The Way Home

The Last Night

0900 Wed 03 Nov 2010

So tell us Ms Kay, how was your day, did you sleep well last night?

MK: Wednesday began like any other day, shortly after midnight, I guess. It might have been dreary, but I was weak and weary--recovering from surgery, you know. I was sound asleep--not merely napping.

But not for long. I heard a tapping, then a rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis nurse Twit," I muttered. Before me appeared nurse Twit, who I could plainly see because she had turned on the overhead light. She administered an unknown number of pills for an unknown malady. Apparently, the unknown malady can only be cured by consuming pills at midnight. Something to do with the bewitching hour. Halloween was Sunday, you know.

Since sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together, and all the medical folks must know that, you then had a most restful night, correct?

MK: Not quite. An hour later, nurse Twit reappeared before me in the vapor of the night light. Apparently, 1:30 am is a lovely time to test your blood sugar level. However, she could not get the blood-sucking machine to work, so she turned on every light in the room to determine the problem. Lacking the necessary mechanical skills, she left the room for remedial training. She also left every light in the room on. She appeared forty minutes later and completed the test.

What next?

MK: I reached for sleep and drew it round me like a blanket, muffling pain in the merciful dark. I slept soundly for a good twenty winks.

However, having previously implied (in a most subtle, but direct, manner) to nurse Twit that she woke me up, my tormentor reappeared before me at 3am, shinning a flashlight onto my closed eyes and attempted to make amends by forcing a sleeping pill on me.

Then you had sleep, safe and restful, sleep, sleep, sleep?

MK: Not quite. At 7:20 am Miss Merry Sunshine, the physical therapist, bounced in and asked if I was ready to do some stair climbing.

Was your response printable?

MK: Quite. I was able to open one eye and asked, “Why would I want to do something like that?”

I assume that you were giving her “THE LOOK” with only one eye.

MK: I don’t know what all this talk about “THE LOOK” is about, but Miss Sunshine did leave rather quickly and quietly.

And then?

MK: I dozed for a few minutes, then I figured that by that time, they were bound to be serving hot coffee and warm croissants soon. That would be spot on. So I got up. I was eager to have my first breakfast in my new room. You just cannot sleep the day away if you want to be a good rehab patient.

I think we had best end the interview now. Deadline, you know. Thank you, Ms Kay.

MK: You are welcomed. And thank you very much. Think that I will get some shut-eye now.

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