The dance of the emergency room

I’m fine. Woke up with a sore leg, directed to the ER for some just-in-case tests, and ended up staying four hours as the least critical person there. I was in one of those medi-cubicles in the middle of the main hallway, separated by a half-closed sliding curtain, with nothing but time to observe and listen: The orderly who wheeled me to x-ray down a maze of basement hallways, dodging maintenance carts, workers on ladders fixing things above the drop ceiling, people moving at every speed, patients on beds against the walls sleeping off whatever they’d gotten into the night before, with inches of clearance on either side of the wheelchair but navigating with smooth confidence. A new doctor melting with questions and gratitude when a senior doctor came by on his off day to check in, and the senior doctor saying ten variations of “you got this.” Techs with rolling scanners knowing when to stay a little longer in adjacent rooms to comfort the people in there, and take their questions. A…