I feel I must warn you...

I may be bad luck. Yesterday as I am walking up to the gym an ambulance pulls up and takes someone away that was on a raquetball court. I didn't see who it was or in what condition he or she was in, but it warranted a stretcher.

Today I come home and there are 2 cop cars and an ambulance outside of my apartment. My first thought was the lady downstairs must have died. As I drove closer I could see the door to her apartment open and 4 cops standing outside with my landlord. A week ago my landlord had asked if I had seen Betty recently but I hadnt, I have seen her only a handful of times since I moved in here. According to my landlord her son will call her every once in awhile when Betty stops answering the phone. Bob couldnt get Betty to answer the door so he called the cops to make sure she was ok.

Bob was talking to the cops and looked busy so I didnt want to interrupt so I went to my apartment without talking to anyone. While walking up the stairs I got a whiff of her apartment though and it was putrid, the same smell I get up the heater every once in awhile. It smelled like a bunch of cats had been locked in there for months with no litter box. So I stood at the window to see if she was coming out on the stretcher and in what condition she was in.

A few minutes later Betty comes out on the stretcher looking incredibly frail but she was talking and more importantly alive. I always thought of her as a mean lady because the few times I did she her she was always scowling, but in the stretcher she looked like a sad little old lady, not mean at all.

I dont know if she is going to be ok or if she is coming back, but I hope she is getting the help that she needs now. No one should die alone in their own apartment surrounded by filth.

And that is why I felt the need to warn you. Wherever I go lately there seems to be an ambulance whisking someone away so you may not want to invite me over anytime soon.