I’m sat with a patient,
In their room. It’s 12.55
The orientating clock says that clearly
The patient knows I’m there
Medication has been given and the bed is comfortably made.
The patient is fighting sleep but desperately needs it .
Strange shapes hide behind the television and the wardrobe
And I sit between them and the bed
The patient knows I am there
Silently I read the news on my tablet.
I reply to an email and a message or two
And try to sound fatherly when I say
It’s time to sleep.
The patient knows I am there.
I watch a silent video about a blind horse
And a chubby gay New Yorker dances in the street
I read news on Gaza
And the reviews of a film I want to see
The patient approaches sleep but knows I am there
Someone is in the room.
I am not the patient but I know the need. Thank you John.
ReplyDeleteSydney
... and so the patient will sleep because you are there and he/she is not alone. Bless you both.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
To die alone would be awful, to die with someone by your side would be 'reassuring'. You write beautifully.
ReplyDeleteLovely lines, composed by someone who KNOWS.
ReplyDeleteGently touching, John. Not sure if you meant it as a poem or not, but it is one. In a case like this, what do you do after the patient falls asleep? Does someone stay all night?
ReplyDeleteJust read a little research on the sleep inducing benefits of the rather automatic soft stroking that mothers do on babies, it works on anyone and can be on any part of the body.
ReplyDelete"Stay with me". And you do. I wish this for everyone.
ReplyDeleteYou can read that as either a gentle, emotional, and comforting story about human love and caring - or as a horror story (with a gentle, emotional, and comforting nurse lovingly caring and protecting his patient while horror lurks in the shadows).
ReplyDeleteSeen too many Halloween posts already.
Ulvmor
Possibly the most important "job" of a nurse. xx
ReplyDeleteLovely.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to be alone either. x
ReplyDeleteWould bate for someone to be there when I tried to sleep, even for the last time. Sorry I must be the exception. Pam
ReplyDelete