Some Enchanted Evening, You May See A Stranger...

Dr. DePalo's Somewhat Evil Smile

Sure enough, a few minutes later two psychiatrists showed up in my room. One was blonde and pretty, albeit with a rather aloof demeanor, the other with dark, kinky hair, quite unpretty and quite obviously Jewish. She was, however, warmer and friendlier. They took turns asking me questions. I was still in a decent mood, so I played with them, charming their little socks off. They must have left the room wondering what the original shrink was thinking, because within five minutes of their departure the dogs were officially called off and I was left blissfully alone. But not for long; about ten minutes later the man who had been at the nurses' station to witness my little temper tantrum waltzed into my room. What does he want, I thought. For that matter, who is he and why is he in my room? I was not at all comfortable with the fact that this stranger had observed me acting like a horse's pitut and now here he was standing at the foot of my bed. Was he a hospital honcho of some kind? An administrator? Director of Nursing? Were my actions going to have consequences? I'm not usually paranoid like this, but I couldn't figure out what this guy was doing in my room! I think he sensed my discomfort because he did not immediately introduce himself. When he finally did, I almost fell out of bed. "Hello," he said with a smile, "I'm Louis DePalo". Dr DePalo! The man into whose capable hands I would soon thrust my poor, scarred, diseased lungs and have him work his magic and make me a functioning human being again. Okay, semi-functioning, but you get the point. I was positively mortified that he had seen me acting like a complete idiot. I'm not sure why his opinion of me was so important to me at that moment, but it was. He was gracious enough not to bring it up, so of course I, being the way I've been since the lobotomy, brought it up instead. Sorry you had to see my hissy-fit earlier, I said. He smiled. There was something just slightly evil about his smile. I had the feeling that we would have a very interesting doctor/patient relationship, but I was convinced that ultimately we would get along famously.