He was just doing his job when he heard it.
The plumber from the hospital’s maintenance department had fixed the tap and was walking back through the ward when he heard the groans. He stopped and looked in. An orderly was adjusting a patient’s elevated leg. It was raised up at a forty-five degree angle and covered with plaster. The patient was obviously in a lot of pain. He just stood there watching for a moment when the orderly looked up and grimaced. He came out and joined him in the hall.
The plumber nodded at the man in the bed, saying, “Looks nasty.”
“It is.” He lowered his voice, “Poor guy. He suffers from Pica.”
“What the hell’s that?”
“It’s a psychological condition. My mate’s kid had it when he was young. I’m no expert of course, but it’s a compulsive eating disorder.”
He looked back in at the leg. “What kind of disorder?”
“People like him eat things that aren’t food.”
The other looked surprised. “What sort of things?”
“Dirt and clay mostly, but it can be a whole lot of other stuff in some cases.”
“Other stuff?”
“Yep. Chalk, string, cloth, charcoal, even pebbles and rocks.”
“Wow!”
“Right! This case is pretty sad. It’s mainly something kids go through, but sometimes it carries through into adulthood.”
The plumber looked into the room again. “OK, but if it’s psychological,” he said, “why is he in a hospital bed?”
“Oh! I see what you mean. It seems he was on an overseas holiday when it happened. He was biting the ear off a sandstone statue in the town square.”
“Sandstone? You said some patients have been known to eat pebbles and rocks. Sandstone’s not so bad, is it?”
The orderly shrugged. “The statue was on a plinth; he fell from a height of over eight metres. That’s how he broke his leg.”