Pinching Possum Impostors

One of our patients felt like playing dead tonight. Patients sometimes like to do that. I really don't know why. The aide who found him like that, started yelling his name, tapping his arm and shaking him. He lay there limp and unresponsive.

I was sitting outside the door waiting to see where this was going. I'm sick to death of this patient and I was hoping for the best or worse, depending upon your frame of reference.

Suddenly, the patient hollered, "Stop it."

The aide said, "Oh good, you're awake."

The patient kept on yelling, "Stop pinching me. Stop it."

The aide said, "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

He kept screaming, "Stop it. Stop it. Don't pinch me."

The aide laughed.

For another minute or so he yelled at her to stop pinching him. The aide had a smug smile on her face when she came out of the room. We're not supposed to torture patients for fun like that. I should have intervened, but I was enjoying it too much. Maybe next time he'll think twice before playing possum with us again.