"Félix is a tough guy," is how my 17-year-old son describes his roommate for a week in the hospital. Félix is a very old man with serious heart problems. Every time his cell phone rings, a flamenco song plays loudly, and he gets angry if it's a company trying to advertise for the umpteenth time. We spent 24 hours with him, met his wife, two of his children, in-laws, and other relatives, and laughed at his grandson's videos.
Félix likes to watch the program The Wheel of Fortuneand says that PasapalabraHe's already tired of it. The rest of the time the television is on softly in the background, like a whisper. My son never imagined he would miss this man who smuggled him yogurt when, after days without food, my little boy was indignant about the fate he'd been dealt. "How can I be so upset over someone I've only seen for a week?" he asked me as we left the hospital, his eyes filled with tears. That's the thing about friendship, which doesn't care about age differences and makes absences painful.
In the mornings, when my son was still asleep and I'd spent the night awake in an uncomfortable armchair, I'd see Félix sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to us. He just stared out the window, motionless. Then I'd think about vulnerability, which can take us at any moment, whether we're prepared or not. Being vulnerable isn't the same as being afraid, because fear paralyzes without exception.
I had time to talk with Félix, who had come to Mallorca from Córdoba as a child—his Spanish has an Andalusian accent and his Catalan has a village accent. He worked his whole life at the water company in Alcúdia and had been able to buy a house back when housing wasn't such an unattainable luxury.
My son and Félix perhaps didn't talk much during these seven days, but they achieved a very interesting friendship: each lived with the other's presence in a natural and comfortable way. When Félix managed to exchange his hospital gown for pajamas, my son celebrated—they both share a dislike for gowns. And he nervously took the forbidden food his friend offered him. He told me about the tests he had to have and asked me about his heart problems with concern. Félix has taught him something important: that friendship laughs at the differences between people.
