"Why would I not do this?"

Everyday I see the small and beautiful things that make people so wonderful and human. I am a nurse assigned to an oncology (cancer) and hospice unit at a hospital.

This is a story about two patients with Leukemia. One is a younger man from the Middle East, devoutly Muslim. He is, understandably, very scared. He is anxious and just stays in his room all day preoccupied with death. I will call him Mr. A. The other is an older women who is Jewish and immigrated from communist Soviet Union in the 70's. She has been receiving chemotherapy since the beginning of June. She is as tough as nails and yet the sweetest woman. I will call her Ms. B.

I encouraged Mr. A and his wife to get out of the room and walk around to keep up his energy, strength, and simply for his sanity. Ms. B, on the other hand, needs no encouragement to walk; you can't keep her in her room because she has so much energy. Later that afternoon Mr. A and his wife were out walking and I saw them meet Ms. B. They talked for a bit and both parties retreated to their rooms.

Later on I heard a knock at a door and it open. I heard a woman yell in a thick eastern European accent, "It is time to get out of bed. Your wife wants you to walk. Let's go!"

I peeked around the corner and saw Ms. B leave Mr. A's room and out came Mr. A and they both went for a walk in their matching IV pumps, gowns, and face masks (to prevent infection).

Later, I asked Ms. B what made her do this. She replied, "I had promised his wife I would watch after him. And he is a man who is loved and who loves, so why would I not do this?" Mr. A was calm and slept for the first time in a week. My hope is Mr. A saw hope for himself and comfort in others around him.

Contributed by Kelly.