file under: work-related

seeing a friend's name on an admission slip from the ER was strange. i had to call N at home just to verify that it was indeed the person that we know. luckily, it wasn't an injury or anything trauma-related and she was able to go up to the 16th floor without much delay.

the porters wheeled her bed right by my desk as they headed for the large elevators that take patients up from the ER. she was on her side in the bed, her head turned away from me. i recognized her hair.

watching her pass by and not saying anything was such a strange feeling, but it would've been awkward to get her attention just then. i would later sneak up to the floor after my shift was over, before visiting hours officially started. it was tuesday morning by then - a surprisingly rainy day. she had a bed by the window. everything was gray out.

i was thinking about that on my walk to the subway tonight, how the ER is actually referred to as "emerge" in canada. i've never heard anyone call or refer to it as the ER, which somehow strikes me as odd. usually, it's abbreviated as "ED" here, but sometimes the rarer "EMG" gets thrown out as well.

just as it was occurring to me that EMG are also the initials for our friend that was admitted the previous night, i heard the unmistakeable crunch and pop of a snail's shell being crushed under my foot. i cringed reflexively and quietly muttered a "fuck" under my breath, too late to tread lightly.