Most people have a simple answer when asked why they don’t
like hospitals. It’s usually something like, I hate needles or there’s too many
sick people. Well for me it’s not the needles, or the sick people, it’s one experience
that put this hate in me. This hate that will never disappear, no matter how
much free ice cream or food those damn nurses try to give me.
Everything began normally, like any other older person
who lives in today’s world. We have medical advancements so why not take
advantage of them. You see I found out I had a bad knee. This ones done good by
me for about seventy years, and I guess it’s time has come to be replaced. Now
days you can do that type of thing, well I did do that thing.
I arrived at the hospital the day of my knee
replacement surgery and was welcomed by a wonderfully polite staff. The doctor
even came in as the nurses were preparing me and told me how many times he’d
done this procedure. He even gave me a promise that I’d be completely fine and
that my wife would be waiting for me after the procedure had finished.
I took his word, and before I knew it I was counting
down from 100 letting the anesthesia enter my body. I think I only got to about
97 or so. I woke up to a room with a very bright light on the left side. I was
still very dazed by the sedating anesthesia and I didn’t really know what was
going on.
I started to hear voices in my head. They said “He’s
not going to make it” or “He’s a goner, hope he had a good life”. I was really beginning
to panic. I took the doctors word, I thought. He lied to me, I was going to die
and everyone was saying so. I realized why that bright light was there. It was
my path to heaven that I now had to take before I was even ready. I gathered all
my strength, stood up, and walked towards the light.
I opened up what seemed to be a sheet hanging from the
ceiling to find half the nursing staff standing there laughing at me. A poor
naked old man who could barely walk, thinking he was going to heaven. These
damn hospital people never told me I’d be in a shared room. Or that there
holding someone who might be dying right next to me! I thought these assholes
were talking about me! You see this is why I hate hospitals. I saw my life go
right before my eyes, then boom slam right back into my soul. I guess it wasn’t
my time, but if it was up to people who work at the hospital I might have never
found that out.
Ben,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this story. I feel bad for laughing at the ending paragraph. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be funny or not. This is a very interesting story. I did not know what to expect since I'm used to the normal reasons as to why people hate hospitals.
Great job!
-Chanierah
Ben,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was really well written. I really enjoyed your build up as to why the man hated hospitals and the comic relief at the end. I also thought your tone throughout the story was done well. I felt like I was reading from the point of view of a 70 year old man.
-Sarah
Grumpy old man, I like it. This is a great example of misinterpreting something. Anybody would have made that mistake while being so groggy from anesthesia. This man has a very valid reason for disliking hospitals, and I don't blame him for one second. Great story, I always enjoy reading your blogs.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, that was too funny. Very creative, Ben. That was great. Within the first few paragraphs I was wondering when the confusion would come in, but then it was clear! I enjoyed his sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the story. It feels a lot like a real experience. The few times that I have been in the hospital a always felt like the nurses had information that they were not telling me. One time the nurse outright lied to me because he thought it was funny. Good job keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete