My home away from home. (Life on 3 Anderson.)

My first roommates, while I was in the hospital, were an older couple from Clinton, NC. He was the patient and she slept on a chair by his bed. Sounds sweet, right? They argued the whole time they were there. He complained about everything. He complained about his beverage and asked the nurse if they had any Cokes. The nurse said he would try to round him up a Coke. My neighbor said, "Bring me 4 dem."
I started taking notes towards the end of their stay. I wish I had started earlier. Here's an example of how this couple spoke:

"Wot jaw durrin?"
"Where dem at?"
"I don't like two cent milk. Two cent milk taste like water."
"She should ashed him hersef."
"See will he gib you $35."
"Get in dat bay-ed and wait fo dat nurse."
"When I woke up diz morn..."
"Kevin ain't got no TV! Dat my TV. I reprofess dat TV."
"Some medicines I been takin' I ain't be takin' no mo."
"Dat dey gray pe-ill?"
"My phone be day-ed."
"Y'all gimme dat?"
"Aight. Ahmo be downstays."
"I did too said ahmo use it!"
"Den he got go get..."
"Dey down to da chirren hoss-pe-ill."
"We's in 3719. Third flo."
"Here dat pitcher o' Rodney. Don't want jer pitcher?"
"Get up your ass off dat TV!"
And the old guys favorite expression:
"Sheee-it!"

They finally checked out and I had a peaceful night by myself.
The next day, a new guy moved in. He was from Zebulon (I love the name of that town). The doctor went through the long list of questions they ask a new patient. When he got to the one about drug use, the guy said, "Absolutely not. I worked 45 years in law enforcement." The doctor told him, and his wife, that he had a minor heart problem causing him to retain fluids. He went over some treatment ideas and told him not to worry. After the doctor left, his wife said she was going home and would be back in the morning. Later that night, however, after he had taken a test of some sort, the doctor came back in and told him that he wasn't 100% sure, but it looked as if he had something serious, rare and untreatable. He asked my new neighbor if he would like him to call his wife and talk to her. He said no. He would tell her in the morning. He was worried and alone.
I talked to him a bit before I was discharged. I'm not very good in these situations, but my heart went out to him. I gave it my best shot. I told him to wait and see if the diagnosis was confirmed. I told him he couldn't be in a better hospital. I couldn't think of much else to say.
I've had several of these kinds of encounters over the years, and they haunt me.