Anonymous Doctor

Two gunshot victims.

And, no, they didn't shoot each other.

The homeless lawyer I'd seen a few weeks ago returned, with no real medical problem but he'd figured out the system. If you get arrested, and you tell the police you have some sort of medical issue, they take you to the hospital instead of jail. Buys you a little time. Gives them a chance to decide to forget about it. He was caught shoplifting over-the-counter medicine to sell to other homeless people. He told the police he was having a seizure and needed medical attention. He wasn't having a seizure. But they didn't know, so they brought him into the emergency room just in case. He didn't remember meeting me.

I feel like the whole night was a bit of a dream. As a person, I feel so removed from this world I see as a doctor. I don't know criminals and gunshot victims. I don't travel in these kinds of circles. I went to a good college, a good medical school, I know lawyers and marketing directors and account executives. I know people who aim to one day live in the suburbs and be active members of the PTA. I don't know drug dealers. I don't want to know drug dealers. I don't want to know police officers. I don't want to know that the world is pretty messed up.

But at night I see people who don't know doctors. Who don't know lawyers and marketing directors and account executives. I'm as foreign to them as they are to me.

One of the gunshot victims died. I didn't even get to know his name. Shift was over before they looked for any ID.