Theinkwell Writing Challenge, Season 2 Week 8 - The Legacy of a Stranger

In the dark and lonely room, there was a sound of glass breaking, followed by a thud, followed by the muffled creaking of the back door of the house opening. To Albert, a retired security guard, this sound was familiar; he had no doubt that it was an intruder entering his house.

Albert was sick in bed, weakened by a chronic heart and respiratory condition, which prevented him from getting up with the agility needed to protect or to defend him. He had no choice but to expect the worst.

The intruder, Dan, an unemployed young man and inexperienced thief, decided to venture into home invasion, hoping to make some money. Albert, aware of his vulnerability, shaken by fear, tried to get out of his bed to hide under it, but the bedroom door opened; Dan, nervously, went to the drawers where Albert kept his clothes, rifled through every drawer, finding nothing of value.

Dan was frustrated, so focused on finding money or anything of value, that he did not notice the presence of old Albert, who was trying to remain silent and undetected.

Dan became more and more impatient and angry, poking around in desperation, but finding nothing of value, he suddenly noticed that the profile of Albert's body was reflected in the dark mirror on the dresser.

The intruder, frightened at the possibility of being discovered, his instinct asked him to leave, but at that moment, Albert, asked for help, he had great difficulty breathing and pain in his chest, Dan hesitated, but finally agreed to help him. Albert, his voice choking with dyspnea, told Dan:

Son, I know you didn't come to help me. . . don't be afraid, I'm not going to report you, thank you for comforting this sick old man.

Dan, in silence, helped him to stand up, which improved Albert's breathing, he asked:

Good friend, in the drawer you didn't check there is a container with my medicine, can you bring it to me, please. . . Ah, next to it there is another box, an old red velvet one, you can take it is my only valuable possession. . . I only ask you to take me to the hospital, if you want you can go, there they will know what to do with me. . . Would you do it?

Dan was still silent, he went to the drawer, took the pills and brought them to the old man, he gave them to him with some water that he looked for in the kitchen, he accompanied Albert for a while, who between coughing fits, which shook him, looked at the doubt on Dan's face, who was moving nervously from one side to the other in the room, at the end he went to the drawer, which Albert had pointed out to him, looked at the red velvet box, and took it, he went to Albert:

You know, I didn't want to! But, I need the money, I lost my job. . . I don't want to hurt him; I can't take him to the hospital. . . I'm sorry, I don't want him to die either, take his medicine, but I'm sure as soon as I leave him in the hospital, they'll arrest me.

Dan, anguished, indecisive whether or not to finish robbing the defenseless old man, went from one side of the room to the other, with the red box in his hand. He turned to the sick man:

Look, I've decided, I'll leave you the box, I won't take it, this was always a bad idea, I shouldn't have broken into your house like this. . . Let's make sure this never happened, I'm leaving.

Albert, was breathing with greater difficulty, at times he seemed to collapse, Dan seeing him in that state, decided to help the cornflower, as he could pass it to a chair dragged it to the door of the house and asked for help from the neighbors, one of which, prepared to take it in his vehicle, in company of Dan.

The neighbor, asked Dan:

Are you his son? I didn't know he had any relatives, he has always lived alone, how nice that you were with him. . . Don't worry Mr. Albert, we are almost at the hospital.

Dan didn't say a word. When they arrived at the hospital, the neighbor shook Dan's hand:

Lucky friend, I hope Mr. Albert recovers, you are a good person, the only relative who has visited you in years, I imagine you came for the holidays, and found this, well that's life.

A paramedic outside the hospital received Mr. Albert in a wheelchair and gave him some insurance forms to fill out and admit him to the emergency room. Dan had no idea what he should do, he thought many times about running away, but something told him that he should not leave the patient in that condition.

A nurse at the front desk, who knew about Albert's condition, approached Dan and told him:

You seem confused, are you his nephew or some distant relative? Well it doesn't matter, you're just another one of those "good Samaritans" who visit old Albert at night, uninvited, and end up bringing him to the hospital. . . But, you're different.

