Another night on the couch in the hospital, repeatedly lulled to sleep and then awakened by the symphony of sounds from the whirring, clicking, buzzing machines.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
Ah, shit. You gotta keep your right arm down and straight or the IV machine goes off.
DOODOO DOODOO DOODOO DOODOO DOODOO.
Oop, that is someone else's bed monitor. That is a sound that makes the nurses jump. The BEEP BEEP BEEP can go on for QUITE SOME TIME.
PUM PUM FFFFFFFFFSSHHHHHHHH FFFFSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
The machine that is supposed to prevent blood clots. Yes.
RRRRRRR FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF RRRRRRRRRRRRRR FFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
Blood pressure check again.
DEET!
Temp check.
TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK.
The big wall clock above my head.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR RIGHT ARM DOWN AND STRAIGHT.
I watch the nurse reset the machine so I can just get up and do it myself next time.
Then it is morning.
Close to noon, I come back to the house to grab some blissful uninterrupted sleep.
It is dead quiet, but I can't sleep.
I keep hearing BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.
I get up, and watch the sailboats on the choppy windy lake instead.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman