Hearts’ Day

hold my hand..

While I really have no idea on where or how other people spent valentine’s day, I spent mine  doing my rounds and working as the resident on duty in the ward section of the hospital.

And while some people, and probably the rest of the world were having candlelit dinners, watching a musical, a movie or even just having a romantic walk in the park, I did my rounds alone.

I’m pretty sure that at some point in time, while someone else might have been holding a special loved one’s hand, putting on a ring and promising forever, I held on to my 90 year old patient’s frail and shriveled hand just long enough to reassure her that she is not alone; that it won’t be long now, that things will get better soon.

And for a moments I pause and wonder if I’m saying all these for the benefit of my patient or for myself..

[NB: this piece was originally written and posted at my other blog, this event happened during my first 2 months of being a resident in training in Internal Medicine, modified and reformatted for this blog post]