Love Heals (#38)

Every day, Arthur visited his childhood friend Pete at the hospital. Pete had stage 4 emphysema and had six months to live. But Pete would not die that easily. How did he do it?

eastwind journals

‘True Tales’ Series – Volume 38

August 12, 2023 – Archives tr394
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com

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Author’s Note. This story is inspired by a true-to-life situation.

Pete – Nurse, I can’t even get up from bed.

Joanne – Let me give you some oxygen.

Pete – I want to die.

Joanne – (Arthur arrives.) You have a visitor. Sir, can you please tell Pete here to stop thinking of dying? (She leaves.)

Arthur is a childhood friend. They are the best of friends.

Arthur – Hey, Pete. You look terrible.

Pete – I know. I want to die.

Arthur – (changing the subject). You remember the time you stole my girl friend Nancy back in high school? Then, I punched you on the nose. You got her pregnant, and you brought her to the abortion clinic? Then, her dad mauled you and you were in the hospital for 5 days. Boy, was I glad it wasn’t me. (laughter).

Pete – You remember the time you were copying from my philosophy exam paper? Then the teacher noticed our answers were exactly the same, word for word, and he blamed me for copying from you instead of you copying from me. Then, I punched you on the nose, and he sent me out of the room. In the end, you failed the subject. That’s bad karma. Haha.

Arthur – But when I took the subject in summer, I met Louise. That’s good karma. Haha.

Pete – How many kids do you have with Louise? Four? You worked your ass off to get them to college, but what happened? Two got pregnant at 14 and 15, two were drug addicts. That’s bad karma.

Arthur – Shut your dirty mouth. (laughter).

For two hours, they reminisce about the madness of their youth, laughing aloud. Joanne comes in, and tells them to keep quiet because other patients are complaining about the noise. The next day, it is the same. Arthur brings a bottle of red wine, and they become even more boisterous.

Joanne – Sir, if you don’t tone it down, I’m calling security.

Pete – You treat your patients about to die in 6 months this way?

Arthur – Don’t worry about him, nurse. We’re just having the time of our lives. (he gives the nurse a wink). Perhaps, I can extend his life to 12 months, if I come everyday with a bottle of red. (all three laugh).

Nurse – Actually, it’s not allowed to drink in here. Just tone it down and close the door. Hide the bottle, so when the doctor comes in, he won’t see it. Put it in plastic cups, and just tell the doctor it’s prune juice for your kidney. If you are caught, I will deny everything. Better to get drunk than to die, right?

Pete – Don’t be so kind, Joanne. I may fall in love with you.

Nurse – You’re funeral. I have five kids and three times divorced.

Pete – Love is blind. (all three laugh) Thanks anyway.

Next day, Arthur brings a gift for Joanna.

Joanna – (after opening the gift and seeing an expensive watch). I can’t take this.

Pete – Don’t worry about it. He’s filthy rich. He owns two hotels downtown. Take it.

Joanna – I don’t believe you. (Arthur whips out a calling card from his wallet.) Okay, I believe you.

Arthur visits Pete every day, except on weekends, for ten whole months, way past the time he is supposed to die.

Joanna – (entering) You know what? Ever since your visits, Pete’s depression vanished completely. And now, he can now walk to the comfort room without gasping for breath.

Arthur – That’s because love heals.

Suddenly, Arthur disappears – no more visits.

Pete – I miss Arthur. I wonder what happened to him.

Joanna – I might as well tell you. He is in the other room. Cancer of the pancreas. He told me not to tell you. He has two months to live. He said he had cancer long before you did and had been taking chemo for three years now.

Pete – The bastard, holding out on me. Favor, Joanna, here’s some money. Buy me three bottles of red wine, please.

Joanna – He can’t take alcohol.

Pete – It’s for me, not for him.

Joanna puts Pete on a wheelchair to visit Arthur in the next room. It was the same as before. Boisterous visits. Red wine. Frenzied talk.

Arthur – There is no cure for pancreatic cancer. I can get chemo three times a week, but it is only to delay the end.

Pete – Wine is bad for you.

Arthur – I know, but what the heck. Die happy. (laughter).

Arthur was on chemo for two more years before he passed away, in spite of the red wine. What kept Arthur and Pete going was their love for each other. Pete visited Arthur every day after Arthur visited him every day.

Joanna joined the red wine caper Mondays and Thursdays. She was never caught drinking wine with patients. She could have declined the wine, but she thought it more proper in the name of love. That was the Lord’s gift for her love for two terminal patients. The three would laugh to the high heavens. When he was dying, Arthur and Joanna had silent tears, but Pete was all smiles.

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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.

FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace. All you need is to have faith and to ask the Lord –

1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg

Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).

Author’s book. At age 26, the author (eastwind) drifted through Europe, hitchhiking 25,000 kilometers for three straight years. He wrote a book on his adventures, Wings and Wanderlust. He learned deep insights that radically changed his view of life, which he wants to share with readers looking for themselves or wanting to catch the wind. More about the book (get a copy) = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/02/25/more-about-the-book-wings-and-wanderlust/

Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.

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