The Morals of a Nursery Rhyme

Yes, well, a human body's only supposed to take so much -- both his and yours.  I certainly hope there's no guilt attached to this. 

The white in the hospital picks up the mention of white powder nicely, giving that a taste of irony.  In the first stanza you have "afraid that might die" -- a typo?  Should there be a "he" in there?

"Like clockwork" -- to mix nursery rhymes, what about "like blind-mice clockwork" or something?  (Sorry, can't see a clock mentioned without thinking of the tail-less trio).  Though to be pedantic, the boy who cried wolf is technically a fable or folk tale, not a nursery rhyme.

Perhaps I'm a sadist, but I confess I read this with a certain feeling of satisfaction.