Mother’ Love 2

This has bearing to one of my previous posts. Yesterday one of our old employees came to see me. He took my advice on some patient’s problem. Then he asked me if Dr. XXX was in the hospital. This was the same doctor I wrote about in my post ‘Mother’s Love’. “Yes, he is” I said. “Is he all right?” he asked. “He was looking quite OK today morning” I said. “Why do you ask?” “I rang him up the other day. He had told me it was best to call him after 9 P.M. So I rang up at 9:30 P.M. He picked up the phone. I told him I was so and so, and was from his hospital. Immediately he said Dr. XXX did not live there. I told him I knew his voice, and it was him. So he said that was not so, and gave me another number, saying Dr XXX would be there. I don’t know what was wrong with him. Why would he say he was not him?” “When was this” I asked. I was aware of Dr XXX’s phobia for telephone calls from the hospital. “Last month”. “Then it fits. He was on leave that time, and when we called his residence, his mother took the phone and told us he had gone to a place not known to her, for a period not known to her.” “But he was home. I know. I know his voice for so many years.” “You should not have said you were from this hospital. That must have put him off.” “I see! I even asked him if he was all right.” I laughed. One more piece had fallen in place. His mother had really told us an untruth, out of her love for her child (though the child was well above 50) and to protect him from the hospital. Perhaps she did not know what was the nature of the phobia for the hospital, but all she knew was she had to protect the son from whatever he feared.