Old Lady Wakes from Coma and Ask Nurse to Give Her Pen and Paper Immediately — Story of the Day

An ailing elderly woman wakes from a coma and grabs a nurse’s pen and the first words she writes send the woman into a panic.

When Maria Vargas first met her new patient, she was struck by the delicacy of her features. Her age seemed to be a thin veil overlaying great beauty. Sixty-five-year-old Dorothy Solomons was in a coma, a Sleeping Beauty without the spell of eternal youth, but there was no magic kiss to wake her.

So every day, Maria would come to the house Dorothy shared with her younger sister Sandra, and do for her all those intimate things we all do for ourselves, things that would have shamed Dorothy had she been awake.

But Maria was gentle, respectful, and all the while, she spoke to Dorothy softly as if she was a child or the mother she had never known. “It’s such a beautiful day, Miss Dorothy,” Maria said, as she gently wiped Dorothy’s thin arms. “The sky is so high and blue, and the snow sparkles like diamond dust. I’ve never seen such a beautiful winter day.”

There was no answer, of course, except for the soft ping of the machines monitoring Dorothy’s heartbeat, her breath, her life. But Maria wasn’t discouraged, she continued, “You know, if I could, I’d wheel your bed outside, and we’d have a race along that path!”

And Maria described to Dorothy the joy of the skittering sound of the hospital bed wheels on concrete, the glittering fans of snow thrown up their careening flight. Maria applied lotion to Dorothy’s hands.

“I swear we could even fly, Miss Dorothy!” said Maria, with a giggle, “If only you’d wake up!” And that was when Maria had the fright of her life because the lax, frail hand in hers suddenly flexed and gripped tight.

Maria looked up at Dorothy’s face and was astounded to see those huge blue eyes wide open, her lips struggling to move, speak. “Miss Dorothy!” Maria cried. “Let me call the doctor, let me call your sister!”

But Dorothy was shaking her head, and her lips moved, shaping the word ‘No!’ again and again. Dorothy pointed at Maria’s breast pocket, at her pen, and made vague gestures with her hand.

“You want to write, Miss Dorothy?” asked Maria gently,...