“Do your parents realize that he could die?”
I had been summoned to the workspace of the ED physician who was trying to save my brother’s life. I remember noticing that he was short with thick brown hair and a crisp white coat which were both too tidy and incongruent with the message he was delivering. He struck me as someone who was earnestly playing the role of a physician instead of actually being one. I glanced over my shoulder and saw my parents waiting outside of Kevin’s ED room looking so old and helpless.
By now, I was feeling guilty that I had been irritated by my mom’s 2:00 a.m. phone call. My mom can be quick to ring the alarm bell, and I was expecting to be unimpressed when I arrived. So I was shocked to see the blood pressure of 50/30 emblazoned on Kevin’s bedside monitor and to hear that the team was planning to intubate him emergently. This was the real deal.
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