The Night Nurse - A Tale Of The Paranormal

So, why have I not shared this story with you before? Well, when it happened I had many other things on my mind as you will understand. When I got the good news in June, I had an adverse reaction and all the strain and stress fell in upon me.

Readers who have been with me for a long time will know that I have had many strange experiences in my life and I have written about them on this journal.

This occurred on the night following my surgery. Now, first I must explain a little about the lay-out. I was at the end of a very long ward. The nurses station was way down the other end. At the end of the ward were just four of us, two on one side and two on the other. My bed was placed so I faced directly onto a lovely lady called Ivy. Obviously there was a few feet between us but we looked straight at each other. Beyond myself and Ivy there was only the toilet and the washroom and beyond that was the day room, a place with comfortable chairs, books, magazines and a t.v. In the evenings nobody used it and it was in darkness.

Well, as I believe I have written before, I was totally unable to sleep that night. Firstly because I could not get comfortable and secondly because our ward was right next to Accident and Emergency. Ambulances were coming and going, drunks were arriving to be stitched up after being in fights and police cars were coming in and out to make arrests. It was all very interesting and I was watching all the proceedings.

However, I desperately wanted to sleep. The more I tried, the more awake I became. As the night progressed, things began to quieten down a little but sleep still eluded me. I gently turned this way and that and eventually got myself into a position that suited me and tried to drift off.

That was when I heard the footsteps coming down the ward. Typical, I thought. Just when I was ready to sleep here was the nurse coming to take my blood pressure and blood sugar, something they had been doing regularly all day, all evening and a couple of times during the night. I struggled back into a sitting position. I looked up. Nobody there. I thought maybe she had stopped to check on somebody else soI twisted my head and looked back down the long ward. Nothing. The entire ward was empty and deserted. At the far end the three nurses were at their station. One was drinking a cup of tea, the other two were writing notes. All the patients were in bed, none of them were wending their way to the toilet a short distance from me.

Thinking it must have been a sound from outside, I settled down again. I do not know how much time elapsed, not much that is certain, before I heard the footsteps coming down the ward again. I decided to pretend I was asleep. If it was a nurse this time maybe she would leave me alone and not do any tests. So I closed my eyes tightly. The footsteps stopped by my bed. I waited for the nurse to speak, to rouse me. Nothing happened. Then I felt a hand stroking my forehead. I could distinctly feel the fingers.

Try it yourself. If you close your eyes, put your hand to your forehead and stroke, you can feel each individual finger. That is how it was with me. Then the “hand” moved from my brow to my hair and began gently stroking. Now, I just had to open my eyes, I just had to see who was doing this. There was nothing and nobody there. There was no breeze in the ward, no draught. All was quiet, the nurses were still at their station. I closed my eyes. I could still feel the fingers, not actually stroking, but I could feel where they had been. I felt no fear. I drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Not long afterwards I was awoken by a nurse who did want  to check my stats. Then before I knew it, the curtains had been thrown open, everyone was having a wash and then breakfast was served.

I must digress here a little. I told you I was directly opposite Ivy. This poor lady had already lost a leg and they were desperately battling to save her other one. She had been in and out of this hospital for several years and always on the same ward. She was very well known to the staff. She had been admitted the previous day as I had been.

After breakfast the shift changed. The weekend staff appeared for duty. When they checked the patient list and found that Ivy was back there was soon a group of nurses around her bed chatting and laughing with her, talking of her previous stays with them. I was trying to immerse myself in a magazine with little success and I must admit that I was listening to the conversation.

Then Ivy told them how very sorry she was to have heard of the death of Sister X. The nurses grew quiet and reflective and said what a tragedy it was for her to die at such a relatively young age. From this I gathered that she had been somewhere in her forties. No details emerged of how she had passed away but a couple of the nurses were saying how very caring she was for her patients, treating them all as individuals and not as numbers.

Ivy agreed and said she would never forget her kindness. Then one of the nurses mentioned that this sister particularly cared for cancer patients as she knew how frightened they would be of this disease. She would make extra visits to them and when on night duty, she would check on them several times during the night, not because she had to but because she wanted to.

I knew then who those footsteps had belonged to. I knew then that she had visited me, it was she who had stroked my forehead and my hair.

I said nothing, I did not relate it to Ivy nor even to my family. I have kept it inside all these months. After all I was not completely sure what her visit meant. I only knew that I had a long road ahead of me, that I had gruelling treatment still to be faced. I did not know what the outcome would be as I still do not know one hundred percent. Then, when I did get my first bit of good news in June, as I said I went into a black hole for a while. Only now do I feel that this story can be told.

I remain certain that Sister X came to me that night to re-assure me that all would be well, that I was not alone, that I was being watched over. She came to give me comfort and hope for the future.

None of us know what fate holds in store but I like to think that she is still looking after me and that with her help and the love of our good Lord I shall remain cancer free always.

I did not know you Sister X but I thank you now for your visit to me that night when I was in pain, when I was afraid, when my life had been turned completely upside down in such a short space of time, when I thought I had no future.

I hope you are still caring for your patients and I hope that others have been given the comfort that you lovingly gave to me. An angel, still nursing from the other side. God bless you.

 

Tags: blogplugs, paranormal, nurse, hospital, aol