ADVENTURES IN MEDICINE

Finding a seat in the side aisle I took a book of short stories from my back pack and settled in. The story I chose was written by Charles Lindbergh and described the last half of his flight across the Atlantic and the vividly real hallucinations he experienced due to a lack of sleep.

As I put the book away I looked at my watch. Still a few hours to go most likely. Feeling the urge again, I exited the waiting room to the no-smoking bench and lit a cigarette. I began to chat with a fellow leper, as smokers seem to be these days. He seemed familiar to me but I could not place where I knew him from. His manner suggested he knew me as well but neither of us used names during our conversation. I commented on the no smoking signs with the arrows pointing up the driveway. He said yes, that the actual smoking area was at the top of the hill. We agreed that neither of us would like to be there with a foot or leg injury for five hours and need to climb that hill when we wanted a cigarette. The conversation was pleasant.

Finally, I said I was going back inside. I seated myself in the main waiting room this time and pulled out my trusty book of short stories. This time I chose one which was a series of journal entries made by Lewis and Clark when they crossed the Rocky Mountains in the early 1800s. This too was an entertaining read. Just before starting into the story, I noticed a sign on the wall. It said not to eat or drink anything while waiting to see a doctor. Unknowingly, I had defied the machine earlier. I’d just keep that to myself.

Putting the book in my backpack, I sat back and attempted to stay relaxed without falling asleep. A young girl in a wheelchair, with a Toronto Maple Leafs blanket over her, was in tears telling her father seated beside her about the pain in her hip area. A neatly dressed, middle-aged woman, who obviously was used to be being in charge, was giving orders to her much larger male companion. Appearing to be at ease, he was ignoring her and sitting where he liked. The woman who had been sleeping under the blanket when I first arrived was gone and there were some new faces in the room.

I noted that the homeless people I had seen and interacted with were gone. They had only been there around supper time, which I thought strange as that is when the free community meals are open. Why they were all gone later in the evening was a little mystery for me. But it could be just a coincidence. Not ever coming to emerge, I didn’t know if that was normal.