Escape from Alcatraz

There's an old Scottish guy who frequents the hospital acute care hallways in a wheelchair. There are lots of people in this hospital but just like everywhere else there's a few that stick out. What makes this guy interesting is that he's highly, highly motivated to get out of this place. This of course I have great deal of respect for but Jimmy (what I refer to him as because I don’t know his name yet) takes it upon himself to leave at will usually around midnight into -30C and nowhere to go but the Georgetown Inn all of this in his wheelchair, a gown and a incorrectly strapped on prosthetic leg. Now Jimmy’s an old guy but I also think there's something going on with his head. I'm not sure if he hit it at some point or what but the point being he's not all there. Which by the way is the worst type of injury any human can have, I'd take losing my arm over that any day. Jimmy is usually caught fairly quickly when he fly’s the coop usually because his attempts are impulsive and ill planned. Over the past couple months I've had a couple conversations with him. They're usually one sided with Jimmy explaining to me how impossible it is to escape. At this point Jimmy has attempted to extricate so many times that the staff simply just confiscate his prosthetic leg and besides the times when he gets really riled up this usually keeps him at bay.
To be honest these exchanges between the two of us didn’t really register. Jimmy had his shit going on and I had mine. That is until this morning.

Yesterday was a really tough day for me, one of the toughest I've had. The morning started off with my doctor dropping the bomb that I should start getting used to the idea that I'll have but one functional arm for the rest of my existence, he offered me a councillor to speak to, tapped me on the shoulder and left to see his next patient. That kind of shit is heart breaking, I shed a couple self indulgent tears picked myself up and then wheeled myself to Physio to drop the hammer the best I can to sort this out. Dropping the hammer physically is how I've always sorted life’s jabs out, I learned that young. Frustration builds over time and yesterday it was piling on. Everything was and is up in the air, thoughts of never being able to climb again or work again at my job. Basic things like having to relearn write with my left hand and the list goes on. To top it off the thing about hospitals is that you have absolutely no privacy and when you have over bearing all knowing roommates the frustration builds even more. Next on the list, I find out my appointment with the Neurosurgeon is booked 6 weeks from now leaving me of course to be "patient" because nerves take time. By the time 7pm rolled around I was ready to hit the Physio gym again to pull a couple 1lb deltoid lifts to burn some steam off. My friend Ken had just shown up and I wheeled down towards the gym with him. To make a long story short the hospital staff locked me out of the Physio room saying it was against regulation for patient to be there on there own, and hence denying a caged animal any brief interlude of solace.

The logic hence forth was very clear to me.
Time to get the #%$%* out this place! I'd had enough, of it all. I let out a blood curdling howl of frustration and proceeded to commandeer ken to help me bust out. Ken whom is a free animal with very much the same characteristics was immediately a wing man ready to help get me out no matter what the cost. He knew the cage was eating me alive. I collected a jacket and my expensive kit and wheeled past the nurse’s desk at a low mach, to fast for any encumbered pill carrying nurse to catch me flying by.
Good riddance.
To make a long story short I tweaked my broken leg obtaining a little piece of freedom but I made it to my parents house a human being again. Hallelujah!
A word to the wise, parents don’t like when you break out of hospitals and almost re-injure broken limbs. I managed to convince them that I would be ok staying the night and that I would give myself up in the morning. One night of freedom was like climbing the Chief that night.
The next morning I wheeled myself back towards my cell passing Jimmy on my right. At the moment I understood Jimmy and his plight. I hung my head low as I wheeled by him, another escape foiled. Back to my cell for another industrial hospital breakfast...

This story is in no way disrespect against the nursing staff of the Canmore hospital, they have been nothing but amazing to me.