This is a true story.
They did it often. They all worked late night shift and they often would sit in the hall on their chairs leaning on their rollling cart that holds their computer, screen and all the other stuff they need to wake you up at the wee hours to do something – take blood pressure, blood sammples or tempature.
They would sit in a circle like arrangement so they could see each other and chat. Last night they sat just outside Room 605. It was just before midnight. Room 605 had two male patients in it. Once had just arrived that evening. He was dealing with some wound that would not heal. He weighed just a tad over 420 pounds and had legs like tree trunks. He declared he would be in bed all night since he normally sleeps at home in a lounge chair. His name is Russ and he was an OK, typical Western PA kind of guy. Watch Fox News and liked to cut his grass.
The other patient was Fred. Fred was close to. 82, Been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was there because he had an obstrucggtion in his lower intensities that was giving him plumbing problems. It started withh diaherra that dyhaydrated him and turned to passing nothing. All of Fred’s food in the past 7 days, as little as it was, was stuck in his lower intestines and damn near killed him because he waited to long to get to the ER. He was also the primary caregiver for his wife who was in mid-stage Alzheimer’s. Fred came in the ER last Saturday in very bad shape, but they got him stabilized and he only needed to fix his plumbing problem so he could go home and figure out how to live the rest of his few months left. The whole terminal Cancer and Alzheier’s thing had Fred thinking a lot.
The girls were chatting about times they got drunk and one of them actually lied down in her own vomit. Fred could hear they clearly. Russ was trying to sleep. Russ was hard of hearing. Fred was not.
Fred had lied down, put on his CPAC and initially listened to them with cuorisityy since his creative brain was always coming up with story ideas. Around 12:15, 30 minutes after the four girls started their BS session, he got tired of them. At 12:30, when he could not shut them out. He go up, made a trip to the bathroom to pass his liquid gas to get relief and when back to bed.
At 12:45, the girls were still going at it.
“Don’t they have anything to do?” Fred thought. “Don’t they had a boss?” I should not be the one to have to break up this BS session.
At 12:50, Fred decided his life was too short to have to deal with these girls being so inconsiderate. He got up and walked out into the hall.
”Hi.” He said to the circle of girls. He tried to smile.
”Hi,” replied one.
”Do you need something?” Asked another.
”No, I don’t need anything, but I do have a complaint. Do you know I can hear each and every word you say from my bed in their? I’m hard of hearing and I can hear you very well. I know your job is hard and I don’t object to a BS session for 5 – 10 maybe 15 minutes. But you girls have been doing this for well over an hour. I have terminal cancer and may have only 6 – 9 months left. And I may have surgery tomorrow morning. I’m trying to sleep and your BS session is not helping me. I’m sorry but I don’t need this. Take your BS session someplace else. Do I need record you and report you to your management? I’m sorry if I sound like a cranky old man, but right now, I am one.”
Fred turned and walked back to his bed
One of the girls mumbled a sorry and another said they will move.
”Move?” Fred thought. “What about going back to work?” But he didn’t say anything and went back to bed.