4 Days 3 Nights

First thing’s first: Daniel is healthy! Now here are some differences between hospitals in North America and Eastern Australia. First, the visiting hours are stricter over here in Brizzie. But Francoise will say to you, “Don’t worry it’s like that in France, too.” So the first day I had no idea about their specific rules and no one kicked me out, well, until they moved him upstairs at nine thirty. Technically I should have left hospital at eight.

On the morning of his birthday I sat up in bed first thing checking email and thinking, “I really don’t want him to wake up alone.” My mom was online and she told me to just go! So, I did. I practiced my mad ninja skills -I really do have them, Janelle and I work on them- and walked my “invisible” walk all the way to the end of the hall into Daniel’s room. When I approached his bed I saw a shadow through the curtain and thought, “Dang, he woke up already!” It wasn’t seven in the morning yet and the first visitors are not allowed until 11. Alas, the shadow was a nurse changing his potassium fluids. I backed up slowly out of the room, holding my breath, and ran to the edge of the hall opposite Daniel’s room, peeked around the corner to make sure no one was there and hid on the other side. I waited, my back pressed against the wall, listening for the nurse to leave and praying she would go down the other hall, not passing me. When I heard her coming closer to where I was hiding, I made the decision to do my invisible walk again. Mostly this just means that I walked around the corner with my head up, making no eye contact, but projecting that I was meant to be there just then, on important business of course. She sufficiently ignored me. Daniel was still asleep so I sat in the chair feeling happy and very alert. I suspect that real ninjas would not have been as nervous as I was.

Wouldn’t you know that ten minutes later his machines began beeping for nurse attention? There was nowhere for me to hide. So I pushed the cancel button on the liquid drip. This is not an evil act, Daniel and I had done the same thing for two days. Sometimes the nurses will ignore this horrid sound for up to an hour. In fact we had one nurse tell us that they almost don’t even hear the beeping anymore. When you push cancel, it only temporarily pauses the loud beeps, to make a slightly less obnoxious noise. After a few minutes the beeping came back and I waited for the inevitable; the nurse approached and there was no way for me to practice being invisible. She changed Daniel’s liquids again which woke him up. I put my hand on his back, and he turned to look at me. We smiled at each other and I told him happy birthday. There, right there, it was worth it. The nurse finally turned her attention on me with a slight frown and said, “You’re very early.” I explained my intentions and she also wished Daniel a happy birthday. Ha! I got away with it!

In the American hospitals we have experienced before where we’re there for an extended stay, we tend to get our own room. Not so here. Daniel had three other bed mates at a time. One young man actually worked for the door to door sales company where I had my “second interview” which made both Danny and me giggle. He was loud and watched a lot of silly American television programs. At first I felt slightly embarrassed for my country, listening to the folks being featured, and then I remembered that it wasn’t actually me that was watching the silly shows. Plus, I don’t need to be so judgemental. ;)

There are two hours in the day when the hospital wants visitors to leave again. When I got back that afternoon, the young sales patient had checked out and given Daniel his television code. The hospital charges you to watch the tube. Even though it was Daniel’s birthday, it was basically my perfect day! We watched three movies cuddled on the small twin bed into the evening. And that night Daniel ate his first solid food.

Daniel took me on a walk around the eighth floor. We made two laps and did some mild stretching. He also took me into an exercise room where he wanted me to see the view. Our city is really pretty at night, all the lights and we could see our little “Princess Plaza” that is around the corner from our flat.

Sleeping in an empty bed when you’re used to another person with you all the time is not an easy feat. Plus, to be honest, sometimes I get scared in the flat by myself. It’s dark even with the strange blue lights on, so I did my best to stay up as late as I could watching videos on the computer. I about made it to almost midnight each night. If that sounds late to you, good for me; if that sounds early to you, good for you! I’m a morning person, always have been, so I get up at six. Apparently even going to bed so late doesn’t make a difference. My point is, at the hospital with Daniel I would suddenly feel so tired. And when he was able to share his bed with me I sometimes fell asleep next to him. I’m not usually such boring company.

So it wasn’t a birthday trip to Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef, though considering everything, it was an okay day. And now we’re back home together, surgery avoided, health always improving, and love always manifest.

Happy Easter.

04 Love The One You're With

While I used to think this song was the anthem for perverts, I now take it to mean that it’s important to love everyone and anyone who is around you.