Given how healthy my grandma was, no one had any reason to believe that she wouldn't be discharged. There were times in the past when she was admitted to the hospital with angina and after a few days or so, she'd be discharged home. So everyone in my family believed she would eventually be fine and eventually discharged home.
In the back of my mind I was wondering if she would not make it due to a dream or "vision" I had of seeing my grandfather many months prior to her hospitalization in which he foretold of my grandma's poor health. But I tried remaining optimistic.
I was living with my parents, in their house, having just had my daughter at the fairly young age of 22. When I had informed my parents of my pregnancy and intention to move out, my parents had encouraged me to continue living at home so I'd have round the clock help with my baby. I happily agreed to it.
So, one night after getting back into bed after feeding my newborn daughter through the night, I heard a very loud sound that I can only describe as a tremendous banging or knocking. It was approximately 3 a.m. I had just layed down, placed my head on my pillow and closed my eyes when I heard the loud noise. My eyes flew open since the loud noise scared me, it was unexpected.
It was winter time and snowing. While I'm sure the winds were strong, this was not the type of bang you would hear because of wind. I had never heard this sound in that house before in my life. The only thing I had ever heard that sounded very, very similar was during the previous summer when my parents had their roof fixed and new shingles placed on the roof. While up on the roof doing their work, you would hear the roofers hammering and banging, and when I heard the strange banging that night, the roofers on the roof is the only sound I could compare it to.
My boyfriend immediately bolted awake too and sat up. He said, "What the fuck was that?" I simply said, "I dunno'."
Two more times we heard the loud bang. Immediately I knew, how I knew I have no idea, but I just did. I began to cry, turned to my boyfriend and said, "Oh my God, my grandmother is going to pass away in three nights." My boyfriend said nothing, and while creeped out, we both fell asleep simply due to exhaustion, the kind that comes when you're the parent of a new baby.
And oddly enough, my grandma died exactly three nights later. My parents received a call from a family member that was visiting with my grandma. She spoke to my mom and told her that my grandma was not doing well and that we should all get to the hospital. Which we all did.
My grandma was still very lucid but in and out of consciousness. Her heart was failing. Myself and two other family members gathered around my grandma on her hospital bed and held her, hugged her and talked to her as she died.
It was a few years later and I was in hospital for undiagnosed abdominal pain. I had just had surgery to try and determine through laparoscopic surgery just what the cause of the pain was. It was my second night after having the surgery and I was up and walking around on the hospital unit constantly. I really wanted to go home.
My abdomen was still very sore and I had to walk kind of hunched over. So while all hunched over I continued to walk around, pushing my i.v pole since I was still hooked up to an i.v. I was not taking any pain meds (since I refused them and am not one to really take pain medication unless I feel I REALLY need it). I was however, receiving regular doses of antibiotic to prevent any infection from occurring.
While walking around on the unit, the man in the room next to mine began calling out, "Mommy." He'd moan really loudly and say, "Mother, where are you? Mommy." He continued on this way the entire time I was walking the unit. All the while, nurses were continually going in and out of his room and asking him if he was okay and if he wanted something for pain. He'd simply yell, "Get me my mother."
While walking past his room, I saw him laying in the hospital bed nearest to the window in his room. There were two beds in total in that room. The second bed near the door was occupied also. As I glanced in on my way by the room, I could see that both of the patients were elderly men.
After walking the unit for almost 45 minutes I was exhausted and headed back to my room. It was only 9 o'clock at night and I couldn't help but wonder how I was going to sleep with that older gentleman in the room beside mine, constantly yelling and moaning.
I got settled into my bed and at my nurses urging, I closed the door to my room to help muffle the sounds of the older gentleman that was yelling.
Having the door closed did not help. I could not fall asleep. Lord knows I tried, but all I did was toss and turn because of the older gentleman yelling and moaning. I heard the nurses go in frequently and ask him to stop yelling because it was late and many of the patients were trying to sleep but could not because he was disturbing them.
The last time I looked at the clock it was midnight, and I still had not slept. But I guess because of sheer exhaustion I did eventually fall asleep.
At around 3 a.m I woke up to use the washroom. As soon as I woke up I could hear the old guy still moaning and yelling. I wondered to myself how the hell I managed to fall asleep through that. I got back into bed after using the washroom and layed down. Just then as clear as day I heard what sounded like someone walking around in the room above my head in clunky high heels. It annoyed me. I thought 'great, I've got the old guy to deal with, now I have to listen to some inconsiderate asshole making noise above me.'
After 10 to 15 minutes of what sounded like continual walking or pacing above my head, I rang for my nurse. A nurse came in immediately. I then asked her why they allowed visitors so late and then told her about the clunking around in the room above my head which had now stopped.
She looked at me strangely and told me, "There's nothing above our heads but the roof." I then told her that someone was obviously up on the roof. She told me that was impossible. She also pointed out that it was the dead of winter and no one would be up on the roof at that time in the morning, and even if they were, there's no way we would hear it since there is a huge gap between the roof and the floor we were on.
Just then a code blue was called for the man in the room next to mine. While laying in my bed, I heard medical staff working on him for almost 45 minutes, then I heard someone call the time of death. I felt bad for the older gentleman.
I had just closed my eyes to try and fall back asleep when the nurse that came in earlier had come back into my room. She just stood their with an odd look on her face. She walked over closer to my bed and asked what the noise above my head earlier had sounded like. So, I told her about it again and then asked her why she was asking.
She then told me that they have had many patients on that floor complain about similar noises, of people walking around over head, and then a patient will die on the floor.
I was surprised. I said, "Really? Are you serious?" She said, "Yes, I'm very serious." She told me that a few patients have said before they have died, right about the time that someone complains of hearing that noise above their room, that their guardian angel had come for them. She then told me that most of the staff believe these sounds are in fact the patients angels coming for them.
I was speechless. The nurse said that it actually gave her and many of the nurses some reassurance that their patients were not alone, and that their loved ones, and/or angels came for them at their time of death.
I thought back to the night I heard the knocking before my grandmother died and wondered if it was a forewarning from her guardian angel?
Copyright © 2013 A Haunted Life
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