it's all about love

Derek thought it stupid that a woman who was so ugly would bother wearing lipstick.  It was glumped all over her big rubbery lips.  He could barely contain his contempt.  Where the hell did these people crawl from?

The woman wouldn’t have noticed his contempt;  she was too absorbed with getting help for her grandson. He was about 4, grubby and bloody and screaming the place down.

“Jakey love, quiet down.  The nice man’s gonna help. Now hold still”  Gradually the child’s screams subsided.

The nurse began to clean the cut on his head. “ You’re very brave Jake.  We’ll just clean this off so Doctor can take a look.  Might need a stitch or two Derek, what do you think?” Derek could see the gaping sides of the wound; the pink flesh still oozing blood.

He addressed the woman archly, “Mrs Fletcher, is it?”  She looked up at him, her eyes boring into his. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to stitch it." Her huge lumpy body was heaving and her face was all red and blotchy. “Sh*t!”, he thought ”I hope she doesn’t have a heart attack”  The thought of actually touching her was repulsive. “Now you listen to me”, she said “you just get on with the job and do what has to be done.  Jake’s a big boy.  He knows you have to fix him. He ain’t no namby-pamby wuss.”  “Right then” said Derek, feeling a bit chastised. “Now if you could just hold him still” He bent over the child and said quietly “Now Jake, I’m just going to fix your cut so there’s no more blood.  It won’t hurt, I promise”.

The woman rounded on him. “Whattya mean it won’t hurt?!” Mrs Fletcher shouted.  Whattya telling him lies for!?  ‘Course it’s gonna hurt!”    She pinned Derek with her eyes, and her voice became quieter but was very firm….. “But you be just as gentle as you can”.

“Well, of course…” he began.  But she’d turned back to Jake.

“Now Jakey love, it’s gonna hurt but it won’t be too bad.  You just hold still;  here, give Grandma your hand.  Now let’s think of something else for a minute.  I know!” she looked at Derek with a swift nod to get on with it… “Remember when we all went to Dream World?  Remember that Jakey?”

And so it went.  Derek was able to stitch the little boy’s head.  His eyes stayed fixed on his Grandmother.  His hands, both of them, were clamped on hers with fierce intensity.  But he didn’t move.  He listened to his Grandmother with a look of stoic decisiveness on his little face, as she listed all the attractions of the visit to Dream World.  Finally the job was done, and the pair disappeared out through the front doors of Emergency.  They got into an old Ford Falcon and drove away.

Derek discarded his gloves and washed his hands. “Geez, you get all sorts;  what a bogun she was!”

The young Doctor had completely missed the real woman which existed beneath the low socio-economic façade.  He’d looked for nothing, and that’s what he found.  He was blinded to what really mattered; blinded by his own importance and intellect and wealth.

He’d completely missed the love.