One Night Before the Emergency Department

Relatives waiting outside the emergency room

At 8 p.m., Ms. Nguyen Thi Lanh (Ham Chinh Commune, Ham Thuan Bac District) hugged her handbag tightly to her chest, her eyes red and swollen. Her son had a traffic accident in the afternoon and was taken to the emergency room. “He is only 20 years old, I am so happy that he is safe…”, she said with a choked voice.

The wait outside the emergency room was unlike any other wait. There was no time limit, no commitment to results, and no promise of an end. Ms. Lanh added: “This is not the first time I have waited. I have waited for the bus to be an hour late, waited for my child to finish high school exams, waited for every penny I saved… But never has it felt as long as waiting for news from the emergency room. I am so worried!”

They stood and sat waiting for information about their relatives.

Indeed, looking at the young girl pacing back and forth in the hallway, her hands clutching each other. “My dad, he just had difficulty breathing, why did he have to go to the emergency room now? When he was brought in, he was still holding my hand… Waiting every minute, every second. Time has never passed so slowly. As long as the doctor comes out and says ‘it’s okay’, I can breathe again,” she said, her eyes red from crying too much.

During this time, every 15–20 minutes, an ambulance would arrive. Sometimes it was a taxi. Sometimes it was a motorbike carrying two people holding an unconscious person. A middle-aged woman was helped out of a taxi, unconscious from suffocation. A young man covered in blood was carried in from an ambulance, after a traffic accident that had happened not long before… Each hospitalization was a story. And each family member sitting outside held a heart that was straining to wait for a miracle.

There is an ambulance every 15 - 20 minutes.

At 10:00 p.m., the sound of an argument startled many people. A group of people involved in a traffic accident that happened a few hours ago had a conflict. The victim's family argued with the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident. Harsh words rang out, while the doctor was still trying to save the person inside. A security guard had to intervene. Finally, both sides fell silent, each returning to their waiting chairs, quiet and tired.

There are still arguments and loud voices here.

Then the phone rang incessantly. Relatives called to check on him, some to share their thoughts and encouragement, some to ask, “Is there any news yet?”. Thanh, who was probably in his 30s, took out his phone and answered it, then simply said, “No. Waiting!”

The feeling of waiting. Waiting for the doctor to call your name, waiting for the door to open.

Although they were very tired and stressed, they still tried to wait.

00:00, is the time of tension, tiredness, but no one sleeps... The later the night, the more silent the air. The loudspeaker rang out: "Patient Tran Van B's family, come see the doctor". The middle-aged man ran in quickly, a few minutes later, he had a slight smile on his lips: "It's okay... the doctor said it's okay...". He sat down, smiled, and held his relative's hand.

The night was over, and the morning finally came. Some people sat there, still without news. Others walked away, relieved or in pain. And anyone who has ever sat outside an emergency room, even just once, knows that there is nothing more precious than hearing the doctor say, “It’s okay.”

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/mot-dem-truoc-khoa-cap-cuu-130449.html