The Other Side of the Curtain

I had an exciting Sunday, which included 6 hours in the local ER at St. Vincent’s Hospital.  No, I was not in an accident, but I had an issue that required attention, and the local Urgent Care was not equipped to deal with it, so they sent me to the ER.

I find the gathering of people under various circumstances to be very interesting.  When we need care, we pay little attention to our conversations or who overhears us talking about our illnesses.  We freely give out our birthdates and other personal data and discuss our “problem” while the person behind us hears it all.

While checking in, I overheard the young man in front of me say he was there because he had fainted the night before, and his friends, after 24 hours went by, encouraged him to get checked out.  He said he could have low sugar.  Maybe it was too much Saturday night football. 

I was in a double room already occupied by an elderly man.  I use the word elderly lightly because he probably was my age!    He was there because he was experiencing chest pains.

Although there was a curtain between us, I could hear his low moaning when the pains were sharper and all the conversations with the nurse about his current and prior health. By the time I was able to leave, I had established a conversation with my roommate from the other side of the curtain.

I knew his name, where he met his wife (she was a waitress, and he was her customer), how many children (3) grandchildren (5) he had, the fact that he loved cats, and his wife of 50 years loved dogs.  He told me where he lived and where his three children lived.

I knew who his doctor was, where the office was, and that he had an appointment this week to see him.  That may not happen, he said, if he is kept longer in the hospital.  We had a wonderful conversation, and reaching out to him and establishing a connection was far more important than my time there. 

Was it karma that took me there?  The great law of cause and effect says you get back whatever thoughts or energy you put out.  When we have a commonality with others, we feel freer to share openly; we establish a bonding because we are going through a shared experience. 

I hope my conversation with Mr. P. was good energy and uplifting in some small way, and for a moment in time, he could think about something other than the trauma he was experiencing.   When I left, I told him goodbye and wished him well. 

I hope that someday if I’m in the same situation, someone will talk to me from “the other side of the curtain.”