Chapter 16 - Del is enthralled by the sight of Juula silently pecking at her phone by the side of his ICU bed

             

THE STORY OF DEL - Delete

Except she didn't budge and remained at the center of his thoughts, close and real, sometimes lingering in view of his third eye as if actually visiting him there, close to the end wall of the Intensive Care Unit, a zone that among themselves, the health operators called 'Row Hopeless.'

Naturally, no visitors were allowed, so whatever was going on with Juula was more like a 'visitation,' but either way, he eventually decided that it was all good. Of course it was! He was thrilled to have her there by his side!

They were silent visits. Most of the time, she'd just sit there by his bedside showing a strange annoyance while writing notes on her phone. Little huffs and once even a discreet sigh of disbelief. Del was too keen on looking at the water-and-soap honesty of her beauty to wonder about what she was doing.

For at least a full hour he had contemplated the 'perfection' of her tortoise shell barrette and the auburn locks it constrained. And that delightful vision had knocked him straight into happyland. And when he re-emerged, he dedicated similar attention to her shoes. He had never seen a pair like that. They looked like they had been designed by a haute couture Christmas elf.

And all the while with frowns and lovely pouts, she kept writing on her device. After a particularly loud sigh of annoyance that even had a touch of "Bronx cheer" in it, Del perked up and suddenly thought. 'Never mind the tortoise shells and elf shoes, she's telling me something!' And that's when it happened.

"Nice to see you again, Del. Sorry about the... you know."

"Juula!"