Ill winds

Reports of my rapid recovery having been apparently exaggerated, I give thanks I wasn't ejected prematurely. I give thanks for feeling excessively sleepy rather than excessively ill and that people are doing what they can to make me better.

I give thanks for in between sleeping feeling quite bored...always a good sign I reckon. And for overhearing a fascinating phone call from the vet husband next door about some grass snake eggs he's been hatching which shows my brain would still work given some stimulation.

I give thanks for the shared enjoyment on the ward of a sudden brief squall of violent noisy wind hurling rain at the windows despite the bright blue sky.

I give thanks for the tender expressions of love and concern from loved ones. Waking wives and mothers with a soft word or kiss, bringing thoughtful though not always thoroughly thought through gifts, kind words... and awkward bluff and bluster from those who cannot say them.

I give thanks for finally, on the third day of asking, finding a member of staff who could promise and keep a few minutes to walk with me out to the corridor and back. It's not the pain in my tummy causing problems, that's mostly negligible. It's the combination of stroke hand, sciatica and all the tubes and wires to carry with me. It felt wonderful to be moving about!