A Man In Pain

I had to take my Uncle Jakey to the emergency room, no doubt. He was screaming and wailing so loudly we scared crows on the route. Is she having a baby? An elderly woman with no eyesight asked. I was amazed she was sitting there, completely unmasked. It’s a he, I told her. He’s my uncle and he’s in the worst kind of pain. They took him right in. I figured they do that with the insane. He thinks he is dying, I told her, in a whisper, almost too weak to speak. It’s a hangnail, the doctor said. Third ridiculous time he’s been in this week.