Another Day in Haiti

Was I not supposed to notice that you were weak from being up all night with diarrhea when you arrived at the hospital on the back of a motorcycle carrying a chaise lounge because you heard there were no beds in the hospital? Did I get out of the way fast enough when you wanted to pull into the hospital because your wife was ill and tired from all night sitting on a bucket? Did you know she would die when she stepped out your car at the front gate of what you thought was help at last? Did she have time to kiss the children goodbye when you left? Baby-girl, did your wrists and ankles hurt after the nurses poked them trying to find veins to start your IV? Were you too long in pre-admission or did you wait too long at home before you decided to go the hospital? Did you tell them you were only 2 years old? Who gave you the water you had been drinking? Did you notice your Aunt was holding up the IV bag because there were no more stands? What were you thinking about while you were waiting for your Mom to return from carrying in some water to wash your soiled clothes? Was the line long at the spout along the street? I guess you heard the well pump was broken at the hospital. You think the water coming in from the city in contaminated? Most people are saying the same thing. Is it like this in other countries? (That is a good question.) Did you wipe your feet on the mat full of bleach before you walked inside? There is no more bleach left in town? Did it help you to hear the singing of hymns during the night? They sang for a long time didn’t they? I wish I could tell you why roosters start crowing at 2:15am. I’m sorry that we drove past you while you were taking a bath in the middle of the street just because there was water bubbling up from a broken pipe. Maybe you thought that no one would be around at 4:30 in the morning. We were on our way back to the States but you were getting ready for another day in Haiti.