The man has dementia to the point he forgets that he called us. He forgets that he went to the hospital yesterday for the same complaint, forgets that they saw him and sent him home, forgets what they told him about it. “You were the one who called them,” his wife says, after he demands to know why we are in his bedroom.

My hearing is not so bad that I can’t at a distance hear the tick tick tick of the finite clock that beats for all of us.

Okay, new partner, here’s how I like my stretcher made up…