Well.. I don't know if you believe in Angels, but I sure do. It has nothing to do with my accident. I've believed in their existence always. Why..? Because the Bible says so, that's why..! Stories of Angels intervening in the lives of people, whether they're from the Bible or from the stories of men and women of our times, have always inspired a sense of awe. I believe that these heavenly beings move amidst us, invisible to our physical eyes yet perfectly capable of intervening in our lives when God wills them to.
After my fall, I'm pretty sure that God sent His army of Angels to look after me. Surely they would've worked overtime to bring me safely to the hospital and then to look at me as I lay there in the ICU. But these Angels aren't the ones I'm going to talk of here. In this post I wish to talk about the moments I shared with some of the mere mortal brings who worked overtime to look after me. The ones who made my stay in 'hell on earth' a little manageable. The nurses.
Loneliness was among the most harshest of things that I had to bear when I was lying in the ICU. Sometimes it hurt me even more than all the physical pain involved. And that I'd saying a lot about how hard it was. But these people helped ease me of this burden by their love and care.
Sisters or brothers, they always did everything they needed to do with love. I'm not a person who based my actions on what people around me thought about me, but I can't say I'm someone who never cared about how people saw me. In that vulnerable state, if they saw me as a burden andwere rude or rough, I'm sure amidst all the emotional turmoil I would've felt far more miserable.
But they weren't anything like that. They did their work diligently and with grace. If I was ever in need of anything, I could just call them and they would be more that willing to help me out. One night, I was having trouble falling asleep (that's a common problem. In fact I remember going through a continuous stretch of a few days without falling asleep even for a whole hour).
I became so restless and irritated because of that, so I kept trying to change positions. As I couldn't do it all by myself, I had to call the brother who was looking after me. And call I did; once, twice and many more times all night. I sometimes called him 15 mins after doing it once to change my position again. Yet he never once got annoyed with me. He always made me feel that I could call him whenever I needed. That's the way all those looking after me did their work.
The nurses always greeted me with the brightest of smiles. They made some small talk even if I couldn't reply properly ( I had a tracheostomy ). Some would come out of their way to tell me that they're praying for me, and all would be well soon. They could've easily been content with doing their work and not bothering about all this. Who could've questioned them..? Their work is only related to nursing services, not cheering up the patient. Yet, they took it upon themselves to do all this.
When I was going through the toughest phase of my life, these people managed to make me feel special. I always felt that they wanted me to get better. I felt as though every time they saw me,they willed me to get well soon. When I missed my family, they looked after me like I was one of their own. I felt like I was a brother to each of them.
They weren't all like this from the beginning though. There were a few who intimidated me. Not many, just a few. I felt they weren't enjoying the work that they were doing. When I couldn't bear some pain, if I did something to disturb their work they'll get annoyed and angry. But even they, as time went past, started to be much more kinder. And in they end, they too became like brothers and sisters.
Sometimes I wonder, were those nurses always so kind to each of their patients..? Or like the ones I mentioned in the end, were they tough people in whose eyes I found special favor..? I can never know it. But one thing I know for sure is that either way I must be grateful to God.
If the people came under the first category, I have to be thankful to God for bringing such people together to look after me. He had brought the best doctors together when I needed them. And He brought the best nurses too. If they were like the ones mentioned later, I must thank God for helping me to find favour in the sight of these people. The more I think, the longer my list of reasons to thank God and Jesus Christ His son keeps growing..
