Ablation, things you may not know:
That there are two magpies nesting above the walkway between Car Park B and the main entrance. That no smoking is allowed anywhere on site. That the Premiere Classe hotel is only 5 minutes’ drive away, that it is really a motel. That it is not what anyone would call Premiere Classe. That according to Google it can take between 15 minutes and four hours to perform an ablation. That it is easy to pull the cord out of the paper trousers they give you, that giving a demonstration beforehand might help avoid this. That it takes time to thread the cord back into the waistband. That walking up the stairs in this hospital makes you feel like a member of staff. That taking the lift is frowned upon and that not taking it makes you feel you are doing a good thing. That our nurse, Susannah, has three children who had to be rescued last week from a burning bus just outside London; that she did a 13 hour shift the next day. That the hospital offers patients in recovery sweet tea and biscuits, that Simply M&S is also on site and there is a market stall outside the main entrance selling fresh fruit and veg. That while you were out in the Lab, I couldn’t do any puzzles in the ‘I’ newspaper. That afterwards when you were in recovery we finished them all together. That if you sit up too soon after lying on your back for nine hours you could feel faint; that it takes a doctor to realise what’s wrong, to lie you back down, hold your legs in the air, recommend a drip. That this hospital holds heroes, husbands, hostages, homemakers in the same calm, sanitised and resigned manner. That death comes and goes through the revolving doors.
Maggie Reed, first prize Poem & a Pint Competition 2019, judge, Carrie Etter.
