My pet ward
Now I know why Somerset Maugham, A. J. Cronin, George Sava, Richard Gordon and Jehangir Wadia had deep insight into human nature. They were medicos first and novelists/dramatists later.
Some years ago I had stayed in a hospital ward following surgery and now have enough material for short stories. Below are a few scenarios.
Three of my fellow patients (all names changed) had suffered at the hands of their family pets. Sammy, 60, had his right leg in plaster thanks to his favorite cat. A neighbor’s dog chased the cat which climbed to the top of a tree. Sammy tried to rescue the cat by climbing on a ladder in his backyard. He tried to bring the scared cat down, tempting him with fish and cream but without success. As he was climbing down, taking care not to tip over, the cat meowed. Sammy looked back, missed a step and fell heavily. He lay there for almost an hour until spotted by a stranger and taken in an ambulance to the hospital.
Another cat, another catastrophe! Rossy had taken his cat to the veterinarian for a routine check up but ended up himself in our ward. "I should have kept Matilda (the cat) in a box but foolishly carried her in my hands as my wife was driving. When we got down, a big dog barked at her. Matilda panicked and her claws penetrated my shoulders. We thought nothing about it until I developed a nasty infection a few days later and came here for emergency treatment.”
Mako was 76, barely looked 60 and talked incessantly. He loved all sports especially cricket and football. He had benign growths which were surgically removed. He was sent home the next morning but returned the same evening. His dog was so delighted to see him that he knocked him down heavily while giving him an ecstatic hug.
Jamsu was as ecstatic as Mako’s dog after his operation. His second sentence after coming out of anesthesia was, "Gee, my voice is still deep and manly!” He had come to the hospital to have his testicles removed because of cancerous growths.
KERSY MEHER-HOMJI
Sydney, Australia
kersi5@bigpond.com