A Wobbly Reservoir

A young athlete stumbles around the emergency room like an old man.

By Paul Austin
May 29, 2004 5:00 AMNov 12, 2019 4:40 AM

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The emergency room was jammed, and 10 patients were waiting to come back from triage. Maria, the charge nurse, stared at the list of patients’ names, trying to find a way to open up some beds.

“If some can be seen in the hallway, I’ll be glad to start taking care of them,” I said. “We can start clearing out the backlog while we open up some spaces.”

“Works for me.” She asked the triage nurse to bring back a group.

The first was Joey, a blond 15-year-old who’d been having cold symptoms for six days. Good. Should be quick.

“Any other problems?” I asked, turning from the boy to his father.

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