"Them's The Breaks'

So while I sat with a somewhat blanched white face, pain running through my thinning left arm. Thinning every time I wore a cast as, if you had ever worn casts for any period, the heavy thick plaster of Paris wrapping not only weighed the arm down, but tended to make it sweat a lot (Use of the long knitting needles were great to ease the itching inside the cast). The doctor looked down at me and at least he appeared quite jovial. The nurse, returned with a wheelchair and a pillow, assisting me into it she gently cradled my re-broken arm and sat it on the pillow she placed on my lap. “So you’ll be right to wrap that up in a new cast, nurse” The doctor inquired. She turned and looked at the doctor. I couldn’t see her face, but I did observe his expression change ever so slightly. From the big smile, to a much more reserved closed mouth. “Yes, doctor. I will look after this ‘young’ man”. There must have been something in her expression, for he backed away slightly as he commented “Good. Er.. Good” He then did, what I later can recognize as the manoeuvre that was so well performed by‘Basil Fawlty’ (‘Fawlty Towers’ and the classic John Cleese). The moment when something has happened that shouldn’t have and Sybil Fawlty is giving Basil the ‘death stare’. In an attempt to get away from it, Basil would attempt to escape the situation with a distracting move to enable him to flee. So, with a clapping together of his hands as he stepped away, signaling that everything was under control. Then casting his eyes about looking for something to distract his attention. “Right, I’ll go and do something else then.” He left.
Now obviously the poor nurse was also having to show some respect to the doctor and, it would be twice as difficult for her, as she had to work there, whereas, I would be leaving and going back home once this was done. She started taking me down to the x-ray and on the way was cautiously enquiring how I was feeling. “A little sore, it hurt quite a bit, but it’s going away now.” I said meekly. “That’s good,” she said. “He must have got the damaged part spot on then?” She said encouragingly. “Yes”, I replied. “Will he have to do that again if it isn’t right?” I asked nervously, as we went into the x-ray. ‘No!” The nurse replied very firmly. “He certainly won’t be doing that again.” At the time I didn’t quite see the significance of that comment. But I suppose there must have been some very interesting comments later in that hospital between the staff, once I had left. I was even more surprised when after returning from the x-rays, the nurse took the x-rays over to the doctor who had his head down busily completing paperwork. He visibly jumped when he heard her voice.
(Continued Tomorrow)