After being up for more than 24 hours, Steve Barnes had a headache. The fluorescent lights didn’t help. He needed a few minutes to himself after all the excitement he’d been through. He walked through the double doors not bothering to take off the blue scrubs that covered his fast-food restaurant uniform. He’d come to the hospital straight from work. He couldn’t justify playing video games from grandma’s couch once he found out she was pregnant. He’d been trying to better himself since then. The material where the scrubs touched his forearms was itchy.
“Dr. Neisome to delivery room 3,” he heard called over the intercom as he made his way to the vending machines in the waiting room. He found a machine with a sign that read “Everyday Needs” between a cola dispenser and sandwich machine. He located the individual pack of Tylenol on the top shelf. The lower shelves held hygiene items like toothpaste, shampoos and even a shaving kit. He thought that he might need one of those if he was here much longer as he liked to keep a smooth fresh face.
Steve scanned his card to pay the $1.50 for the pain reliever but the package didn’t move. He heard a clink near the bottom of the machine, so he reached in to check the output receptacle. Inside, he found a gold faced watch with a brown leather braided strap. There was no box. He considered that someone before him had lost their watch when they retrieved their item. He’d never been one to wear a watch. This one was an analog watch which he had learned to read in the third grade, but he relied on digital clocks now. As he was contemplating what to do with the watch, he heard another clink. Still holding the watch, he bent down and pulled out a small pink rattle with a thin pink ribbon wrapped around the handle. Checking the display of items in a machine, Steve saw that the rattle was not among the choices available. Where were these Items coming from, he wondered.
When he heard a third clink, he was torn between being spooked and curious about what might be in there. He hesitated before bending and reaching into the slot. Out came a used and beat up brown wallet. It was empty. The wallet and watch could belong to someone who’d lost them, but what about the rattle? he questioned. Holding the items, he checked behind the machine to see if there was anything unusual. It was plugged in and there was nothing behind it feeding in the unusual items.
When he returned to the front, he noticed a receipt hanging from the display. He tore it off and read it:
“Everything a new father needs – Time, Patience, and Selflessness – Congratulations!”
Steve held the mysterious paper in his hand for a full two minutes. Was this some kind of joke? Who had the power to know he was a new father? Another clink sounded but Steve wasn’t sure he wanted to know what it was. Curiosity won his emotions and he reached to retrieve it. It was the Tylenol he originally intended to purchase. Still holding the items, he slowly backed away from the machine.
“Mr. Barnes?”, a nurse broke his concentration. She was young and blond. “Your girlfriend is looking for you.”
“Be right there,” he told her. He didn’t understand what had just happened, but he reasoned everything happened for a reason.
He put the watch on, put the wallet in his back pocket, and swallowed the Tylenol without water. Besides, the rattle would make a good first present for his baby girl.
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