I stopped by New England Life Care, a nursing home\/rehab facility, not unlike Rivercrest, to see my buddy, Noland. This was my third visit. His bed was made, his chair, brought from home, empty. I had a present for him. <\/p>\n
“I’m looking for Noland. Is he is at rehab?”<\/p>\n
The nurse looked at me and hesitated.<\/p>\n
“No he’s not. Who are you? Are you close to him, are you family?”<\/p>\n
“I’m close family.”<\/p>\n
“Let me look to see if you are on his list.”<\/p>\n
“Okay, I’m not on the list. But… .”<\/p>\n
“He’s in the hospital.”<\/p>\n
I called Emerson to see if he had a room. He did not. I visited with Flo, shopped for dinner and then called his wife, Shirley. She answered, distantly.<\/p>\n
“What’s up Shirley?”<\/p>\n
“Noland just died.”<\/p>\n
“I’m sorry.”<\/p>\n
“We were in the emergency room for most of the day. He was going to be transferred to Critical Care. I went home for a moment and Dr. Green called… .”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stopped by New England Life Care, a nursing home\/rehab facility, not unlike Rivercrest, to see my buddy, Noland. This was my third visit. His bed was made, his chair, brought from home, empty. I had a present for him. … Continue reading