Flash fiction, published at the Art of Emergency Medicine

Living in the ED

February 2020

I focus my attention on the cheap, off-white 2x4 foot drop ceiling tiles to distract myself from the sharp pain of the needle digging into my arm. My brain is perseverating on the emergency department. I feel as if I never leave the hospital. Even during brief, blissful periods at home, I often dream of being confined in the blue-grey walls of the ED. My goals are to recover from events I’ve endured, horrors I’ve seen, and mistakes that might have been made along the way…