The elevator

Italian

With a loud thump the large duffle bag struck the pavement.

The young woman dragging it was studying the buttons on the control panel
when the sliding doors separated and the elevator opened. An old woman using
crutches exited, followed by an elderly man who smiled broadly with straight
white teeth.

The young woman stepped aside, exchanging the bright smile of the man, then lifted the bag and entered the cabin where she carelessly dumped the bag on the floor. Pushing the button for the third floor and waiting for the door to close, she thought about how slow hospital elevators always were.

As the doors began to slide shut, a woman's hand appeared from the outside. “Wait a minute...”  a voice on the other side said. The sliding doors opened and a girl appeared,
breathless.  She had neither hair nor eyebrows, and her face was a grayish color.  She
wore a gym suit, but it was easy to see the girl's thinness.

She was breathing heavily after her race. “Thank-you! It's the third time I've tried. When it's possible to return home, who knows why it is always rushed. I am going to the third floor.”
“Me too.” replied the girl with the duffle bag.

Leaving the ground floor, and the pale sun of the Spring morning, the elevator began its
slow rise to the Oncology Center.  But, just after the first floor, there was a shake and the elevator halted. The internal light blinked a few times then turned off completely.

“Oh, God. It's stopped!” exclaimed the girl with the bag.

“Yes, it seems so, and there isn't even an emergency light...”

Moments of darkness and silence...

The girl with the bag searched her pockets and pulled out her mobile phone, and the whiteness of its display gave a spectral atmosphere to the cabin. “There's no signal!” she exclaimed after wandering for a few instants in the four angles of the small space, trying to find a connection.

Then, directing that weak torch toward the elevator buttons, and finding the red symbol of the emergency bell, she pushed it hard, insistently.

The electric tone of an alarm echoed in the entry halls of all the hospital, even though inside the dark cocoon of the cabin they could barely hear it.

The girl with the bag tried to be reassuring: “That's the alarm. Now they'll come to liberate us.”

The other one replied “I was doing the last trip up and down, before going home. My phone is in the car and my husband is waiting for me there. I hope that they can get us out of here fast, because I have no way to advise him and...”

She was interrupted by a metallic voice coming from the control panel: “We've received your call and are working to unblock the elevator. Are you ok?”
“Yes, but we're in the dark” answered the girl with the bag.
“Maybe the emergency batteries are not charged” said the voice, “How many of you are in there?”
“Two, she responded. “The husband of one of us is waiting in the parking lot.”
“It won't take too much time and the elevator is secure. Just wait.”

“OK, but hurry!” answered the girl, taking on the role of speaker for her companion
in mis-adventure.

She turned on the display of her telephone and pointed it downward.
“My bag is full of clothes, so it's comfortable. Let's sit on it.”

The two women sat down close to each other on the gigantic duffle bag and leaned against the metal walls of the cabin.

“My name is Chiara” the girl with the bag introduced herself.  “I'm Alessia” replied the girl who had lost her hair.
“I'm going up to Hematology” explained Chiara, “because yesterday they told me that I have Leukemia.”

Alessia hesitated a moment then began to speak: “I'm so sorry. I am recovering from an acute Leukemia. I had a bone marrow transplant a little over a month ago, and now I'm returning home. Or at least I hope so.” She concluded with a tight smile. Her expression was tired and listless, but she tried not to appear in too much difficulty.

Again, the display of the cell phone switched off.  “You can turn it off if you like, added Alessia.

Inside that temporary obscurity, the two young women began to talk and compare experiences. Curiously, the darkness eliminated most of the normal barriers typical between two people who don't know each other.

“How did you discover that you had Leukemia?” asked Chiara.

“One night I fainted” answered Alessia.  “I had never fainted before, in my entire life. I had pneumonia and could not recover. Fainting was a sure signal that there was a problem, that things were not going well. So, the next day my husband brought me to the Emergency Room.  They did a blood test then admitted me immediately. And you?”

Chiara answered: “For several days I felt weak and had trouble even standing up. I had blood tests and, considering the results, this morning in the Emergency Room they told me that I have Leukemia and need to be admitted. I raced home to pack this bag. I live alone. I couldn't suddenly remain here.

Chiara was full of doubts and questions; she had no idea what was going to happen in her life in the coming days.  “What's it like to stay in the hospital? I've never been in one, except to visit a friend who'd had an accident, two years ago.”

“At first I felt horrible” said Alessia. “The infection in my lungs provoked a high fever. I understood little of what was happening around me. Then, with time I got to know the doctors and nurses. I promise you that they are special people. I have a wonderful friendship with some of them. The therapies are long and difficult. I won't hide that from you. But, if you are able to maintain your optimism you can handle anything.”

“Alessia” said Chiara, “I'm a positive person, even if I usually create confusion. I live on impulses and generally I lose” she smiled. “So much that I live alone. But I certainly don't lack optimism!”

“Hey, they'll often tell you that with the right attitude the medications function better” replied Alessia, who was mentally revisiting the most difficult phases of her recovery “and you'll discover how true that is.”

Waiting inside the elevator was becoming longer than predicted. But, it wasn't so unpleasant now. That time of great confidence and sharing was good for both of the girls, and eliminated part of their accumulated tensions. For one of them it was about the anxiety of returning home, and for the other for the entry into a new phase of her life, one which was totally unfamiliar to her.

“Did you ever lose hope?” asked Chiara with a hint of worry about the possibility of an affirmative reply.

“I had some very difficult moments” answered Alessia.  “I asked myself how I ever could have overcome them. But, I never thought that I wouldn't make it.” Alessia's voice softened,
“Stefano, my husband, was always next to me. He was a formidable support. I have to say that without him it would have been imposs...” Alessia hesitated, thinking of Chaira and the fact that she was alone. She was afraid of being offensive. “Chiara, excuse me. I didn't mean that...”

“Don't worry” the other girl interrupted. “Having a loved one next to you is undoubtedly a great help and comfort. I often think of my Mother, who has been my Guardian Angel for the last three years.  She'll know how to protect me from up there.”

That young person created a feeling of tenderness for the way in which she knew how to turn her world into something positive. Alessia thought that Chiara could never imagine what she'd have to affront there, in the near future. But she realized that Chiara's optimism would be an enormous help.

Once more, the metallic voice of the technician was heard. “We're ready. Now, we'll make the elevator return to the ground floor, then we'll open the doors.”

And, with a jolt, the elevator began to descend.
Alessia turned on the display of the telephone. Chiara's eyes were bright and they exchanged glances of understanding.

They helped each other to get up from the duffle bag and waited for a few minutes, then the sliding doors of the elevator finally began to open and the light of day struck the two girls, who blinked and covered their eyes with their hands against the brightness.

Timidly, they took a few steps to exit the cabin and found the technician welcoming them, along with two nurses, who assured themselves that the two girls were fine.

Alessia asked to borrow Chiara's cell phone.

“Stefano. It's me. I was blocked in the elevator, but now the technician has freed it. Yes, I'm ok. I still have to go upstairs. Wait for me. As soon as I finish, I'll be there. OK. Ciao. Bye.”

She returned the phone to Chiara and turned to her: “Chiara, I promised myself that I would never again return to this hospital if it was not necessary. However, if you'll allow me to be your friend, I'll come to visit you every moment that I can.”

Chiara, slightly embarrassed, said “I... but certainly!”

Both of them smiled and hugged. In that tight embrace they found fear and comfort, anxiety and serenity, darkness and light, pain and joy. And the reciprocal desire to do something good for each other.

It was the beginning of a grand new friendship.