Young male nurse who helped us at the ER: "Is that linen?"
Me: "Huh?"
RN: "Is that linen? Your shirt, is that linen?"
Me: "Uh, yeah, it is."
RN: "I love linen."
Me: "Uh, yeah..."
So, we had to take our little Zoe to the Children's Hospital ER Sunday night. She's been battling with what we thought was pneumonia for about a week. She's not responded to antibiotics at all so we thought she needed help. We found out that she has a respiratory virus, hence the reason antibiotics aren't working.
Anyhow, the guy who checked us in and got us in a room was the person inquiring about my linen shirt. Seems he's in to the whole medieval dress up thing. He told us that it's hard and expensive to find the type of clothing for his extra curricular activity, so he taught himself how to sew and now makes his own clothes. At first I thought his conversation was a little odd, given the circumstances and all, but then I realized that he was just being kind. He was making conversation-any conversation to pass a few minutes, to lighten up the situation a bit...to take the edge off. It worked.
By the time we were finished and walking out the door we were talking to everyone in our area of the ER like we had known them for years. Everyone was smiling and waving and cramming more stickers into Zoe's hands-wishing her the very best.
What a job. That place was absolutely nothing short of insane. From where I was sitting it was total chaos. Our nurse told us it was a really calm night. Everyone there was so very kind-except for the patients-all children (a constant stream of no less than 200 or so)-who were screaming and crying and sick and in pain.
I was so thankful for those people who must really love their jobs. How else could they do it? I mean when I got there I was stressed. At that point Zoe had been sleeping for about a week with a fever floating between 102 and 105. Her lungs didn't sound good. I knew something was very wrong. So, by the time we made the decision to go to the hospital I was pretty worried. Everyone there made a concerted effort to smile and speak kindly to us. I'm sure they knew I was worried-which parent who brings their child to the ER isn't? Nonetheless, I was amazed at their patience and their joy. Really. I sat and watched them interact with very upset parents and children and all the employees were calm, loving and genuinely concerned for every person they encountered. I was amazed and impressed with it all.
We're home now, thanks be to God. The Dr. didn't feel Zoe warranted a stay-just close monitoring. If she's not doing well in a few days we will go in for some tests. I ask for your prayers for this little one. She needs to make some improvement over the next couple of days. Also, say a little prayer for all those Dr.'s and nurses, EMT's, paramedics and employees who work crazy hours and take care of people. I personally can't imagine doing those jobs, but clearly they can.
