The Sleep Doctor

Many of his patients seemed to suffer with the same affliction . . .

put on weight last Christmas, as people do.

“The extra weight around his neck has made him start snoring.

“Here’s a diet plan for him.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” He scribbled again.

“And ear plugs for you.”

****

While the diet plan took a little time to work – not least because it encountered some resistance on her husband’s part – the ear

What they complained about was often not their real problem

plugs worked from first application.

As soon as Angelina moulded the blue silicon dough into her ears, a beautiful silence enveloped her.

Gone were the police sirens, the scooters with broken exhaust pipes and the wild boar in the bedroom.

That night, for the first time in months, Angelina enjoyed an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

The following morning, unable to contain her happiness, she spread the news to all her friends and family.

Many of them confessed that they, too, had trouble sleeping and asked her for the “sleep doctor’s” address.

****

When his daughter had asked him to cover for her three-week holiday in the USA, Sergio had agreed with pleasure.

But now that he was in his third week, he felt a little tired.

Patients thronged the waiting-room from early morning till late in the evening.

Curiously, many seemed to have sleep problems.

“No coffee after dinner,” he told a sleepless patient with coffee-stained teeth.

“Keep your smartphone out of your bedroom,” he told a patient who kept checking his phone during the consultation. become a little punishing.

Working one day a week, on a Friday, had suited him well in the past, but working every day was a little too much for a man his age.

After his twentieth patient, he decided to take an informal little break.

He folded his arms on his desk, laid his head on them and, gazing at the tree out the window, let his eyelids droop just a little . . .

****

Luca had been told by his aunt Angelina about the wonderful Dr Sergio.

He confessed he was a little doubtful about a specialist doctor called a “sleep doctor”.

Specialists usually had difficult names.

Still, given that today was the man’s last day covering for his daughter, Luca decided he could do worse than give him a try.

When the receptionist called his name, Luca sprang to his feet and walked down the corridor, hoping that the sleep doctor knew his stuff.

He knocked gently on the door and, without waiting for an answer, opened it and walked in.

He saw the doctor and was much relieved – the man did know his stuff. With his head resting on his arms and a smile on his lips, the doctor was asleep.

The End.