How do I title this?

A friend of ours (Dastards and mine) is going in to have surgery on his rotator cuff (shoulder) and neither of his kids are here.  I realize that this isn't a major situation, but he thinks that he should just be shuttled to the hospital and dropped off.  I disagree.  Although his isn't a relation, he and his family have been a huge part of our lives.  He took Dastard in right after he was served divorce papers, he and his wife supported me when I had my mare and then lost her, his wife taught the oldest riding lessons long time ago, and so on.  Last year his wife, Anne, passed away unexpectedly.  Although she had been in poor health for quite a while, the last visit to the hospital was too much.  That was a year ago almost to the day.  I have been helping each Sunday to clean stalls since then and Dastard and I have tried to be there for Don.  The boys both live at least 8 hours away by car so I know it really isn't feasible for them to be here during the week.

So, I have told Don that I will be accompanying him to the hospital and staying.  In fact, I told him that when he is released tomorrow, I will be staying over night to make sure he doesn't have any trouble.  I admit, I'm a little paranoid.  My aunt had a similar surgery not that long ago and the first night home she almost OD on the oxycodone they gave her for the pain.  She lost track of how much she had taken.  If not for her son checking on her, we would have lost her for sure.  The paramedics asked him if she had a DNR that night.  Luckily she is slowly gaining ground even though it really took a lot out of her.  (The surgery and the OD)  I don't want to see Don go through that.

I am off to pick up my patient.

Would you rather
Spend three weeks in a lifeboat with a person who talks incessantly about his or her medical problems
OR
with someone who has a chronic wet, hacking cough?

Keep on Go!