Roger woke up at
the bitter sound of his clock, Roger does not like the new fashioned digital
clocks, so he uses an old one made of wood and with a golden ring around the
clock face. He looked pretty ordinary for the age he had, there was not any
aspect from his body with an outstanding quality; his height was just above
average but he did not pop out when he was in a large crowded area.
Roger is a creature of routine, that morning was
“Pancake with honey and orange juice for breakfast day”; so he walked slowly to
the kitchen and started to think about his work and how boring it could get,
all because the modern medicine makes everything easier and healthier.
After eating the
pancakes and cleaning the mess that honey leaves in the kitchen, he took a hot
bath; even though he is not capable of feeling the water temperature, he likes
the steam of the hot water and that is enough for him.
He did not take
long in the bathroom, because he believes that he is going to have a bad luck
day if he does take a long shower. It is an irrational belief, based in a
couple of days, when after getting out of the shower; he was reassigned to a
new job in a small local hospital, instead of the metropolitan general hospital
where he used to work.
While he was dressing for work, he let the steam
get out of the bathroom; he took a white shirt, white pants and a black long
jacket, in order to complete his look for every day and all the time when he is
awake.
There are two
things that Roger will always love, no matter what. The first one is, when
after he dresses, he takes his keys and walks to work; he likes how the nature
is prettier when you are walking than when you move inside of a vehicle. While
he walks he enjoys seeing the faces of strangers walking in the other
direction, walking to the light. This day was not different than any other day.
Roger always
arrives a couple of minutes before the turn shift, he stopped in front of the
small building with and even smaller door, and looked up in order to read in
bright red letters “HOSPITAL”; he took a deep breath and waited for the
automatic door to open, then he entered to the waiting room, which was
surprisingly tiny and full of tiny chairs and a ragged couch, all around a
coffee table overflowed with old fashion and gossip magazines. At the end of
the room Sid was arriving in order to check-out so Roger could check-in. He did
so, and took one of the magazines, although he had read them all a dozen times
at least. Then he sat and started reading and waiting, waiting and reading.
After the third
magazine he stopped for a moment and got lost with the fantasy of working with
the army, or getting his old job back; those places where full of action and he
would not be waiting to be called by the interphone. He snapped out his
daydream at the moment that a lady’s voice said by the speaker “Emergency in room six-oh-seven”; he took
throw away the magazine that was in his hand and ran so he could get before all
the doctors.
He called the
elevator, but it was jammed so he started running and got to the stairs; he
started to count the floors, one, two, he had to hurry a bunch, three, four, he
wanted to score, five, six, he was already there. He slammed the door and ran
with all the energy he had left.
When he got
inside room 607 he only saw an old guy connected to a machine and the nurse who
called for a doctor, and the only sound audible was the sound of a stopped
heart, music for his ears, and the second thing that he loves no matter what.
He walked to the
bed, proud of himself for beating the doctors and he helped the old man to get out
of the bed, while they were walking outside the room a doctor dictated the time
and the nurse filled the form for the body to leave. Roger walked the old guy
outside of the hospital, guided him with the other strangers, and told him to
walk with them towards the light.
He sat again and
took another magazine, maybe he did not had the action of working with the army
but beating modern medicine anywhere was an achievement.
