Sunday, June 29, 2008

Someone Really Needs To Keep Me On A Leash

Ah, the hospital!

The logic of its layout, the simplicity of its design. Each floor a perfect, squared off, number 8 pattern. Elevators for visitors in the center by the main desk and waiting room, patient rooms on the outside of the hallways, nurses' stations and essential rooms on the inside hallways. The top and bottom are used for storage or exercise or even transport, as one set of elevators is located at the top of the 8.

No one could get lost with such a simple setup, right?

Yeah. Right.

So, I get off of the elevator to go to Mom's room. I make a left at the main desk, then a right and head down the hall to the second room from the end. Surprisingly, her door is closed. I wait for a minute or so, then travel back to the main desk to see what's going on. No one is at the main desk, so I wait for a few minutes. When no one shows, I decide to go back to Mom's room and go on in. After all, I'm her daughter. I have a right to be there!

I quietly open the door to find the privacy curtain closed and the lights off. Thinking she must be asleep, I decide to leave the few things I brought her from home in her closet and back out quietly. As I open the curtain, I'm surprised to see she is not there! The bed is made, her flowers and cards are gone, and there's no sign she's ever been there.

Being the calm, reasonable person I am, I immediately panic.

Where is my mother??? What have they done with her??? Did she (gulp) pass away while I was gone and no one bothered to let me know??? I rushed out of the room headed toward the nurses' desk. I wanted answers, and I wanted them NOW.

And as I rushed, I happened to look over my shoulder at Mom's room number.

It was the wrong room.

Seems as though I was supposed to turn RIGHT as I got off of the elevator instead of left, something I've only done about eleventy thousand times in the past month. Only for some reason, this time my very small brain misfired yet again.

Thankfully, I found Mom on the opposite end of the 8, alive and well.

However, I'm considering checking in soon.

2 comments:

Sean P. said...

Where's Susan's house from here?

HeyJules said...

AS WELL YOU SHOULD!!!

Seriously...you got lost in a hallway??? :-)