She lies. Seventeen is no better suited for extended periods of walking than ten.
Next up? The ground floor. On my way in at the beginning of the week I noticed signs for a coffee shop and some other services, so I figure there might be some open areas where I can walk. Not so much. Moreover, what few open areas I do find are floored with a brick-like tile with wide gaps for the mortar. The design may look nice, but dragging an IV pole across it is a nightmare. Time to move on.
In the elevator back to ten I bump into one of the fellow patients I talked with during our previous night's walk. He and his wife direct me to the "rooftop patient garden," which can be accessed off the seventh floor. So it's off at seven.
The rooftop garden is interesting. If you can look past the cyclone fence encircling the HVAC equipment, it's actually kind of nice. Planters and garden furniture pleasantly arranged looking out over the street below. Pleasant, but useless for walking with an IV pole. The uneven surface alone would be enough of a problem, but the planters, chairs and tables turns it into a bit of an obstacle course.
I'm out of idea, so I give up and go back to my room.
But later that day, Sib4 arrives and tells me about the skybridge. The skybridge serves to connect the building I'm in with one across the street, and one end connects to a wide, glass-lined hallway that runs the length of the building while the other extends all the way through the building opposite. Altogether it's probably the length of a football field, and on the weekend there are few people using it. It's long, wide and empty. It's perfect. And for the rest of the weekend I'll spend every non-sleeping, non-socializing moment (and many of the socializing moments) walking its length.
Did I mention that I really want to get out of this hospital?
Catherine is brilliant! Must run in the family....
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