. “I’ll order a full review as soon as this President-thing is over with. How’s that? Meanwhile – calm him down. Talk some sense into him if you can, but if not...we’ll have to medicate him.” He sat back down at his desk and looked down, straightening a stack of papers.
“Fine,” I said. “After... the President-thing.” He glanced up briefly from his make-work as I showed myself out.
#
I came in as usual, this time making a brief detour to the monitoring equipment, carefully switching off the audio alarms. Mr. Wiggington was too busy heaping his usual abuse upon me to notice. Then I took a moist cloth and carefully wiped his face. He tried to make it hard on me, but he could only move his head and neck so much. I then sat carefully on the side of the bed, leaning over him. I was no medical expert, but I knew enough to select just the right tube. I reached down and pinched it. Mr. Wiggington stopped his profanity and looked at me with surprise; then, darting his eyes quickly to the closed door and back to my face, he suddenly raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, like a schoolboy who suddenly realized he was participating in some naughty activity.
He mouthed something I couldn’t quite make out, as his breathing became more difficult.
"Ah, fuck off,” I said gently, brushing the back of my free hand against his temple. He laughed windlessly, but it was a happy, mischievous laugh. Then he laid his head back, closing his eyes and smiling even as his body struggled against the inevitable. I continued talking to him, pretending to chide him in a raised voice, lest some passing nurse or doctor notice the absence of the usual circus.
Pretty soon he relaxed completely, and the lines of the monitor stopped dancing. I stood up and turned the audio back on. The long steady tone brought me back to reality. I called for a nurse in a now-very-real panic, and stood off to one side, hiding my mouth behind a clenched fist as the technicians worked half-heartedly over him. I knew there would be little concern aside from the untimely publicity for the Institute.
A nurse glanced over her shoulder at me. “I think you can go now, honey. There’s nothing more you can do.” As I walked triumphant into the hallway, I heard a technician say, “Looks like Mrs. Potts will get that visit after all.”
END
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