“Where are you going this morning?” Sherry asked.
“I’m going to visit my old friend Tony,” I told her. “I’ll have lunch with him.”
Sherry and I have been traveling around in Mexico and I looked up an old friend who lives in Playa del Carmen. Unfortunately I found that Tony had a stroke three months ago and was now living in an assisted care home.
“He’ll enjoy a visit,” Sherry said.
When I knocked on the door of Tony’s room he called, “I’m running late. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“I’ll wait for you in the cafeteria,” I said.
Half an hour later he was still in his room.
“Are you OK?” I called at the door.
“I think so,” he said, as he opened the door. We started down stairs and I could see that he was struggling to walk.
I said, “Tony, I’m going to get one of these medics to find out what’s wrong with you.”
“No! Damn it. I’ll be fine.”
I helped him to a table where we ate. I knew he was in discomfort but he didn’t complain. When we finished eating I helped him up and we tried going up stairs but his face was red and he had trouble catching his breath. As he struggled to walk I saw that he could barely lift his feet
I said, “O.K. Stop and rest.” As he rested I went back downstairs and talked to the head nurse. Soon, two orderlies came to carry him downstairs and wheel him away to the doctor.
Twenty minutes later I went to the head nurse and said, “Excuse me, miss. I’m checking on the condition of my friend Tony Baxter.”
“Oh, he’s fine,” she said. “He just had both of his legs in one leg of his boxer shorts.”
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