Holding a Fake Hand

Last night I dreamt I was lying in a hospital bed, a few months pregnant. I couldn't remember who the father was, as if conception had happened years and years ago. Thinking about it now, I was younger in the dream. I lived with my parents. Anyway it wasn't a happy occasion and I felt very vulnerable.

The hospital I was in had to be evacuated, so a nurse came in to get me ready to leave. (Many of these conditions I recognize from conversations I've had and books I've read recently.) I felt afraid and lonely and reached for the nurse's hand. Holding his hand made me feel much better and the anxiety disappeared. Noticing that the nurse was still going about the business of getting me ready to leave, I looked down and saw I was holding not his hand but a very realistic rubber hand affixed to the side of the bed, no doubt to comfort patients.

I thought, Fascinating, a fake hand - and it works. I must blog about this!

(image from internet - sorry, lost source)

Dream Influences

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

"Rethinking Life and Death" by Peter Singer.

Reading a housing-wanted flyer posted by a male nurse last night.

Listening to Jaimie Warren talk about working night-shift in a hospital.