Practical Joke #2502 Hospital Humor on the Fly

English: The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Ordinarily, I would not do or recommend doing something like this to a heart patient but since they reported that he was going to be just fine, was actually feeling better than he had felt in a long time, and was only in the intensive care unit being observed for just a few more hours …I took the opportunity with his family to have some fun and cheer him up!
Here’s The Story
One evening I received a frantic call asking me for a ride to the hospital about dinner time. I said okay and made a record dash 25 miles to pick up a friend of a friend who was worried because her dad was rushed to the hospital with heart problems.
When we got there we found out that the news had been a bit delayed. Walking into the waiting area I noticed there was about 20 people, all of his closest relatives!
They had just started letting them go into the intensive care unit in groups of 2 to see him. The nurse come out and said he was doing well, they opened up a blockage in his something or other and the worst part is over.
After the 2nd group come out the man’s wife said “My gosh with all of these people going in and out they have no idea who is who” and a brother chimed in “we should send a stranger back to see what happens.” I said I’ll go! and then as we were talking we decided to make it seem like the patient may be having memory problems!
I went in with the sister as the next group. As we were going back we shared details only someone close to him would know.
I went in with a look of concern on my face picturing him as one of my oldest friends. As I shook his hand I said ” How are ya Ron… I stopped by yesterday but no one was home. Paula told me you were there but you must have been sleeping… I guess we can’t go to the turkey shoot tomorrow after all”
The poor man went from a greeting he would give a stranger to a confused terror while still holding my hand in a firm grip. The wheels were turning in his mind. I could see the questions going across his face as he looked at his sister and then looked at me tightening his grip as if to squeeze the memory out. Then with a look of defeat, he looks at his sister and says I don’t know this man turning our handshake towards her as if to show her who he was talking about.

 

Promptly I winced my face and said in an exaggerated mouthing whisper across the bed to the sister ” He doesn’t know who I am!!! OUCH!” .  She said ” Really? He has been over to your house dozens of times…heck I even know Stuart!” The poor man was about to lose his sanity and start getting excited so we told him it was a joke, insisted that it was his brothers idea, and laughter ensued especially pulling this one getting by the nurses, since this was an intensive care room. The family cheered our success as we recounted our story to them in the waiting room. Then we told the brother…for some reason he wants to see you next!! Oh well at least we were close to an intensive car room in case he got strangled for the joke!

 

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