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January 10 - January 13, 2025
Hours awake: 5 Chance of Mrs. Jefferson getting to go home this week: 15% and falling
(he’s a Founding Father),
He eyes the patient, with his wonky pupils, the drool pooling in the corner of his mouth, and the feeding tube in his belly.
Congratulations,” he says. “Your patient lives another day.”
dawg SHUT UP
Then I remember: Mrs. Jefferson is in Room 327B. And then I run.
Hours awake: 20 Chance of Mrs. Jefferson living till morning: ?????????
Oh God. She’s going to die. Somehow at that moment, I know it with absolute certainty. I look over at Thomas Jefferson and I realize that he knows it too.
I leave the room with everyone else, my heart still pounding in my chest.
Her gown has been pulled down by the code team and he gently rights it for her. He picks her limp hand off the bed and strokes her smooth, unlined face with his other hand. With her eyes closed, she seems so peaceful.
“It’s all over, Markie,” he says gently. He brushes away a strand of hair that has fallen in her face. “All your suffering is finally over. You’re free.”
I watch them for another minute before I race to the bathroom just in tim...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Hours Awake: Oh, fuck it all to hell
I promised him.
A vein starts to throb in my temple.
I jerk my head up to look at Alyssa, who is silent. Not acknowledging the fact that she was the one who misread the X-ray as negative.
And now that patient is dead.
Like she’s nothing. Like her death didn’t even matter.
“This is your fault,” I hiss at Alyssa. My cheeks feel like they’re blazing. “You are the one who read the X-ray. You read it wrong!
If you were competent at your job, that woman would still be alive right now.” Alyssa stares at me, shocked by my outburst. “Jane, I didn’t—” “Didn’t what?” I burst in. “Drop the ball? Obviously you did. You talk about high standards and being knowledgeable when it comes to total bullshit, but when it’s actually important and a person’s life is at stake, you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. You can’t even read a goddamn chest X-ray!”
“You killed Mrs. Jefferson,” I practically spit at her. “You deserve to lose your license.”
“You need to go apologize to her, Jane,” he says. I nod. I can’t believe he finally got my name right. And now he’ll remember it forever.
My chest tightens. She’s not going to jump, is she?
None of these people have any idea that Mrs. Jefferson just died.
But I know. And I will always remember.
I didn’t want to say anything that would make her take a flying leap off the roof of County Hospital.
it’s like throwing a piece of paper into a completely full trash can and just watching it bounce off and roll away.
How does she have pit stains? It isn’t even that hot in here!
Hours awake: 18 Chance of quitting: 0.1% (Hey, after spending five freaking years in medical training, what else could I possibly do??) Chance of living happily ever after:
