This is one of those scriptures men pull out when they want to indulge in alcohol and other such substances. Yes, even Christians who exercise self control in other matters, think it’s okay to visit bars to socialize with non -christian friends. (Got to keep the deals coming right?) Growing up, I remember a fib my dad told us to discourage us from trying to taste his beer. He told us we would walk with our heads if we drank it. We believed him; he never lied (not my dad). Sometimes he actually offered us some of his beer but we shuddered and ran away; not wanting to end up upside down, legs in the air. Lol.
One night, I was on call in the hospital. It had been a busy night and at about 11pm, I was hoping to turn in for some ‘shut-eye’, when I heard a ruckus at the gate. 4 men were trying to lift a 5th man out of a car. He was putting up a fight, yelling, cursing, struggling, kicking and what not. I thought he had suffered a psychotic incident. Standing close enough to observe, but far enough to prevent him from harming me, I noticed his right hand was bleeding. He was a very huge man, as strong as an ox, and as angry as a lioness whose cubs were abducted. (No I have never seen a lioness whose cubs were abducted).
While they were struggling to put him on the examining couch of the accident and emergency ward (A&E), I pieced together the history. It turns out he had gone to a night club with his friends. They noticed he had had too much to drink and asked him not to drive home but, he refused, insisting he was fine. Driving behind him, his friends saw that he was driving erratically, weaving in and out of lanes. One of them pulled up sharply in front him, forcing him to stop. He burst out of the car, shouting angrily at his friends for the stunt they had pulled. When they insisted that he should get into another person’s car, he screamed in fury and smashed his car’s windscreen with his hand. They then appealed to him to let them drive him to a hospital to get treatment for the injured hand but he refused.One of them had to call the owner of the club to send 2 waiters to assist them. It took 4 of them to force him into a car and restrain him for the drive to the hospital.
By then I was wondering why I was often the one on duty when such cases showed up. The nurses had severally accused me of attracting difficult patients. This was not the case of what a man can do a woman can do better, dear readers. Can somebody say ‘Amen!’ All the while his hand was bleeding profusely. I decided against sedating him as I could not get a history of his possible allergies or drugs he was taking. Preparing to suture the gash on the back of his hand, I asked the four men to hold him still. He was too angry to feel any pain. While they held him, he was struggling, ranting and threatening us all. Suddenly, I heard a thud. One of the waiters who was helping me restrain him had fainted. The sight of the blood was too much for the young chap. I asked a nurse to admit him and revive him while I finished up. Thankfully, I was able to suture the cut without further incident. His friends begged me not to tell his wife how he ended up in the hospital but to tell her he was involved in some sort of accident. I agreed to keep their secret on the condition that they would do the lying while I simply refused to tell her anything. They said she had not been married to him for long and might be disillusioned.
To be Continued.
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