Susan hated this room. Her grandfather had been in this hospital bed for weeks now, and today the Doctor had suggested hospice care. She stood at the window looking out at the other wing of this hospital and down on the alleyway in between the pale brick buildings. She’d become tired of this view, all the while knowing that her grandfather, the greatest Shakespearian actor of his time, at least in her view, did not care about the view. In fact, most of the time, he preferred the blinds to be mostly closed, and the room kept dim.
Susan’s grandfather, the great Myron Hopefield, was sleeping again. The nurses had been busy that morning removing most of the IVs and monitoring devices. The plan was to inject morphine as needed, but otherwise, to allow his body to take over, and when Myron Hopefield was ready to depart, he could do so in dignity.
“Umph,” she heard. “I was having such a pleasant dream, I hate to wake up. What time is it, dear Susan?”
“Good morning, Grandpa. It is almost 9 AM and aren’t you the lay about still nestled in bed on this fine morning?” she teased.
“Oh, I miss the old days when I could jump out of bed at 5 and rush off to the studio, or better yet, sleep in just a bit more because I had a play and didn’t need to be at the theater until 10. I miss the cast members greeting each other as we ran up the stairs to the stage door. I wonder what’s become of all the others,” he mused softly.
“That’s funny you should ask this morning. I just read that Addie is in town. There is some talk of reviving her role as Lady Macbeth, but I heard she wasn’t seriously considering the offer. I think she just likes the idea of being asked at this stage of her life.”
Myron chuckled softly. “Oh, I’ll bet she would like that. She’d show them a Lady Macbeth that hasn’t been seen for ages.”
“Grandpa, would it be okay with you if I called her and let her know you were here? I bet she’d love to come by and visit about the old days with you.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe.” He sighed and pushed the button to raise his head a bit.
“Are you in pain, Grandpa?”
“Not too much. Don’t fret so.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “You know, I believe I would like to see Addie again. I’d love to tease the old girl like the old times. Go ahead, dear, and ring her up. See if she can find time to visit a dying old man.”
“Oh, Grandpa,” she laughed. “You really are incorrigible, but I’ll see what I can do. In fact, I’ll get ahold of her when I go home this afternoon, okay?”
“Myron, you fabulous man, how are you today?” Addie Smith, smiling, bearing a bouquet of mixed roses and daisies, sailed into the hospital room, smelling of flowers and Chanel #9, her signature. Today, she was dressed in a colorful wrap reminiscent of the Diane von Fürstenberg look she was known for preferring. “You look positively maudlin, lying in that colorless bed.” She leaned over Myron and softly kissed both cheeks.
“How delightful you look, Addie. And how Continental you kiss. I know you better than that. Have you forgotten all those times when we played Romeo and Juliet off stage? Your kisses weren’t quite so passionless then.” Myron laughed until he began coughing. He held up his hand to delay Addie’s concern as she came closer to offer help. “No, I’ll be all right in a moment.”
Addie unknowingly mirrored Susan’s stance at the window, looking down at the alleyway filled with delivery trucks and vans this time of day. With her back turned to Myron, she heard his coughing let up. “I’m so glad your lovely granddaughter, Susan, called me. I didn’t know you were ill, Myron. I would have come sooner.” She glanced over her shoulder. Suddenly, she gave him one of her “come hither” looks of passion, just as if they were on the stage. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down, then turned, and posed with the sunlight behind her, hipshot with one hand at her waist, the other brushing back shiny silver hair.
“Oh, don’t get me started coughing again, my dear,” Myron pleaded. “Just come and sit next to me so we can talk about the old days. Let’s revisit them with narrative, as I’m not up to the physicality. Doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could, though.” He smiled that long-ago smile she knew so well. They’d been great as lovers, but always so much better as friends.
So, they sat and reminisced. That’s how Susan saw them when she arrived at her usual visiting time later that afternoon. Myron officially introduced his granddaughter to his former mistress, and always best friend.
“You’ve got your grandfather’s cheekbones and his sparkling green eyes, dear. You would look marvelous on screen. Do you act?” Addie inquired.
“No, I didn’t catch the bug, as my mother used to call it. I’m in real estate.”
“And successfully, too, from the look of you,” Addie responded, noting the casual, chic Victoria Beckham outfit.
“You’re kind to notice,” Susan smiled. “How are you and Grandpa getting along today?”
“We’re talking about the good old days, as we old people often do, so we’re just fine. Should I go now and let you have time together?” Addie smiled at Myron when she asked.
“Oh, please don’t leave on my account. I’d love to hear some of your old stories.”
“Addie,” Myron warned. “Not the stories we’ve been discussing before you came along, Susan.”
Addie laughed out loud, and Susan blushed. “Grandpa, you are a gentleman, remember.” It was a command, not a question.
The three of them spent the evening gently reviewing some of the more memorable times. Only once did Myron need to signal a need for a morphine injection, and as it made him drowsy, Addie and Susan talked together quietly. Myron roused himself a bit and softly called out, “Addie?”
“Yes, dear friend?”
“Come back tomorrow?”
“Of course,” she said as she softly kissed his drying lips. “Tomorrow. Sleep well, my Prince.”
He didn’t see the unshed tears glittering in her eyes as he sighed and closed his eyes to sleep, but Susan did. “Oh, Addie. I’m so sorry. I forget that you’re probably not as used to this as I’ve become. And doesn’t that sound heartless?” Susan chuckled softly as her own tears fell.
