Cardiac Ward - Room 232

Needless to say, it was a huge relief when my hubby was moved from the ICU to a regular room in the cardiac ward since it is a sign that he is out of danger. But I was unhappy when I discovered that he will be sharing a room with another patient. My OCD took over, and I was very uncomfortable since he will also have to share the bathroom with his roommate. Hubby, who manages to stay in a good mood even when stressed, did not mind it at all. He actually prefers being in a double room since he loves having company.

His roommate turned out to be a very old chap, who had just undergone a heart catheter procedure. Despite the fact that by the time I left around 9pm, his roommate was still sedated, and barely moved or spoke, I had no doubt what so ever, that something interesting will happen overnight (the adventure of the ICU was still fresh in my mind), and could not wait to see hubby the next morning to hear all about it.

As expected, at around 2am, hubby woke up by the weak voice of his roommate calling the nurse. Since he knew that no one outside the room will be able to hear him, hubby told his roomie to press the red button next to him to call the nurse. When the poor - half sedated half deaf - guy did not respond, hubby pressed the button on his bed. A Filipina nurse, who looked kind and helpful came to the room.

In broken Arabic she asked roomie: "Aish fi baba??"
Baba :"fi dem!! fi wayed dem!!"
Nurse: " Ma fi mafhoum baba. Aish fi?? Fi alam?"
Baba :"fi dem!! fi waged dem!!"
Hubby:"I think his hearing is weak, so you better raise your voice."
Nurse: " MA FI MAFHOUM BABA. AISH FI?? FI ALAM??"
Baba: "Ma fi alam. Agoulek fi dem. Wayed dem fi sareer!! "
Hubby: "Dem means blood. He is trying to tell you that there is blood in his bed. "
The alarmed nurse, turned on the light and rushed back to the bed. When she could not see any blood in the bed, she relaxed, and with a big smile on her pretty face said: "INTA MA FI 3ANDAK DEM BABA. AISH FI MOUSHKILA?"
Baba : "Aish tegouli inti!! Ana ma 3andi dem?????"
Nurse:" AYWA BABA. WALAHI INTA MA 3ANDAK DEM BABA!!"
Hubby who was extremely enjoying this encounter, but did not want things to escalate much further said: "Yabouya hiya b te2oulak ino mafeesh dem fi el sereer."
Baba deciding to use the little English he knows: "Kaif ma fi dem? fi wayed WATER fi el sareer."
Nurse:"MOOMKEN INTA I3MEL BOAL W INTA NAYEM BABA!!"
Baba: "Aish tegouli inti? Ana reyal shaiba fi 3omr abouki. Ana abgha waladi ..."
Hubby sensing that this enjoyable lost in translation transaction can turn ugly told Baba:"Yabouya hedi nafsak. Heya mish fahma 3alaik."
And he quickly turned to the nurse saying:"I think you'd better get an Arabic-speaking nurse, and preferably a male nurse, to come take care of this patient, cause he is getting angry and agitated by this miscommunication."
Nurse:"Good idea doctor. MA FI ZA3AL BABA. FI HINA NURSE BA3D WA7ED DAGEEGA."

Unfortunately, the Arab male nurse was able to peacefully sort things out with Baba, so there are no more interesting dialogues to report. Fortunately for the nurse, by the time his son came to see him the following morning, Baba had forgotten the "MA FI 3ANDAK DEM" encounter.

See you in room 233.

p.s. Dedicated to Noran, who seems to enjoy the "Only with Nahoul & Family!!" weird posts.