164. John called the hospital his dad was in. John hoped he could make it through this call in one piece. He told the operator, "Can you connect me with my father? He's in room 455."

Moments later, his dad answered. "Hello." Then he coughed.

Not even recognizing his dad's voice, John said, "Hello. This is your son in Brooklyn. How are you doing?"

"Hi, son! I'm awake. How are you doing?" He coughed again.

"Better than you, that's for sure."

"Yeah, everybody's doing better than me."

"You've been in the hospital a week now, you know. Are they letting you eat anything solid yet? I heard all they were giving you was Jell‐O and lollipops."

"Yeah. I just finished eating cereal and milk."

"What kind of cereal?"

"Wheatina."

"Are you feeling any pain?"

"No, no pain. I'm just out of breath all the time. It's hard for me to talk." 2.1