“It isn’t heartless at all,” Addie said soothingly. “You’ve got a beautiful heart, dear. I’ve missed the old bugger so much and I’m so very grateful to you for letting me know so I could be here with him now. We were always so close in the old days. I don’t know how we drifted so far apart that he could become this ill, and I wouldn’t know of it. Tell me the truth, as he wouldn’t, have the doctors said how long he has left?” Addie was looking lovingly at Myron as she questioned Susan, so she didn’t see the look of loss passing across Susan’s face.
“Yes,” Susan answered softly. “They’ve said it could be any day now, which is why he has hospice status.”
Addie put a hand up to her mouth to muffle the slight sob as tears fell on her fingers. “Is it okay with you if I come back tomorrow?”
Susan pulled Addie into a hug. “Absolutely. I know he’d love it, so I do, too.”
Addie breezed in just after noon, wearing casual slacks and an emerald green cashmere sweater paired with small emerald earrings. Her silver hair was sleeked back into a chignon at her neck. She looked as regal as always, thought Myron, when she smiled hello. They talked quietly for an hour before Myron rang for a morphine injection. Addie kissed him briefly, saying she’d be back that evening.
Myron looked into Addie’s soft blue eyes. “I hate this, you know. I just hate this waning.”
“I know, love, I know. I’ll see you this evening and we’ll talk more about then.” She didn’t know if he heard her as he closed his eyes and slept.
That evening, Addie strolled in just as Susan was helping Myron finish his dinner. “I missed the Early Bird Special, I see.” She laughed as she kissed Myron’s forehead, brushing his slate gray hair aside.
Susan and Myron both chuckled. “Thank you for joining us. Would you like some mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and lime Jello? I’m sure I could order some from the cafeteria for you,” Susan teased.
“Definitely not. I’ve already had a marvelous afternoon tea with Hermione Shaftsbury and I must keep my girlish figure, you know.” Addie laughed right along with Susan.
The evening passed in quiet conversation among the three, important to each other, linked by heritage and long acquaintance. Susan yawned and declared she needed an early evening, leaving Addie to stay with Myron until his next morphine injection. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Grandpa. If you don’t mind, I’m bringing Gerald with me.”
“That’s fine, dear. Gerald is a good boy.” Myron smiled.
“He’s a man, grandpa, which you know full well. And, yes, I know you’re only teasing. Will we see you tomorrow, Addie?”
“Of course, as long as Myron wants me around, I’ll be here.” Addie winked at Myron.
Susan kissed her grandfather’s cheek. “I love you, Grandpa. Sleep well.” As she left, she noted how Addie moved over onto the bed and put her hand in his. Thinking what a sweet picture they made, she went home with a light heart, knowing her grandfather was being cared for.
“Addie,” Myron said softly. “Remember the beach house?”
“Of course. Oh, I loved spending summers there with you.”
“I bought it, you know. And I’ve left it to Susan. I could change that and leave it to you if you want,” he explained.
“Absolutely not.” Addie looked wistfully at Myron. “No, leave it for Susan and her Gerald so they can dream and make promises to each other, too. Remember the promises we made there?”
“Yes, as if it were yesterday. Will you help me keep our promise?” Myron gazed into Addie’s blue eyes, wanting to sink into them as much now as he did then. “Please, Addie, please. Stay with me. Help me.”
“That’s why I’m here, my love,” she whispered as Myron drifted into the morphine that allowed him to sleep.
The next afternoon, Susan and Gerald arrived at the hospital at four, knowing that her grandfather was usually awake by then. The door was closed, which seemed a bit unusual, but the nurses at the nurses’ station had not said that anything was amiss. “I’ll just peek in first, okay?” she said to Gerald. Susan slowly opened the door a couple of inches and glanced in. She noticed that Addie was lying next to Myron. She was still wearing the same slacks and green sweater she wore yesterday, so Susan assumed that she had spent the night and, being tired, had simply lain down next to Grandpa. Susan closed the door and giggled a bit. Gerald looked at her questioningly.
“It’s so cute,” she said. “They’re snuggled up together on the bed. I think they’re even holding hands.” She smiled. “I don’t know if we should go in or not. They seem to be asleep.”
Gerald, ever pragmatic, cleared his throat and said, “We’ll go in quietly and maybe whisper so we don’t startle them.”
Susan quietly opened the door again. “Grandpa?” she whispered. “Addie?”
There was no response. Neither of them moved. Thinking they must be very sound sleepers, Susan spoke a little louder. “Grandpa, it’s Susan. How are you today?” She reached for Gerald’s hand as she moved closer to the bed. Neither figure on the bed moved even the slightest. Susan’s eyes filled with tears. “No.” she cried, turning into Gerald’s shoulder. Gerald looked over Susan’s head at the two silent, immobile figures on the bed, their arms around each other, holding hands.
The promise Addie made to Myron so many years ago had been kept.
Biography:
Marge Lambeth has been teaching Sociology at Aims for 15 years. As a proponent of lifelong learning, she has also attended Aims as a student, most recently as Fall Semester 2025. Marge is looking forward to a retirement in which she has time to continue writing, as well as exploring painting and drawing. The community of colleagues and students at Aims has been particularly encouraging as she has moved toward a future that includes the opportunity for further creative exploration.