"I'm sorry, it was my misunderstanding." She apologized.
"Not a problem."
"Here, first sign in then you can go to his room four-o-five" She told him as she pointed down the hallway.
"He should be just about ready for breakfast. You can bring him down" She said as she busied herself with some paperwork.
Jayden made a slow progression down the hallway carefully checking the numbers attached to the side of the wall near each room's entrance. The place was relatively clean and a hint of pine-sol waffle through the air attempting to mask the strong odors of medication and urine that lingered in the air. A few wheelchairs and food carts were parked on either side of the double-wide hallway as dietary staff busied themselves taking trays of food to the patients who were bedridden and unable to come out into the dining area to take their food.
"Four-o-five" Jayden whispered as he finally saw Mr. Ellis room. He softly knocked on the opened wooden door letting the occupants know that he was coming in. No one answered so he assumed it was safe to enter. The first bed was occupied by a white gentleman who sat on the bed talking over the telephone. Mr. Ellis was sitting on the side of his bed dressed in the same red jogging suit that Jayden had loaned him weeks ago. He was staring out the window.
"Hello… Mr. Ellis…" Jayden said softly as he approached. Jacob looked up. At first his eyes were vacant and then they became wide with recognition. Jayden for a second thought that the old man recognized him.
"Markus… Markus…" he repeated getting up and suddenly taking his son into the folds of his arms giving him a hearty hug and a few loving pats on his back. Jayden was shocked by the sudden display of affection. He stood motionless in his father's arms absorbing his father's warm embrace for another man. Jayden felt slightly cheated. He felt like a shadow again. He felt like he was standing in the shadow of Mr. Ellis beloved adopted son. He didn't know if he should return it or try and explain who he was to the old man. Abruptly it hit Jayden that this was the first time in his life that his father had ever touched him. It was the first time in his life that his father had ever given him a hug, even if it weren't meant for him it still felt good.
"Son I missed you… How is Dinah doing in school? Is your mother still away visiting her parents?" He asked as Jayden walked the man down to the diner for breakfast. He surmised that the nursing staff had come up with a series of small white lies so that Mr. Ellis would stop running away from the nursing home to look for his family.