I Drove a Close Friend of the Family to the Emergency Room – and he went from peaky to barely responsive during the journey.
He has always been a man of a truly outsized personality. Clever and unemotional – and not one to say no to another brandy. During family gatherings, he is the person discussing the newest uproar to befall a local MP, or entertaining us with stories of the notorious womanizing of assorted players from the local club over the past 40 years.
We would often spend the holiday morning with him and his family, prior to heading off to our own plans. But, one Christmas, about 10 years ago, when he was supposed to be meeting family abroad, he fell down the stairs, holding a drink in one hand, a suitcase gripped in the other, and sustained broken ribs. He was treated at the hospital and told him not to fly. Consequently, he ended up back with us, making the best of it, but appearing more and more unwell.
The Day Progressed
Time passed, yet the humorous tales were absent in their typical fashion. He maintained that he felt alright but he didn’t look it. He endeavored to climb the stairs for a nap but found he could not; he tried, carefully, to eat Christmas lunch, and did not manage.
Therefore, before I could even placed a party hat on my head, we resolved to get him to the hospital.
We thought about calling an ambulance, but how much of a delay would there be on Christmas Day?
A Worrying Turn
When we finally reached the hospital, he’d gone from poorly to hardly aware. Fellow patients assisted us get him to a ward, where the characteristic scent of institutional meals and air permeated the space.
The atmosphere, however, was unique. There were heroic attempts at holiday cheer in every direction, despite the underlying sterile and miserable mood; tinsel hung from drip stands and bowls of Christmas pudding congealed on nightstands.
Positive medical attendants, who no doubt would far rather have been at home, were moving busily and using that lovely local expression so unique to the area: “duck”.
A Quiet Journey Back
Once the permitted time ended, we headed home to chilled holiday sides and holiday television. We viewed something silly on television, perhaps a detective story, and played something even dafter, such as a regionally-themed property trading game.
The hour was already advanced, and snowing, and I remember having a sense of anticlimax – had we missed Christmas?
Healing and Reflection
Even though he ultimately healed, he had actually punctured a lung and later developed a serious circulatory condition. And, while that Christmas does not rank among my favorites, it has entered into our family history as “the Christmas I saved a life”.
Whether that’s strictly true, or a little bit of dramatic licence, I am not in a position to judge, but hearing it told each year has definitely been good for my self-esteem. True to his favorite phrase: “don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story”.
