Great Story

There was this short story that I read in a book a long time ago. This story, for some reason, stayed in my mind. I read it so long ago I don't really know the book name, just the story. I don't know what the title of this short story is either. If anyone recognizes, tell me. Here it is:

There were two men deathly ill sharing a hospital room with each other. One of these men had to sit up in his bed to let his blood flow down to his extremities. His bed sat next to the room's one window. The other man had to lay down all day on his back. He wasn't allowed to move. These two men would talk for hours about their life stories and how they have little time left on the Earth.

For an hour each day, when the man by the window would sit up, he would tell the other ill man what he saw out the window. The man on his bed would wait all day for his roommate to tell him all the vivid descriptions of the outside world. Which he never sees anymore. Outside this window was a gorgeous lake surrounded by many birds of all species. There would be kids throwing out bread crumbs to the hungry geese. There was always a couple having a picnic by that big oak tree that reflected agianst the rippling tides of the lake. Sometimes, on good days, there would be a group of turtles that would swim up on to the sand and sunbath on the beach.

The man by the window would tell these stories to his roommate. That man would close his eyes and imagine the beach. He could see the swans floating, hear the band playing, feel the tiny trinkets of water splash up. This is what the man looked forward for, for weeks.

When unfortunately, one morning, the nurse came into the room and noticed the man by the window has died. The man laying down in his bed was devastated with this news. He was crying when the nurses took his only friend's body out the door to never be seen agian.He called to one of the nurses shortly after to see if he could move to the bed by the window. The nurse moved him to his new bed by the window.

Slowly, the man tired to sit up from his bed and look out the window to see all the things his friend was talking about.

The window faced a blank brick wall. The man asked the nurse what drove his friend to say such wonderful things about what was outside the window. The nurse replied that the man was blind and couldn't even see the wall. He must have just wanted to inspire you.