Dan was surprised, nervously asked:

Another, “good Samaritan?” How am I different? -he got up a little excited.

Relax-said the nurse- sit down, I'm not going to accuse you, you didn't run away like the others...you even have the red box and you didn't even open it. . . That says a lot about you.

Dan looked at the box, then he saw the nurse, who helped him fill out the admission form; confused, as if he were in a bad dream from which he didn't want to wake up, Dan took a seat, put the box on his legs, was about to open it, when the doctor on duty, asked to speak to him:

Good evening, I'm doctor Mark, I want to talk to you about your family member Mr. Albert, he is very delicate, if they had taken a little longer to bring him in perhaps he would not have endured it; but the thing is, in reviewing Albert's history, he has not signed the non-resuscitation clause, and he is too weak to do so, but not weak enough to delegate it to you to sign for him.

Dan faced with another dilemma, this time one about the life of a stranger he decided to rob and help at the wrong time. Dan, asked the doctor, to talk to his "relative" entered the cubicle where Albert was, was breathing with the help of an oxygen mask, surrounded by monitors that were beeping constantly, looked at the old man and asked him:

Albert, why are you putting me in this situation? I can't sign this paper, I'm not your relative. . . Look, I'm going to get out of here, now if I take the box I'll sell it in a trinket store and I'll miss out on your life...what happens to you won't matter to me.

Albert, looked at him, smiled, raised his hand, and with difficulty addressed Dan:

Why didn't you leave, you had the chance and you didn't take it, now the longer you stay here the harder it will be for you to leave. What I ask you is simple; you can free me from this cycle that I am condemned to repeat. . . I come here, they recover me, my chest can no longer tolerate electric shocks, all to return to loneliness, to wait for another to bring me back and so. . . All the others at some point in this cycle leave me alone and run away with their booty. . . But you haven't done it. . . why? . . . If you don't know yet, sign that sheet and you can go. . . I won't care what happens to you anymore.

The dyspnea became more intense, the monitor beeps gave way to the alarm buzz, a group of nurses and doctor Mark, rushed into Albert's cubicle, Dan retired to the waiting room. The nurse in admitting handed him the paper again with the DNR clause, he said:

Friend, sign it, it's the best for him, I don't know what or who put you in this situation, if you deserved it or not, but Albert has suffered a lot, he is alone, in a few minutes doctor Mark will come in, to get the paper. . .

Dan signed the form with the "Do Not Resuscitate" clause, gave it to the nurse, who immediately took it to doctor Mark, who gave the order to cancel the resuscitation. For Dan, a strange feeling, similar to sadness mixed with the satisfaction of a duty fulfilled, occupied his mind, he waited calmly for the news about Albert.

A few minutes later, doctor Mark approached Dan, placed his palm on his shoulder and said:

Albert, has been a fighter, during the last 4 years, his heart began to deteriorate in a progressive and irreversible way, he had so many crises in these six months each one worse than the previous one, but he always returned, today at the end he stopped suffering.

Dan stood up and took the red velvet box, opened it inside a note addressed to him:

Dear Dan, I've waited so long for you, maybe you don't understand what's going on, destiny works in ways that we won't always understand, today you freed me from an endless cycle of suffering, and in return I leave you my most precious possession, in this box is kept the secret of a full life, it's all yours, value it more than I do and maybe you'll have a much more dignified ending than mine, you just have to follow the instructions:

Live to the fullest, give space to love, fun, do not hurt, that is the best way to do good, remember that your time is short, take advantage of it.

For Dan, receiving a series of instructions on a piece of paper that destiny had kept for him in a red velvet box, did not seem to help him, but he decided to take it as a sign, he complied with the instructions every day of his life, thus he managed to improve his situation in life, he gained the respect of the people around him, he got love, he founded a family, he prospered.

Dan, kept the instructions stored in the old red velvet box, it was now his most precious possession.