I thought of her earlier tonight. I was 16, I was on the pediatric ward to get rounds of IV antibiotics to treat the MRSA infection in my lungs. Because I was the oldest kid on the floor by a lot and was supposed to stay in my isolation room while other people were out and about the nurses let me hang out with them (while wearing a mask and gloves) at the nurses station in the late evening. One night it was dark and quiet and all of a sudden I heard the most primal scream I’ve ever heard in my life to this day. A woman burst out of a room down the hall and threw herself screaming against the wall. I was ushered quickly into my room. The next day I asked about what had happened and they told me they weren’t supposed to say but because I had witnessed it, and was upset by it, they told me the why. Her child had just received a terminal diagnosis. She still haunts me, that scream… I’ll never forget it. I hope wherever she is now she’s found peace.
I thought of her earlier tonight. I was 16, I was on the pediatric ward to get rounds of IV antibiotics to treat the MRSA infection in my lungs. Because I was the oldest kid on the floor by a lot and was supposed to stay in my isolation room while other people were out and about the nurses let me hang out with them (while wearing a mask and gloves) at the nurses station in the late evening. One night it was dark and quiet and all of a sudden I heard the most primal scream I’ve ever heard in my life to this day. A woman burst out of a room down the hall and threw herself screaming against the wall. I was ushered quickly into my room. The next day I asked about what had happened and they told me they weren’t supposed to say but because I had witnessed it, and was upset by it, they told me the why. Her child had just received a terminal diagnosis. She still haunts me, that scream… I’ll never forget it. I hope wherever she is now she’s found peace.