History Main / SickbedSmuggling

Why not smuggle it in? Maybe it's something as simple as a candy bar that isn't allowed in due to the patient's dietary restrictions or just being frowned upon by doctors. Maybe it's a pleasure or vice of theirs that is certainly banned like a cigarette or a cigar [[HypocriticalHumor (in spite of the fact that plenty of doctors smoke]] [[LoopholeAbuse --albeit they do it outside)]]. Maybe it's a furry friend who wants to cheer up the convalescent, although if the dog is too big and/or noisy, the jig is likely up. Also worth noting that if the person who does the smuggling is caught, then they could either have the object confiscated or they could be kicked out, if not banned altogether. The patient themselves sneaking in or having the forbidden item delivered to them isn't underheard of, either (i.e., take-out food).

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

[[AC: Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW'' after Pizzazz's car accident, the rest of The Misfits manage to smuggle in while visiting her in the hospital her beloved Siamese cat Madmartigan, to her joy.

[[AC: Films: Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheBoysFromBrazil'': While recovering in hospital from gunshot wounds, Ezra Liebermann is visited by his Nazi-hunting protege. The young man asks if Liebermann has the list of adoptive fathers kept by Doctor Mengele. Before answering, Liebermann produces a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, remarking that his personal nurse is "an angel of mercy" for giving him these supplies. Liebermann has the list but uses the lighter to ignite it before his protege can read it. By Liebermann's ethics, hunting Nazis is A-okay, but targeting their children, even adoptive clones of Hitler, is out of bounds.
* Played with in ''Film/HardToKill''. Andy is a nurse herself who sneaks in a small kitten to a comatose Storm (with the joke being "Would you like a little pussy today?")
* In ''Joni'', the title character's boyfriend climbs up several flights of stairs to sneak a puppy inside of his jacket to her after she was left paralyzed in a diving accident.
* In ''Series/LoveLiesAndMurder'', [[ManipulativeBastard David]] sneaks in fast food to his hospitalized daughter, Cinnamon, who unsuccessfully tried to kill herself after killing her stepmother under his demands.

[[AC: Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'': At the end of the book when Harry is in the hospital wing, Dumbledore reveals Fred and George Weasley attempted to give Harry a toilet seat as a get-well gift ([[BrickJoke calling back to when Harry overheard their mother warn them not to blow up a toilet at the beginning of the school year]]). Madame Pomfrey caught them and refused to allow it for hygiene reasons.
* A ''[[Literature/ChickenSoupForTheSoul Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul]]'' story had a high school girl sneak a box of cherry cordials to her [[PlatonicLifePartners best male friend,]] who was terminally ill in the cardiac ward and forced to eat "mushy-looking food".

[[AC: Live-Action TV]]
* The first season's ThanksgivingEpisode of ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' offers a downplayed and invoked combination of this and a JailBake. Eric's sister Julie, having hit rock bottom due to her drinking, is allowed to detox in the Camden home under his and Annie's guise. In the midst of this, she requests Matt to sneak her in a beer. When he flatly refuses, she [[GetOut angrily kicks him out of the parents' room]] and starts yelling how much she hates him.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': In the season seven episode "[[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS7E6Raw Raw]]'', Fin sneaks in Munch's favorite food, a fig shake, while Munch is hospitalized after being shot.

[[AC:Music]]
* A line in "Only God Can Save Us Now" by Over The Rhine, a song about the memory care unit in a nursing home: "Sneak us in some whiskey 'cause it's probably not allowed."

[[AC:Stand-Up Comedy]]

-->''[doctor voice]'' "We are a rehab. I cannot give you a Schedule II narcotic under Pennsylvania state law." And I said, "Pennsylvania state law? Well, what if we go to a pharmacy in New Jersey?" You see, I thought he was telling me about a predicament that we were ''both'' caught up in.

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show". After an April's Fools prank by Bart lands Homer in the hospital, Moe sneaks him in a can of Duff beer. Since beer was the cause of his hospitalization, he rejects it in fright, which causes Barney to [[VorpalPillow "suffocate" Homer with a pillow]] to end his pain and he then [[Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest uses a water fountain to "escape" from the premises]] to Homer and Moe's confusion.

