This Savage Art

Thursday morning. Around 1:30 a.m. Touching down at JFK. I’m not a big fan of flying and at this point in time neither was my girlfriend Linda. I’m sure when we were landing at Kennedy Airport on Wednesday night she would have rather been in the comfort of our apartment. That way she could have vomited in peace. You see, she was suffering from a very serious case of food poisoning right there and then and all through the night when we arrived home.

Thanksgiving Day. Depending on how Linda was feeling I would see if we were going to go ahead with plans to see our families. Her diagnosis hadn’t changed. Her mom did stop by to see if she was doing alright though. Not alright. Totally dehydrated. I was staying with her so Linda’s mom decided to go back home but not until she got a thoughtful turkey package for me to eat. Can’t not have turkey on Thanksgiving. Linda’s father was waiting downstairs with the turkey, Linda’s mom went to get it. As Linda walked toward me from another room she bounced off the walls from being dizzy then collapsed in my arms almost smashing her head on the floor. I got her. Her “Knight in Shining Sweatpants” I have been dubbed. This was serious. I called 911 and they arrived promptly. We took a trip to New York Downtown Hospital and I have to say it was one of the more pleasant trips to the ER I have been to. There were a couple of dipsomaniacs with injuries drying out, an asian man being told he was to be opened up in three hours for an appendectomy but probably couldn’t understand a word of it and us. Linda’s mom and dad, Linda and I. Blood work: everything normal. Diagnosis from the doctor: toxoplasmosis. Linda would be fine with a little hydration, fill up the tank with a couple of bags of sodium chloride. We went home, thankful. I was thankful I could be there for her. I can see if I wasn’t it could have been a lot worse than it was. I was also thankful Linda was there for me over that last couple of weeks. I was a basket case with my back injury (which has improved considerably with acupuncture) and all. She took care of me. Despite the drama, it was a day of many thanks.

Oh yeah, Vegas was a good time, won $200.