The Trickster.

Even some nursing homes can have bad staff who take advantage of the elderly.

The Trickster.



“Sister is it time for my pills”, shouted Ada, in her deep husky voice.
 “Wait your turn Ada, I’ve only one pair of hands,” said Sister Dodd.
  At the far end of the room three residents were mumbling to each other.
 “Doddy is a right one, don’t get on the wrong side of her.  She’ll be a miserable lonely old woman with her attitude”.  Nancy whispered. 
“See my old stick it is my life saver, but one day Doddy took it off me and made me struggle going to the loo without it.  How cruel can that be.  My legs played me up for weeks after that”, said Nancy, rubbing her legs.

  Mabel, who had lived in the home for six years said,
 “Mind she doesn’t hear you call her Doddy, she’ll make you suffer for that too”.
Charlie, the only male patient in the nursing home shouted, “what the hell are you tittering on about, shut up woman, I ‘m trying to catch a nap”.
 Charlie was slightly deaf and unfortunately, rarely joined in any conversations, at ninety years old who could blame him.  He just wanted peace and quiet.


“What’s all this chattering?    Nurse Caroline, attend to Ada, she needs her coat and hat on.  She has an appointment at the hospital at 2.30 and I want you to be her escort.  The ambulance will arrive around 1.00 and it is now 12.30.  The documents you need to hand in are on the table at the front entrance, so don’t forget them.  Hurry along then, You haven’t got all day”, said Sister Dodd.
  


Sister Dodd’s appearance reminds one, of the nurse in the days of Florence Nightingale, whereby starch was the norm for their uniforms.  She wore a blue starched buttoned up dress with a white starched collar and attached starched cuffs.  Perched  upon her black hair, the white  hat sat uncomfortably.  Her face also displayed that starched look and rarely did anyone ever see a crease appear.  Even her mannerism was of the old school.


Nurse Caroline enjoyed being the escort for the residents, it was her way of getting to know them better.   She also knew their little secrets that she also kept to herself.  She was a devoted caring nurse. 

  In the ambulance, Ada spoke in a low voice to Caroline so as not to be overheard by the medics.
“Nurse, I have to tell you something but it must be in confidence”.
  “Of course you can Ada what’s bothering you my love.”
 Why don’t we get any money to spend, we used to have money every week when Matron was here”. 
“Don’t worry about it now, I will sort it out for you later Ada.”
Caroline had secretly wondered about Sister Dodd for sometime, but never disclosed her feelings to others.
   She knew now, that she had to inform the owners of the home even though she could be dismissed if proven wrong. 


Most of the residents, apart from those who were bedridden, were watching television, reading or knitting.  Suddenly the door bell rang as though it was stuck.  Sandra another nurse rushed to open the door.  Two uniformed police officers were stood on the ramp.
  “Could we see Sister Dodd, please.”
 Nurse Sandra ushered them toward the office and introduced them to the Sister.


Behind the closed office door, some nurses were wondering what the police had called for.  Great speculation was coming from the nurse’s rest room too.  Nurse Caroline sat in silence.  She knew too well why the police were here.
 “Caroline, you’re as white as a ghost.  You’ve gone very quiet since the police arrived”.
 Caroline’s face changed dramatically from pale to red.
 “Maybe you’re on the change love“,  nurse Emma said, with a huge grin.
“I’m just wondering what’s being said in the office that’s all.“ She said.


An hour later, the office door swung open and Sister Dodd was flanked either side of the two police officers.  They all left in the awaiting police car. 
The Home owner Mrs Garside, gathered the staff into the office.
 “I have made a decision to re-place Sister Dodd,   She has been under investigation for theft for sometime now, and the police have collected enough evidence to prove that she has been feeding her own bank account with some of the residents allowances.  It has been over a considerable length of time.  We are now going  to employ  a matron and not a Sister this time.

Caroline has been working here for sometime now and has shown so much empathy and worked well above her station.  All the residents love her too bits and many families of the residents  have voiced that they implicitly trust her in all she does.  They too know that their loved ones confided in Caroline for many wrong doings of the Sister.
Nurse Caroline is to be the new Matron of this Nursing Home.  We are proud of her for bringing her information and others, about Sister Dodd to our attention”. Clapping sounds and excitement could be heard from outside the office.
 1,000 words approx.
Anne Freeman.

Author's Note

Thought of from my working day in nursing homes. Hope that you enjoy.

Reviews

[Vanessa Whiteley]

It is a shame the way some people in positions of trust take advantage of those in their care. As you mention in one of your poems that you like to redraft your writing, I thought I might mention a couple of things that could help make this story stronger.


"Sister is it time for my pills", shouted Ada, in her deep husky voice.

'Shouted Ada' seems like inversion it would be more natural to write Ada shouted �
This also applies to 'said Sister Dodd' and 'said Nancy' and so on. Another point is your use of two adverbs together. Most creative writing books and tutors advise against using too many adverbs. One expression is to use adjectives as if you are spending thousands of pounds and an adverb like a million. In relation to this simile you have spent two million just here 'unfortunately, rarely' and you also have 'slightly' in this sentence. Perhaps something like 'Charlie was somewhat deaf and seldom joined in any conversations, at ninety years old who could blame him'. Would be a way of cutting a few. Another thing is, I don't see why you changed the font size half way through. Was this unintentional?

Of course these are only suggestions for you to take or leave as you see fit. And I'm glad they got rid of Sister Dodd.

[Murphy]

Well written, but what a horrible situation. I like the overall storyline... if anything, maybe a few more details surrounding the theft might enhance the story that much more (though I think it stands alone just fine). You paint a very clear picture here, really drawing the reader in... for example:
"Sister is it time for my pills", shouted Ada, in her deep husky voice.
and Charlie... haha... "what the hell are you tittering on about, shut up woman, I 'm trying to catch a nap".
I like it. Very nice.

[[untitled]]

Its sad that this does happen. I worked for the elderly for a while and saw some terrible things. This is good. I think that more detail would be good but Its still good I like it