Chapter 14

Here Comes The Chocolate Bandit....

This particular nurse was one of my favorites!  She was a younger white woman who had a pleasant disposition and a very feminine aura.  We would always chit chat a little more than I did with most nurses in a very innocent yet flirty way.  "Hello Ricky! Did you get a chance to talk to your mom last night?  I saw you knocked out when I left," she asked.  "Yeah we talked, as a matter of fact, I was gonna call her right now," I responded.  Nurse Lisa hooked me up to the machine and checked my vital signs.  When she finished, I immediately called my mom.  "Hello ma, how are you doing tonight?" I greeted her.  "Hello, I am doing just fine and how are you feeling?" she asked.  "Oh I am feeling pretty good considering," I said.  My nurse was within ear shot so she could hear what I said.  "Tell mom that I said hi," Lisa said.  "Hey ma, the "chocolate bandit" said hello," I told her.  Yes the chocolate bandit and no it's not what you might be thinking so get your mind out of the gutter.  There was one night that I was on the phone with my mom and Lisa was around.  Well, a peppermint patty commercial came on tv and I mentioned that I was craving some chocolate to my mom.  That night, I had fell asleep and then, I woke up with just enough time to see a shadowy figure leave my room.  When I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I noticed several pieces of chocolate on my table.  I found out the next night that Lisa had hooked me up; hence the name chocolate bandit.  "Ricky tell her that I said hello and how is she doing?" my mom replied.  "She said hi and she asked how are you?" I told Lisa.  "Thank you, I am doing fine," she shouted so my mom could hear.  "She is really nice! I like her," my mom said.  "Yeah she's nice but she's pretty sneaky too," I joked.  In the middle of my telephone conversation, my nurse left the room.  Like most nights, I continued talking to my mom until either the lab technician showed up or I couldn't hold my eyes open.  I woke up to....  "Hello Ricky!  Are you in any pain this morning?" Roy asked.  "Nope buddy.  Good morning and how are you?" I responded.  "I am doing great,"  he said.  "Cool stuff! So let me guess, you brought me my horse pill cocktail," I laughed.  "Yeah but on the bright side, breakfast is served too," he added.  The horse pill reference was an inside joke describing this huge potassium pill that I had to take daily.  Roy had to watch me swallow all of my pills and I would break that one in half.  The rough edges of it still kinda scraped my throat on the way down.  "Oh you are gonna love me today," Roy said.  "Oh no, what's the story?" I asked.  Roy put my pills and breakfast on the table and positioned it so all I had to do was sit up and I could eat.  "Well, you are scheduled for an ultrasound of your legs to check to see if there are any more blood clots.  That is gonna go down today," Roy said.  Good thing my breakfast was hot today because I needed a little feel good time.