The waiting room

Walking in to the room was an overwhelming experience. The triage nurses in the lobby of the Accident and Emergency unit took a few brief details then asked us to check in using the iPads on the wall just around the corner. As we turned the corner, it hit us that the waiting room was absolutely full. All the seats were taken, and people leaned against the walls and in the passageways, so that they had to shift every time someone went past. It was around 23:30 on a Tuesday. At this point, we had no idea that we would still be here nine hours later.A few hours earlier, Mr. Bsag had been making dinner, when a pan full of boiling water fell, soaking his bare left food and splashing his right hand and wrist. He is still not quite clear how it happened, but the end result was a severely scalded foot and wrist. We did all the first aid things (running under cool water for much longer than you think is neccessary, then covering with a piece of clean cling film), then debated whether this was…