Cool Tile Floor

My day didn't start out well on Wednesday. Actually, the night before didn't start out that well, either. The window by the bed was open to let the fresh, cold air into the room. Buddy was curled up right in front of the crack where the cold air would rush in on his huge frame. It's Buddy's favorite spot when the nights are brisk. But the cold air was making it hard for me to fall asleep. My toes were freezing! I drummed up enough courage to throw the covers off for just enough time to get myself to the closet to retrieve my heavy winter down comforter. Candace doesn't like the comforter because it makes her too hot, so I folded it in half and tucked the edge into the foot of my side of the bed. The warmth was immediately noticeable as I slipped deep under the weightless covers and turned on my side for a wonderful rest.

I fell asleep quickly and I don't think that I moved for the rest of the night. My next conscious thought brought me into a brightening day and the fact that I needed to take care of my morning business. I threw the covers back and began to roll out of bed when I was suddenly and violently slammed by a horrible cramp in my left calf. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!” was all I could let out of my mouth without using any objectionable language that early in the morning. I rolled to my other side, trying to realign my spine just enough to ease the pressure on the nerves. The cramp slowly subsided and I was finally able to step out onto the cold carpet and stretch out my aching muscle.

I limped to the bathroom feeling just a little bit light-headed and wondering what could be going on. I sat down for a moment to try and get myself stabilized but the dizziness worsened. “Am I about to die?” I wondered. “Is this what it feels like just before slipping into the next life?” I asked. The answer didn't come. I woke up lying flat on my back on the bathroom floor. Annie was licking my toes in an effort to wake me up. The tile floor felt cool against my back and I began thinking through a slow, deliberate self-examination. My head didn't hurt, so I must not have smacked it on the hard floor. All of my fingers and toes were wiggling, so there must not be any serious nerve damage. What had just happened? Annie continued to lick my toes and as my eyes finally opened her tail started to wag.

I lay there for a few minutes, feeling the cool tiles on my back and shoulders. Annie trotted out of the bathroom. Finally, I sat up and worked my way to my feet. The dizziness was gone as I walked back into the bedroom. “Where have you been?” came from under a hump in the covers. “I didn't know where you went. Where have you been?” I was a little embarrassed and just a little bit concerned as I told Candace, “I just found myself lying on the bathroom floor and I don't know how I got there.” The covers exploded away from her face and she looked at me with horror in her eyes. “Well, obviously you passed out!”

The same thing happened to me several years ago. I had laid down wearing my sweats and pulled a blanket over myself to get warm in front of the television set. I fell asleep there and when I woke up I felt extremely warm. I remember walking up the stairs but then found myself lying in a heap on the floor in the hallway. The doctor hadn't been able to find anything wrong with me and it didn't ever happen again, and so I just forgot about the whole incident. “I think I must have overheated. I think that's what must have happened the last time I passed out, too.” Candace wasn't consoled.

I hope that's all there is to it.