A midnight phone call

is never good news and this one came at about twenty past. I was asleep but the phone woke me. A wrong number....or something more serious? 

The phone kept ringing as I crawled out of bed and went to answer it. No, I don't keep a phone on a bedside table. 

It was one of the rare occasions on which I wish I did. It was my friend P..., the nun. P... was confused and frightened but had somehow managed to phone me.  

I didn't know it at first because her housemate B... had not thought to let me know but P.... was in hospital with a very severe bout of pancreatitis. At that time of night she was alone in a hospital room and not sure where she was. 

"I'm frightened.I'm confused. I can't stand up. I feel as if I have had a stroke," she told me, "Can you ask someone to come?"

As I had been woken from sleep I was not at my most alert but I recognised the signs of acute pancreatitis.  It's a horrible, horrible condition that can not only cause severe pain but it can cause serious side effects like depression and confusion. I had better not continue to try and explain because I am not a medical doctor. Please just accept that this can happen and it was happening to P... .

I told her I would phone the hospital there and then and get someone to check on her. She thanked me and hung up. 

I set about trying to do just that. It was not as easy as it should have been. 

Of course the hospital she is currently in is the new one and the phone number has changed. I couldn't find the new one in our personal phone book. No, not under R... for Royal... and not under H... for hospital. I found the almost impossible to read local phone directory. That only had the old one in there - although the directory itself is only two years old and the hospital is older than that. In desperation though I tried the old number. If that didn't work I would try something else.

Ah! A recorded message with the new number. Of course the pen I was trying to use didn't work properly but I tried twice and managed to take it down. I phoned the number. 

At that time of night you can be lucky. I was only "on hold" for less than a minute. I gave my name and explained the situation. The voice at the other end was kind and sympathetic, "Oh yes, she is definitely here. I'll put you through to the ward."

And there was another quiet, sensible voice. I gave my name and explained the situation. 

"I'll go and check," the voice told me. 

"Thank you," I told her.

"No, thank you for letting us know."

I crawled back into bed. I did not go properly back to sleep. I am  a very tired cat today...but I am grateful that P... could phone me in her confusion and that there were people at the other end who cared and could go to her.