Staring at the bric-a-brac on the exam room counter, trying to relax for the blood pressure check. Could the very words on the labels of the packages and bottles do this? I thought why not but it didn’t seem to be working. Could this place be peaceful, serene? Could you take a nap here? Not just passing out for a while but a restorative sleep, the kind you have when everything around you is so beautiful you don’t even have to look at it anymore, the kind you have when you’re sleeping on a train through the countryside.
As the nurse prepared my EKG I noticed little gaps along the edges of the tiles in the ceiling. Wouldn’t water come out? Dust, vapors? It seemed to me this was the type of space that needed to be sealed from the outside world. The nurse left, the doctor came in, the doctor left. In the end you’re left alone in a room like this with nothing to do but get dressed.