I try to persuade my wife that we could go to the Blues Bar this evening. After all, Joseph had suggested that we go out for a meal, and that wasn’t so different, was it? I got plenty of negative feedback, so I said I’d ask the nurse, and if she said “No” then we wouldn’t. Agreement on that one!
As luck would have it, the registrar called around to see me with one of the senior nurses that lunchtime. I asked if it was permissible for me to go to the Blues Bar for a couple of hours of live music. The nurse shook her head, and said “No” at exactly the same time as the registrar nodded emphatically and said “I don’t see why not”. Nurse and registrar looked at each other, and then the registrar said “he’s my patient, and I say yes”. He looked at my wife and I – “just don’t get drunk!”.
So my wife went shopping for a baseball cap while I try to snooze for a while during the visitor exclusion hour from 1pm to 2pm. When she returned, I get myself dressed in my jeans and T-shirt, shoes and socks and with my smart new navy baseball cap covering my dressings, we took a leisurely stroll to the nearest underground station.
We arrived at the Blues Bar 20 minutes later, found a good table in the corner, and ordered drinks. I would have had a pint of bitter, but my wife wasn’t happy about that so I had a pint of cola instead. I’m sure if the registrar meant me not to have an alcoholic drink he would have said “soft drinks only” rather than “don’t get drunk”, but in truth I really didn’t mind. I was high on DBS, so elated at being tremor free. We drank our soft drinks and listened to the live music which was excellent, as usual. My wife and I reluctantly left after our allotted 2 hours and returned to the NHNN, where dinner had just been served!