I had double vision last night. The nurses made me an eyepatch.

Did it help?

Yes, it did.

I know you started off as a builder, then you became a doctor. Now you’re a pirate. I’ll ask them to colour your eyepatch black later.

Thanks.

If you wanted, I could prepare a wooden peg leg for you, but I’m not much of a surgeon. I heard on the news that there is a missing parrot flying around, maybe he could help too.

We talked about the surgeon that we both know in common at the last clinic. My son thinks he hasn’t seen him for 51 years.

I last saw him 23 years, four months, 13 days, and four hours ago. He made a strong impression on me.

How was your trip overseas?

It was good until the airline cancelled our return flights. My arms are still tired from swimming home.

Were you affected by the floods?

No, luckily not. I visited a friend of ours and their driveway wall had a brown watermark on it five feet high. They were flooded twice in one week.

I’ve been coughing up mucopurulent sputum. Some antibiotic treatment might be required.

I’m not sure if it would the right thing to do for you. You’ve got a bowel obstruction which is causing bad symptoms, which are likely to get worse. If I successfully treated a possible chest infection I might be prolonging your suffering. That’s something I don’t want to do. But if you really wanted to have antibiotics I would listen to you.

No, I’ll leave it to you to decide. I’m in good hands.

Let me shake your hand. It’s good to see you again.

I enjoyed your visit too.