[[AC: Real Life]]

Compare with JailBake (the jail/prison equivalent). See also CoatFullOfContraband, TrojanHorse, or FalseFlagOperation. If it's a pet, it might be because there are NoAnimalsAllowed. Since this trope is usually done with compassionate intentions, it's unlikely to end in a SickbedSlaying.

Why not smuggle it in? Maybe it's something as simple as a candy bar that isn't allowed in due to the patient's dietary restrictions or just being frowned upon by doctors. Maybe it's a pleasure or vice of theirs that is certainly banned like a cigarette or a cigar [[HypocriticalHumor (in spite of the fact that plenty of doctors smoke]] [[LoopholeAbuse --albeit they do it outside)]]. Maybe it's a furry friend that wants to cheer up the convalescent, although if the dog is too big and/or noisy, the jig is likely up. Also worth noting that the person who does the smuggling is caught, then they could either have the object confiscated or they could be kicked out, if not banned altogether. The patient themselves sneaking in or having the forbidden item delivered to them isn't underheard of, either (i.e., take-out food).

* In ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW'' after Pizzazz's car accident, the rest of The Misfits manage to smuggle in while visiting her in the hospital her beloved Siamese cat, Madmartigan, to her joy.

* ''Film/TheBoysFromBrazil'': While recovering in hospital from gunshot wounds, Ezra Liebermann is visited by his Nazi-hunting protege. The young man asks if Liebermann has the list of adoptive fathers kept by Doctor Mengele. Before answering, Liebermann produces a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, remarking that his personal nurse is "an angel of mercy" for giving him these supplies. Liebermann has the list, but uses the lighter to ignite it before his protege can read it. By Liebermann's ethic, hunting Nazis is A-okay, but targeting their children, even adoptive clones of Hitler, is out of bounds.

* In ''Joni'', the title character's boyfriend climbs up several flights of stairs to sneak in a puppy inside of his jacket to her after she was left paralyzed in a diving accident.

** Subverted with Steven Assanti. Although a news report states that the primary reason he was kicked out of a previous inpatient weight loss in Delaware was because he had ordered a pizza to his room, the main reason was his utterly abusive treatment of the hospital staff.

* As mentioned in the ''Wendy Williams: The Movie'' example, cell phones are usually banned from rehabilitation programs out of fear of the patient using the phone to either leave prematurely or to procure more substances. This is played with regarding hospitals in general. While in some circumstances, wireless phones are still restricted due to indeed interfering with sensitive medical equipment, thanks to the obvious need to have access to them and [[TechnologyMarchesOn technology marching on,]] phones aren't outright ''banned'' in most situations.
* In certain scenarios, the banning of pets in hospitals is averted. Obviously, cats or dogs wouldn't be appropriate for a critically ill/comatose Intensive Care Unit patient, but there are highly-acclaimed programs where animal companions are allowed to cheer up patients or offer practical assistance. This can be along the lines of a guide dog or even an emotional support animal.

* Happens frequently in ''Series/My600LbLife''. Relatives of morbidly obese hospital patients will often sneak in forbidden, high-calorie food to them to Dr. Now (and the audience's) immense chagrin.

* As mentioned in the ''Wendy Williams: The Movie'' example, cell phones are usually banned from rehabilitation programs out of fear of the patient using the phone to either leave prematurely or to procure more substances.
** This is played with regarding hospitals in general. While in some circumstances, wireless phones are still restricted due to indeed interfering with sensitive medical equipment, thanks to the obvious need to have access to them and [[TechnologyMarchesOn technology marching on,]] phones aren't outright ''banned'' in most situations.

* Creator/JohnMulaney plays this for BlackComedy in ''Baby J'', talking about how on his first day in rehab for drug abuse, he tried to talk ''the doctor'' into smuggling him more drugs.

* In certain scenarios, the banning of pets in hospitals is averted. Obviously, cats or dogs wouldn't be appropriate for a critically ill/comatose Intensive Care Unit patient, but there are highly-acclaimed programs where animal companions are allowed to cheer up patients or offer practical assistance. This can be along the lines of a guide dog or even an emotional support animal.

Indexes: GiftTropes, HospitalTropes, LoveTropes, SmugglingIndex, ASafeIndexToHide
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