THE RAIN

He sat and waited. It felt awkward having all those different curious faces staring at him as if he had comitted the most serious crime. Was it a sin to wait outside? Was it inappropriate to be frightened of the images he might see inside? He couldn’t care less. They both had decided he would sit in the corridor and hear the important sound when the time came. And it came. He heard it loud and clear. A cry. An endless cry. And he wanted that moment to last forever. Someone opened the door as he stood up. He was invited in and held the tiny little being in his arms. He was definetely too clumsy for the activity as two nurses kept their hands under his at all times.
Suddenly a second cry was heard. But he didn’t expect that one and apparently nobody else in the room seemed happy or relieved with that second cry. It was a distant sound but not far enough not to annoy. After a few moments of apprehension, there was only the sound of laugh and the first cry in their room. He looked at her in bed. Exhausted and in tears. But more beautiful than he had ever seen her. She smiled at him and he knew the day was perfect. There was only one thing missing outside. It was too sunny. But inside and with all the feelings of that magic moment, she wouldn’t notice it. They kissed as the nurses took the crying baby away.
She asked him if he had waited long because for her time hadn’t been a worry, she didn’t even know what time it was. He said it was the longest he had ever waited for and laughed. And now they waited together looking through the window. It would come. It had to. It has always followed their great moments. Only this time it took it longer to bring perfection to their day. But they would wait and hope for the relaxing sound of falling water.
She fell asleep as they had predicted and he felt the urge to smoke. Although he had promised to quit on that very day, he was too weak to do it and she needn’t know what he was going to do outside. He left her to her dreams and took the stairs all the way down to the main entrance. The sky was already dark, so dark he was sure it wouldn’t be long before the first drop. As he walked towards the corner he saw a wet face. Tears of grief, of rage were filling that woman’s eyes and he felt the first drop on his face. It was time to rush back to the door he had come from. However, he couldn’t move a muscle in his body.
The stranger realised she was being observed. She let down another tear and moved her eyes and face up to see the man who was smoking in the rain. He smiled peacefully and she felt his happiness, the sense of achievement in his eyes, in his nervous hands. She closed her eyes and smiled back at him, forcing her lips into a nice message. He read her goodness in that look and saw no tears as they now merged with drops of the heavy rain. She asked for a cigarette and he immediately gave her one and lighted it. They were now walking back to the hospital. Silently. They left the cigarettes in an ashtray outside and went through the door.
She looked at him once again, smiled and said in a calm voice:
- Congratulations.
He looked at her, smiled, thanked her but could produce no words. He didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t read her and he didn’t know how to ask her whatever she came to the hospital for. He went upstairs to join his wife and found her awake carrying their little angel. Her head facing the window and there was a big smile as a result of the weather. He was still very unsure about the encounter in the rain and how to deal with it. Such a small neighbourhood he had judged himself aware of everyone around. He told his wife about a walk in the rain – but kept the cigarette part for himself - and also about the smiley congratulations.
She asked him if he knew who had just died down the corridor. All the nurses were talking about it. He replied he didn’t know and that it was not the best time for them to be talking about it. Little did he realise he had already looked into the eyes of the crying wife of the man whose body was now being taken downstairs to the morgue. He would never know. The mysterious tears were now gone. He only saw the strength in the woman’s smile to make his moment even better. And she had thought the rain would bring back her smile.
There was a deafeningly loud cry of curiousity in the room and the rain was now simply background music.