Stubbornness (1)

11 p.m.

Phones rang all around, and monitor alarms screamed.

Nurses hurried back and forth, and interns paced anxiously.

I was already half out of my mind, wrestling with the pile of charts coming in.

My fingers tapped the keyboard mechanically, but my brain had long since switched to power-saving mode.

That was when it happened.

A triage note popped up with a ding.

“Uh... what kind of patient is this...?”

And then, before I had time to take in the situation, the stretcher cart pulled in by the EMT rolled toward me.

On it lay a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties, clutching his stomach...