Norm woke up in a room that was unfamiliar. Even his hands seemed strange. There were tubes and tape all over them. Norm wasn’t well, but he felt just fine. Norm could not remember anything except what he just woke up to see. He did not remember his name, where he lived, or even the name for a bed, which is where he found himself.
Within a moment of his visual exploration, a woman dressed in a flowery shirt walked in and smiled. “Hi there! Well, look at you, looks like someone is finally awake.” She summoned someone else and a man in a white coat walked in. “Wow, you look terrific.” It’s then they started asking a flurry of questions, most of which norm was clueless about. “Do you know your name? Do you remember my name? Do you remember where you were born, how old you are, who your parents are?” Norm was clueless.
He said little, but he knew how to speak properly. “Hi, what a pretty shirt!” he said to the woman. “Why thank you!” she looked at the man in the white coat for his reaction. Turning back to Norm, “Are you hungry?”
“Yes.” Though he wasn’t sure what hungry meant, he knew he wanted to say yes, and his mouth started watering when he did. He smiled. Within 15 minutes he was definitely remembering mashed potatoes. A young man dressed in blue brought him a whole plate of food. He ate and smiled, sipped coffee, and smiled. Norm was sick, but he didn’t know it, and he was happy. He ate until he felt full. A different nurse, also happy, greeted him and took the dirty dishes way.
“How pleasant” Norm mumbled. He had people waiting on him, and he seemed to think he deserved it. It was then he noticed a little something on the cart in front of him, a single green bean. He took it into his fingers and lifted it up. “Well hello there, seemed someone has forgotten about you. What is your name?” It was then he heard something that would have shocked all of us, but Norm didn’t realize it was out of the ordinary.
“My name is Joe, what’s your name?” Norm was delighted, he had a friend. He was glad he had spared this particular bean while eating.
“I don’t know my name Joe, but I’m delighted to know yours.”
“Sorry to hear that friend. Did you look at your chart? Perhaps your name is on your chart!” Wow, what a smart bean Joe was turning out to be. Norm leaned down to look around, and found a clipboard at the bottom of his bed. He looked at the spot for name, but it was empty. Fortunately, Norm didn’t give up, he kept looking, and to his surprise his name was written a lot on the paper. It was written beside of other words. BP… NORM. TEMP…. NORM. BLOOD GASES…. NORM. “Norm, the name is Norm!”
“Oh fantastic Norm, glad you cleared that up.” The green bean didn’t show much expression, but was indeed talkative. They discussed many things. What an exciting life Joe had. He told of adventures and wars. He talked about the World’s Fair. Joe was a great new friend. They talked so much that Norm grew sleepy.
“Goodnight my new friend, I am going to nap now.” Norm laid the little bean on the bed on a fold so he too could rest. Norm slept well, and had his first dream he could ever remember. He was walking down a driveway with a fishing pole and a child held his hand. They were walking toward a white house with a wonderful porch. That is all he dreamed, but when he woke he was most excited to have something to share with Joe. He opened his eyes to a different woman, smiling but a bit more stern. She was holding his wrist and looking at her watch. “This is a strange place, but I am happy to be here” Norm smiled and the lady just smiled right back. Norm looked down at Joe. He was gone. Norm got anxious and fidgety.
“Excuse me nice lady, have you seen my friend that was right here with me in the bed?”
“You have a visitor today? I didn’t know anyone came in.”
“No, I don’t think he was just visiting. He was small and green. He was actually a bean. And he was talking to me.” He was getting more nervous.
“It sure won’t be the first bowl of beans that ended up talking back to you later.” she smiled and patted his hand. “You are gonna be just fine.”
“No, no, he was my friend, and he was right here!”
“Oh honey, I’m not sure who you think you saw, but the only thing on your bed when I came in a few hours ago was a little lunch spilled on your sheet. Just a green bean and coffee stain.” The nurse was trying to comfort him.
“No no no, please, this was my only friend. You don’t understand. Joe! Joe!” Norm was desperate.
“Nurse!” he thought he heard Joe’s voice. “Please, pull the curtain open.” the voice sounded so much like Joe’s. Norm was hopeful. But when the curtain was pulled back, it was just some man sitting up in a bed much like Norm’s. “Nurse, no worries I got this. Norm, my name is Joe also.” Joe winked at the nurse, who was still just a little lost at the whole scene. “I heard you talking to your friend, and we actually have a lot in common.”
Norm could not believe just how similar Joe was to his newly lost friend, but in time he would become great friends with another Joe that was so much like his first friend, a green bean named Joe. Norm wasn’t well, but he was happy once again.
