When I was in school, I joined an undergraduate program to chat with specific patients and then discuss it with others. But I had no specific training in this, and introducing myself to strangers was not one of my natural talents.
On one special visit, I cautiously entered a darkened room to find an elderly man lying in the bed. There was no one else in the room, and I firstly thought he was sleeping. When I moved a little closer to the bed, I realized that he was very much awake, but also very confused and anxious. He desperately wanted to communicate something to others, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. He seemed weak, and I couldn't tell if he was in pain, or just scared. I knew nothing about this man's life or history, and at that time I felt totally helpless. He obviously didn't want me to leave, but I felt so lost and uncomfortable that I had to leave the room after only a couple of minutes.
The next time I was at the hospital, I was asked to make follow-up visits with the same list of patients. I expected my time with the confused man to be just as short as the last time if he was even still alive. It seemed pointless to prevent myself from trying to talk with someone who was so weak.
As I arrived at the room, the first thing I noticed was that the lights were on. His daughter was there chatting with him. He was sitting up in the bed and looked a bit better than before. I introduced myself to the daughter and explained to her that I had come by before. Addressing the patient, I then suggested that I was certain he didn't remember me at all.
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To my surprise, he corrected me immediately.
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After this visit, the words the old man said to me were always in my mind.
