Through the slightly opened window, he could smell the sweet fragrance of lilacs and dogwood blossoms borne on the warm air from the courtyard below. At least they allowed him this one connection with the outside world.  He guessed they figured that a bedridden old man isn’t going to escape, especially from two floors up. He Loved spring.  It reminded him of playing baseball as a kid in an empty lot down the street from his house.  He loved the feel of the soggy earth beneath his feet.  He loved the freedom of shedding his winter coat. Freedom.  It had been so long since he knew what it was like to come and go as he pleased.  Now his days were spent in this hospital bed.  They served his meals here.  They made him swallow his pills here.  They changed his diaper here. He gazed through the window at the setting sun.  Soon it would be dark.  There would be one more check tonight, then lights out. He waited until his nurse was gone.  She had left his window open just a crack.  Maybe she knew how he felt about spring.  Had he told her?  He couldn’t remember. He pulled [...]