What we do comes back to haunt us, sooner or later.

oOo

The nurse wore a clean blue uniform and black shoes. She came into my room in a whirlwind of efficiency, opening curtains, declaring it was too nice to be lying in bed. I coughed as I woke, my lungs filled with the fluids of the aged.

Her powerful hands gripped my wasted limbs, pulling me to a sitting position. I already knew how she would react. "Oh, Daniel!" she snapped, "how could you! Disgusting!" I agreed, but couldn't get the words out. A morning cough racked through me. "You really are a dirty old man." She ripped the blankets off my bed, exposing my trembling legs to the cold morning air.

I was dragged out, underwear unceremoniously pulled downwards. Her voice sneered as she filled a basin with water and disinfectant. "Why didn't you just call for a night porter, Daniel? You have no excuse. You're disgusting!" She pulled on latex gloves. Her beautiful fresh face was contorted into a look of disgust and repulsion. I couldn't blame her. I felt disgusted myself, just as awful as I felt during the night when I couldn't myself.

"Sorry, nurse," I wheezed. My voice was pathetic. I wanted to slam a wall, but I couldn't manage anything like that. "It was an accident." Her grunt was cold and dismissive. She scraped at my behind like I was a disobedient child, emotion hissing in her every breath. My shaking hands held the top of my walker as I tried not to break from the indignity of it all.

Then from my memories, unbidden, there came an image of a time long ago when I cared for my grandfather. I watched myself anew, acting then as this nurse was doing now. I treated him just as callously; I was forced to clean him when my busy social life meant he was trapped at home, unable to relieve himself.

My eyes fogged momentarily and I pulled myself upright. My arm muscles shook pathetically.

"Sorry, nurse," I said. "What we do comes back to haunt us."

She wiped her hands and regarded me coldly, her prissy mouth set into a harsh line.

"You are truly disgusting, Daniel."

Yes. I remember now.

oOo