Friday, May 16, 2014

My heart broke

One of the hardest things about working in the Emergency Room is not showing emotion when hard things happen. There are other patients to take care of and lots of other things to do. I've had so many experiences when my heart has been broken to pieces for a family or a patient, but there are other patients who could really use a smile even though crying is all my heart wants to do.
I wrote this piece a few nights ago when I was at work and encountered a true tragedy. There was a million things to do and my heart was just about to explode with emotion. When I got home that night, I grabbed my journal and this is what flowed out.

There's still more to do
I feel you stare at me
as I walk away without a tear
in my eye.
I know you just lost
your daughter but now
is not the time for me
to cry.
My heart breaks
but you'd never know.
There's others who need a
smile and some encouragement.
I hear your wails
echo in the halls as your
husband has just passed.
I can't shed a tear
not now.
It's not the time
for me to cry.
He tells her it's cancer
at only 22 and nobody
has a clue what to do.
My heart breaks as
I see her family react to the
news.
We share a hug, but there's
more to do.
I've got to clean this, move her,
take blood to lab, grab a blanket,
do CPR, get his blood pressure.
I don't blink or flinch
all the while
my heart breaks.
The tears flow so easy
now that I'm alone.
You don't see me
cry, in fact you
probably don't think
I have a heart
at all.
I'll never be done.
Never forget your wails
of despair, the looks on
your tired face, the way you looked
when you departed this world at
only 19.
My heart breaks for you
but you'd never know.
There's still so much more to do.

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