The Old Man

“I hope he's not standing there again today," Jack thought as he turned the corner.

Jack and Tina had only been here for five weeks, getting accustomed to their new jobs and the new apartment. They’d met when they were both in their final year of university and, after a whirlwind romance, moved into a small apartment downtown after graduation. After living in their first apartment for a few months and realizing that they couldn't afford to stay downtown any longer, they packed up and moved to the city's east end. They moved here for two reasons. The rent was much more affordable in this part of the city, and they could be closer to Jack's parents as his father was not well and spending a lot of time in and out of the hospital close to the new apartment.

He loved his new job as it had a much more relaxed atmosphere than his last one, and he found it easy to make new friends as everyone was close to his age. He was even invited out for drinks with several of them after work this coming Friday.

They led a busy life during those first few weeks, as the previous tenants had left the apartment in a complete mess. Jack and Tina would start their day early, taking the bus to work and, after working all day, would come home to work on the apartment late into the night. They would spend their evening's cleaning, repairing and painting the apartment. At first, they were angry with how the apartment was left and the property owner's refusal to help them. But after a few days, they looked forward to working together in the evenings.

Their bond became stronger over these few weeks, and Jack felt that they were truly a team and couldn't believe his luck in finding the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Their love for each other grew with each passing day, and on the day, a week ago, when he’d finally gotten the courage to ask Tina to marry him, and she said yes, he became the happiest man alive.

But in the last week, the old man was there every day when he arrived home from work, just standing in the doorway to his building. He never said anything to Jack. He just stared at his face until he unlocked the door and escaped into the building. He always looked back as he walked to the elevators to ensure the man wasn't trying to follow him in.

There was something about this guy that made Jack feel uneasy. The man was always expressionless, never smiling or frowning, just staring directly into his face. It felt like he was staring right through him and into his soul.

It was really starting to get to him. Why would this old guy just stand there like that? He asked Tina about the old man, but as they left for work and arrived home at different times, she’d never seen him. It was like the man knew when Jack would be coming home and stood waiting for him.

This morning when he was leaving, he spoke to a couple of people that left the building at the same time as him every day. But they’d given him the same answer as Tina; they’d never seen the old guy.

On his way to work, as he rode the bus, Jack decided if the old man were there when he arrived home, he would confront him. He needed to know why this person seemed so interested in him. To Jack, it felt like the man had something important he wanted to say but couldn’t get the words out.

He had trouble concentrating all day at work. He couldn't get him out of his mind, and it showed in his work. His colleagues must have noticed his lack of production, as he couldn’t remember anyone speaking to him at all today.

As he turned the corner to his building, the courage he felt this morning seemed to fade away and be replaced by an uneasy feeling of confusion. He started to say out loud, "Please don’t be there.” But as soon as he made it past the corner, he could see that his wish wasn't granted. The guy was standing where he always stood, waiting for him.

As Jack took the three steps up to the front door, with the man staring in his eyes, he started to feel a little disoriented. He tried to stare back at him, but when he did, it felt like his heart slowed, and his breathing became weak. “Was this fear?”

He looked away and tried to unlock the door. But as he put the key in the lock, the old man said something. His voice sounded low and weak, but it sounded like he said, "say I love you." As he opened the door, Jack turned to face the man and said, "What did you say?" The guy stared at him with the beginnings of a smile. He repeated what he’d said, a little louder, and with what seemed like a great effort, "say I love you." Jack turned away to step into the building and thought, "what the hell is going on?" Confused, he said, "I love you?"

He turned around to look at the old man, but when he did, the man was gone.

As he entered the elevator, Jack was feeling much better. The fear that he’d felt was leaving and being replaced by a feeling of calm. While riding up to his floor, he smiled questioningly about what the man said, thinking there must be something wrong with the old guy. As the door opened on his floor, he said aloud again, "I love you?”

He laughed, thinking, "What the hell is wrong with this guy? Of all the things to say, why would he say that?"

He was surprised when he entered the apartment, to find that Tina wasn't there. She usually arrived home a little before Jack, and if she were going to be late, she would always call or text to let him know. He walked to the house phone to see if she’d left a message, and after discovering there were no messages, he went to the window to look outside. As he looked out, hoping to see Tina walking up the street, he started to feel weak and nauseous and had to sit in the chair beside the window. He tried to shake off the overwhelming feeling of fear that was rising in him, thinking, "What the hell is going on? What's wrong with me?"

After a few minutes of sitting with his head in his hands, he started to feel better. He raised his head to look out the window again and was shocked to see that everything looked different but somehow the same.

Something wasn't right. Everything seemed to be bathed in a soft green light, and he started feeling strange, almost like he was being pulled out of his body. Feeling weak, he steadied himself against the window ledge for a minute before realizing that there was nobody outside. Not one person that he could see in any direction. This surprised him as there were always kids playing on the grass in front of the building and people walking up and down the street at this time of day.

As he looked up and down the street, he thought there must be something going on in the neighbourhood because, on any other day, it would be hard to find a parking spot anywhere near the building. But now, he couldn't see any cars parked on either side or driving by. He watched for a minute, feeling like time was standing still, before finally seeing a car pull around the corner at the far end of the street.

As the vehicle got closer, he could see it was a taxi, and for some reason, he started to feel a sense of calm and comfort coming over him, before everything faded to black.

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Tears were streaming down her face as she sat in the back of the Taxi, trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible. Robert, the doctor with whom she was on a first-name basis, had called and told her she should come now. Her husband, of fifty years, had taken a turn for the worse.

Usually, she would take the bus every day to the hospital to visit him. After his stroke, he’d been in a coma but stable for several weeks; until today. As they turned onto Main Street, the most direct route, traffic stopped.

The driver said, "Sorry, Miss, there seems to be an accident up ahead; all the traffic lights are flashing green." She told him, through her tears, about the doctor's call. He told her not to worry; he knew a different route and would get her there as fast as possible. He turned at the first right and again at the first left. When he made the left turn, she realized that this was the street they’d lived on when they first moved to Scarborough.

As she passed the building they’d lived in so many years before, an unexplainable sense of hope came over her that was so powerful; the fear left her body and was replaced with faith, faith that everything would be fine.

The driver got her to the hospital in record time and refused payment for the ride. Thankful for the kindness of this man, she rushed to the elevators and rode up to intensive care, becoming increasingly apprehensive with each floor.

When she exited the elevator, she was almost in a state of panic, moving as fast as her old woman legs would let her. She turned towards the nursing station and noticed Robert standing there. He turned to look at her, and something in his gaze took away her panic. He came to her, took her hand, and said, "Good news, he seems to be stabilizing."

Her heart swelled with gratitude as they walked to the room, and she saw the green light outside the door, indicating there was a nurse inside giving care.

When they entered the room, the first thing she noticed was that all the overhead lights were off. The room was lit only by the soft green light coming from the machinery, keeping her husband alive. Two nurses were hovering over him and talking excitedly. One of them said something to Robert as he approached, and he quickly went directly to her husband and put his ear close to his mouth. He started checking his vitals and said, "my God!"He smiled and waved her over to the bed. He told her that he was waking and trying to say something.

With tears streaming down her face, she moved to the bedside and touched the face of the man she’d loved all her life. And yes, as she held his face, she could see his lips moving and his eyelids trying to open. He’d not spoken in over a month and was very weak. Robert put his hand on her shoulder and told her to speak to him.

Tina held his face close and said, "I love you, honey, I love you, please say something; say anything, I love you, Jack; Jack, please."His eyes began to flutter, and with great effort, Jack said, "I LOVE YOU."