Well,
I have officially experienced a true top ten most eerie event in my life. It all started when I went to the
hospital. Oh, not for me. I was informed that one of our Seasiders had
been admitted, so I went out to see him and pray with him.
Now
the first thing that should have been a clue happened before I ever left my
car. Free parking. That’s right.
The gate was locked in the up position.
No one answered the call button.
So I hesitantly entered and parked, wary of being hunted down by
hospital security. But none came. I saw only a few only confused and
disoriented parkers. Strange.
I
already had the room number texted to me by the one who informed me of the
hospitalization. Excellent. That saved me a trip to the information desk. All I had to do was find John Sealy Room 914. Easy, right?
Well …
My
journey started as I made my way to the patient relations office. My plan was to renew my pastoral
certifications while on site. But no one
was there. In fact, no one was in any of
the offices I was passing. No one. Undeterred, I pressed on. After all, I have been in this hospital
hundreds of times over the years. And I
could renew those authorizations another time.
It would be a long walk. The main
entry now leads into the sister hospital, Jennie Sealy. But the rain had prevented our walk in the
morning anyway, so I was ready. Or so I thought.
I
made my way to an appropriately marked bank of elevators, although they seemed
to be somewhat displaced from the last time I was there. I entered and pressed the floor button. Thankfully the elevator worked perfectly and I
found myself on the ninth floor. All
things pediatrics. Thank couldn’t be
right. The guy I was looking for was at
least my age. I strolled around that
floor for a while, and it didn’t take long to realize that I was the only one
there. Really. The only one.
No one in any offices. No one in the
halls. I entered doors that I had always
assumed were locked up tight, but still found no one. Curious now, I returned to the
elevators. Well, to some elevators. These were not the ones I came up on. I went down to the first floor to get my
bearings, forgetting momentarily that the second floor is actually the first floor. It mattered not. There was no one in the basement,
either. I found some more elevators. Back up to floor two. No one.
More elevators. Up to floor three
for a quick look-see. No one there,
either. I tried a stairwell. Nope. Same
results through those doors. Finally,
after yet another harrowing stroll through a deserted floor, the elevator doors
opened to a foyer that I recognized. The
front desk. And one couple, obviously
not on staff, walked about, as uncertain as was I. I went to the front desk and cautiously lifted
the red phone. A cheery voice greeted
me. How eerie is that? I asked as to the whereabouts of my patient,
and the voice told me, “Oh, he is in Jennie Sealy Hospital, Room 914.” Ah.
JENNIE Sealy, not John. Right where
I entered the complex in the first place.
Right next door. But how do I get
there from here? More than ever
determined now, I struck out for the return trip. Couldn’t be any worse than this first leg,
could it? Umm …
Right
away I found signs point me in the right direction. Strangely, however, the signs pointed me
right to the hospital cafeteria.
OK. “I guess the hallway picks up
on the other side,” I thought. There were
people in the cafeteria. Nameless faces
who were shell-shocked with worry about loved ones or who were working through
their shift so they could get home and watch the Astros on TV. None spoke except when absolutely, and then
only in hushed tones. I hurried past,
and into the hallway on the “Other Side.”
I followed the first arrow, picking up my pace, now eager to see
James. And that arrow led me to …
nothing. A long, empty corridor with
blacked out windows on one side and empty walls of nothing on the other. No doors. No people. I decided to make the most of the adventure
and pressed on. Two turns and two empty corridors
later, things began to get … eerie. There. I officially used the word. Have you ever seen the movies where there are
long white corridors … with those overhead lights … and one of them isn’t installed
properly, so it keeps flickering on and off, on and off? I was trapped in that movie, in that very
hallway. Not a sign of human beings in
any direction. Truly the stuff
nightmares are made of. The adventure
was rapidly becoming, well, less fun. My
knee was aching. My ankle was even sore
from the yard work we did the other day.
But I kept going. Limping this
way and that, a turn here, an elevator ride there. Until finally, to my amazement, I stumbled
upon a familiar corridor. I slowly
walked that direction. Pictures began to
appear on the walls. The air conditioning
got noticeable colder. And suddenly … a
person. A real human being. Or as real as a medical student can be. I didn’t have the nerve to ask if I could
pinch him right then to see if he would react.
I just kept walking. And finally,
there it was. The huge, brand new foyer
of the JENNIE Sealy Hospital.
Taking
a deep breath I made my way to the elevators and punched in floor nine. I eased around the loop of rooms until I came
to 914. And to my great relief, there was
James, with his daughter and granddaughter.
We talked for a while and prayed before I left. I shared the down elevator with a lady who
was being released. She made a comment
about several floors being missing from the buttons. In the spirit of the moment I asked whether
anyone knew for sure if there was a thirteenth floor. Hey, it’s almost October. And after my recent experience, I wouldn’t discount
anything. Once I reached the ground
floor again, I got to my car as fast as I could. See, I still wasn’t convinced about this whole
free parking thing. I did manage to
escape, however. So you tell me … top
ten, or no?
Psalms
102:15 says, “The nations will fear the
name of the Lord, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.”
Father
thank you for the doctors taking care of James.
Give them wisdom to know what steps to take next in his care. Amen.
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