Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 113

READER’S DIGEST

legsfeelingquitefeeblealmostwob-

bly.Patjoinedmeandafterchecking

inwetookseatsinthewaitingroom.

Shortlyafteramancalledmyname

and gestured towards an examining

room.At lastIthought.

hedoctoraskedforadetailedac-

countofwhathadbeenhappeningto

me.Heperformedanumberoftests.

Heaskedmetotouchmynoseand

then follow his inger with my eyes.

He told me to count backwards by

sevens. He had me squeeze his two

ingerswitheachhand.Hetestedmy
relexes.
IpassedeverytestsoIthought
whatI’dbeenexperiencingwasjust
some temporary malfunction of the
wiring.Iwasperfectlyhealthy.
“I’d like to keep you in for observa-
tion” he said.
Myjawdropped.“You’vegottobe
kidding”Iexclaimed.“Didn’tIjust
pass your tests?”
“No. I wouldn’t kid about this. And
yesyoudidpassallthetests.”
Istaredathimdumbfounded.
He would tell me later that even

though I had passed all the tests

there was something in my account

thatsetoffalarmbells.“Youmight

be having what we call a stutter-

ingstroke(progressivestroke)”he

explained. “It happens over sev-

eral hours perhaps even several

days.You’velikelyhadanumberof

mini-strokessincethismorning.If

that’s the case the likelihood of be-

ingstruckbyalargerstrokeisvery

probable.”

Ilookedaroundtheroomtheni-

nallymadeeyecontact.“OK”Isaid.

Westeppedoutoftheexamination

roomandthedoctortalkedtoPat.

Shenoddedasheexplainedhisdiag-

nosis.henhetoldustotakeaseat.

Someonewouldbealongassoonas

they had a free bed.

Patsatbesidemeworkingona

crosswordpuzzlewhileIfussed

andsquirmedinmyseat.Iremem-

bertryingtoindacomfortableway

to sit something I suddenly found

extremely hard to do.

hen it happened.

Thelightstartedtodisappear.

Closeinonitself.Intoatunnel.

Soon there would be no light. here

wouldbeanabsence.Ofeverything.

Ofeveryone.OfPat.“I’m dying” I

said. I was terriied.

Diagnosis Confirmed

IcouldhearPatcallingforhelpasI

slowly slid to the loor. hen the room

illedwithintensewhitelight.Iwas

surrounded by people who hoisted

THE LIGHT STARTED

TO DISAPPEAR.

SOON THERE WOULD

BE NO LIGHT.THERE

WOULD BE ABSENCE –

OF EVERYTHING