JEWISH GENERAL HOSPITAL - "MORT ! MORT !" MORT !"

January 15-16, 2019. 

With the gang visiting patient 8828A being more and more arrogant, loud, daring - sitting or standing blocking the door to the hallway at all hours - I asked that a light be left on for me at night. The gang complained. I agreed that the bathroom light be turned out, but the light over my bed be left on.

Shortly after the gang left late in the evening, the patient made a phone call - probably on a cell phone as the house phones are turned off at 10:00 pm. I did not understand the conversation - most likely in Portuguese - but he stated angrily about five times in the course of the conversation -"MORT! MORT! MORT!"

Very soon after that an orderly – tall, bald, male - built like a football player, eye glasses - likely Haitian - marched into my space and stated in an authoritative tone - "NO LIGHTS!"- and he left me in total pitch darkness with the patient who had just declared, "MORT! MORT! MORT!"

I fled the room. I spent the night in a chair in front of the nurses' station where I felt comfortable with the naked and the bewildered. I had my meals there and only returned to the room briefly to use the bathroom, accompanied by orderlies. Very late at night, nurses assured me the man was fast asleep and so, exhausted, I returned to my bed for a brief time.

There followed a couple of days more of confusion as I was told twice that I was going home and then I wasn't going home and then I was. So, I have tried to keep track of the dates as accurately as I could.

And so we come to my last day at 8NW, January 17, 2019.