Sister Kelly's Fishtank

I have felt dreadful over the past two days.......absolutely dreadful!
Last night I was convinced I was dying of sepsis
And this morning I was sick of the sight of feeling dreadful.
Even though, I did, indeed feel dreadful.
What do you do eh?
You get up ,
You wash your swollen face and you go out.
I met a friend in a diner of a local airfield which could only be accessed through a manned gate and high security fencing.
It was atrocious place filled with screaming toddlers, whose parents were probably attracted to the place by the fact that the place was surrounded by fencing which was practically impregnable.
As we sat down, my friend caught me looking round at the main room which looked like a basic office works canteen and then at the outside area with its expanse of tarmacand we both laughed
The laugh is just what I needed



My friend reminded me of a story I told her recently that made her laugh on a bleak day.
A tale tucked away, a misery antibiotic.

It was the story of Sister Kelly's New Fishtank!

Now Sister Kelly ran a very tight ship.
Her long stay ward was always neat and tidy and very clean and her 32 patients were the pick of the most  genteel elderly ladies that had been hospitalised in the psychiatric hospital, many since before the Second World War .
The utilitarian tables in Sister Kelly's dining room each had a doily on the top with a vase and flower and hand knitted blankets and throws were laid neatly on the arm chairs.
She took a great pride in how her ward looked and it was run as it looked.

I worked on the male long stay ward next door.

Now one day Sister Kelly was given a magnificent four foot aquarium by some kind soul, and after much filling in forms the aquarium was carried up into her ward and installed in the most prestigious place on her ward , a small alcove right next to her office.
The aquarium was to be her flag ship decoration to a ward that was famous in the entire hospital . And as she arranged a raffle to raise funds for the buying of expensive tropical fish, heaters, filters and other specialist equipment, the hospital newspaper and noticeboards were filled with posters requesting donations to her underwater dream

Hubris, the whole thing smacked of hubris!

Now  I knew that Sister Kelley's ward round always took place on a Wednesday afternoon and this was where the consultant and senior therapy staff would partake in tea and cake after the patient discussions.

I rang Sister Kelly's ward right in the middle of that bunfight  and left a message for her with an enrolled nurse . The message would, I know be given to the sister by note
The note read

" The Staff and Patients of Irby ward are sending you a donation for your magnificent new fish tank this afternoon, we hope it can be useful"

Twenty minutes later we sent two of our most complient  patients up to Sister Kelly's ward with the donations
As she opened the ward room door, as the consultant sipped his tea , my patients proudly gave her two buckets of water!