just an average day at work − 5 October, 2004
i was in chicago for a brief visit with my family and friends. typically i have my entire weeks schedule booked from morning till evening whenever i visit. so when my friend marina called to ask me if i wanted to get together with her i told her that i did have one evening that i was free. marina was available too so we made plans for dinner.
we met at the rl restaurant downtown across the street from the water tower. i waited for her at the bar and noticed someone out of the corner of my eye who looked familiar. it was gabriel byrne. no one else noticed him. a few minutes later, marina arrived. she had worked the graveyard shift the night before. however, she didn't look tired at all.
we were seated at a table by the window. i order sauteed liver with carmelized onions. i don't know why i remember that. perhaps because it tasted a lot better than it sounded. i asked her about work and her job. she looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, *work is whatever.*
*what do you mean?,* i asked.
*well, the other night everything was really quiet all evening. nothing serious and i only had a couple of hours left in my shift. when they bring this young guy in.*
*what happened?*
*gang member, shot in the face. he looked like a mess.*
*you're kidding me.*
*no, what was really irritating was i remember him from before.*
*before? what do you mean?*
*a month or so ago, his friends brought him in. shot in the chest, i worked on him before.*
*now he was back again, right before my shift ended. just when i thought i was going to go home and have an uneventful evening. he comes in again.*
*so you saved his life before?*
*yeah and here he was again. he was a mess. there was blood everywhere. the bullet went through his cheek and got lodged in his jaw. he's lucky it missed his spine.*
*what did you do?*
*i didn't have time to give him any anesthetic because he had already lost so much blood. he was conscious. all i could think of was i can't wait to get the bullet out of this guy, fix him up so i can go home and go to sleep.*
*how do you feel about saving the life of a gang member? when you know he'll probably go out and kill someone or come back to the e.r. after someone tried to kill him again?*
*i don't even think about things like that anymore. its just an average day at work for me. as a physician i took an oath to save lives. it doesn't matter who the person is. i just do my job. like everyone else. some people work 9 to 5 in the office. my office is in the e.r. but i never know what to expect. some evenings are quiet others are like last night.*
*so what happened to this guy?*
*i got the bullet out.*
*so you saved his life.*
*i just did my job.*
we met at the rl restaurant downtown across the street from the water tower. i waited for her at the bar and noticed someone out of the corner of my eye who looked familiar. it was gabriel byrne. no one else noticed him. a few minutes later, marina arrived. she had worked the graveyard shift the night before. however, she didn't look tired at all.
we were seated at a table by the window. i order sauteed liver with carmelized onions. i don't know why i remember that. perhaps because it tasted a lot better than it sounded. i asked her about work and her job. she looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, *work is whatever.*
*what do you mean?,* i asked.
*well, the other night everything was really quiet all evening. nothing serious and i only had a couple of hours left in my shift. when they bring this young guy in.*
*what happened?*
*gang member, shot in the face. he looked like a mess.*
*you're kidding me.*
*no, what was really irritating was i remember him from before.*
*before? what do you mean?*
*a month or so ago, his friends brought him in. shot in the chest, i worked on him before.*
*now he was back again, right before my shift ended. just when i thought i was going to go home and have an uneventful evening. he comes in again.*
*so you saved his life before?*
*yeah and here he was again. he was a mess. there was blood everywhere. the bullet went through his cheek and got lodged in his jaw. he's lucky it missed his spine.*
*what did you do?*
*i didn't have time to give him any anesthetic because he had already lost so much blood. he was conscious. all i could think of was i can't wait to get the bullet out of this guy, fix him up so i can go home and go to sleep.*
*how do you feel about saving the life of a gang member? when you know he'll probably go out and kill someone or come back to the e.r. after someone tried to kill him again?*
*i don't even think about things like that anymore. its just an average day at work for me. as a physician i took an oath to save lives. it doesn't matter who the person is. i just do my job. like everyone else. some people work 9 to 5 in the office. my office is in the e.r. but i never know what to expect. some evenings are quiet others are like last night.*
*so what happened to this guy?*
*i got the bullet out.*
*so you saved his life.*
*i just did my job.*
Comments:
kga245 (December 18, 2006. 05:01pm)
Good story. Thanks for sharing.