Ruth Holzer
Herndon, Virginia, USA

Patient

When you awaken, you find that your hands are tied loosely to the bedrails with strips of gauze and there’s a tube in the right side of your neck and a tube down your throat so you can breathe and a cannula up your nose and a tube in your left side to suck out the air bubble that caused your lung to collapse. Two tubes between your ribs are draining pinkish fluids and miscellaneous organic material dislodged during the operation. There are five pacer wires inserted into your chest, making delicate contact with the surface of your heart. An IV line in each arm. Twelve electrode leads stuck onto your torso and twined together in a telemetry monitor nestling in the pocket of your patterned gown. A tube in your right groin. Not to mention the catheter.

a cry
down the corridor —
deep night