Anonymous Doctor

"Mr. Walker said he thinks I'm an incredible doctor."

"You realize Mr. Walker also called the meat loaf incredible, right?"

***

Oh, come on.

Give me one moment to believe I can do this.

Give me one moment to forget about the sixteen times I stuck someone with a needle looking for a vein, lying to him through the whole process, telling him this was normal, telling him it takes every doctor this many jabs to get blood.

Yeah, every doctor who doesn’t know what he’s doing.

"This makes your veins healthier."

"I’m just trying to air out your skin."

"These holes will make it easier for you to breathe."

Believe me, it’s hard to keep a straight face. But this is the job. Stabbing sick people, fruitlessly, over and over again, without laughing.

And then the attending has to go and ruin what I'm pretty sure is the only compliment I’ve been given by a patient the entire month I've been in the ER.

Argh.