After my operation, I was really depressed from a combination of pain and medication. I felt very alone and was so uncomfortable that I just lay crying in my hospital bed. A male nurse came into my room and found me that way. He was tall and good looking and wore a uniform that was so white that it practically shone.
His eyes were very kind as he asked, “What can I do for you?”
My words came out in a distraught jumble. I’m not exactly sure what I said in my misery, but I know that my string of sentences ended with, “What I’d really love is a cup of tea!”
The nurse smiled and left, only to return in a few minutes with the tea that I had requested—and a hot water bottle, which he tucked in next to my feet. Warmed by the tea, the hot water bottle and by the kindness of this stranger, I was calmed and felt at peace. So comfortable that I went right to sleep.
I awoke later when another nurse came in. I asked her about the male nurse, to see if she knew him. She continued about her business, as if she hadn’t heard me. I tried to catch her attention again, but it was if I hadn’t spoken. She didn’t say “yes” or “no,” or even look at me; she just went about her duties and then left.
Later, another nurse came in. I also asked her if she knew the male nurse. The reaction was the same—or should I say the lack of reaction. Though I tried to get an answer to my question, it was as if she couldn’t hear me.
Confused, I called to the patient who shared my room. “Did you see the handsome male nurse who brought me the nice cup of tea and the hot water bottle?”
She responded with chatter about a topic that had nothing to do with my question. She was very friendly but try as I might it was as if my mention of the male nurse fell on ears that were deaf only to that subject.
By now, I thought that I might have imagined the whole encounter…but no! The teacup and hot water bottle were both there—physical evidence that proved that the male nurse and his kindness had been real.
I stopped questioning what had happened, and the comfort that the hot tea and the hot water bottle had given me. I just accepted that the nurse was an angel sent to help me at a time when I very much needed comfort. I lay there in peace, and that peace stayed with me through the days to come.
Have you had an “extraordinary coincidence” like this? If you are interested in sharing your story and having it appear in this column, please send an email to OneVoiceLifted@gmail.com You can contribute anonymously if you wish and can either write your own story or we will arrange for you to share it with us and we will write it in your words and publish it after your approval.
There is a thought-provoking beauty in these stories. In sharing them perhaps we will find power in the realization that they happen more often than one person may think.
This monthly column is inspired by the members of Pilgrim Covenant Church.