Hospital days

I came to hospital on Wednesday morning with my iPhone, MacBook, and a few Welsh books. I expected to be home by dinner time. But, after taking my obligatory $280.00, the Doctor at Knox hospital said 'we'll be admitting you, Mrs Corbett.'

'What?' I said. 'As a day patient?'

'No, Mrs Corbett. Face infections are serious. We will operate in the morning.'

It is now Friday and I'm still here, in room eighteen, of the Risby ward, with a dressing on my face and my arm hooked up to an IV tube. But now the pain is gone the whole thing is starting to feel kind of luxurious - like being on an airplane. I have a postcard sized portion of space. A buzzer. An overhead light and all my meals brought to me on a trolley.

What more could I ask for? I even get to spend the whole day in my pyjamas.

As I'm heading to Aberystwyth in August, I have been using the down time for a bit of a Welsh language revision. I have my SSiW lessons and flashcards on my iPhone. Season one of Gwaith Cartref on my MacBook. And plenty of Welsh books and dictionaries. This morning I finished reading my second ever Welsh Language novel: Parti Ann Haf.

It's a small book (not a full length novel). Published especially for language learners and reluctant readers. It tells the story of a single mum called Ann Summer who takes on the job of a party planner. It has all the essentials of a women's feel good story, strong female friendships, growth in self-knowledge, and an unexpected love interest. I read with a kind of wonder and amazement. Not so much at the story as at the fact I was reading and understanding it (albeit sometimes with a dictionary). I never thought I'd be able to communicate in a second language. But here I am, in Knox Hospital, doing it. Some of the paragraphs even came easily.

At lunch time, the nurse came to change my dressing. 'How's it looking?' I asked. 'Do you think I'll be able to go home soon?'

She pulled a dubious face. 'The Doctor said IV for a couple more days, at least.'

So, what could I do? But smile and pull out my next book: 

Blodwen Jones a'r aderyn prin. If it's anything like Bethan Gwenas' last book, it will be hilarious. I only hope I won't be in hospital long enough to finish it.