"You know, my wife has been through a lot in the last year. And every time we get the same run around from her doctors and we're sick of it. We are paying you to help her, and she only gets worse and worse! You're just wasting our time here. So we ask you again, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?!" Y's husband's bulging eyes held mine as his voice crescendoed into a passionate outburst. Daring me to look away and crumble into an apology.
"I'm surprised you stayed in there for as long as you did," the nurse said to me as we stepped out of the room. "You were so patient." Shrugging, I gave a non-committal reply with a deflective smile, per my usual. "I had time." As I walked down the halls of the nursery to finally hopefully eat lunch at 2 pm, my response echoed in my head. You didn't have the time, M. But you needed to MAKE the time for this. How else was I going to drown out the cries of my 90 year old patient from this morning? "Why hasn't God taken me yet? I can't bear this anymore!"