Anonymous Doctor

The middle of an overnight shift.
In the call room.
Finally getting a chance to lay down for (hopefully) a little while, until the pager next goes off.

I hear a whirring outside the door.
It gets louder.
I open the door.

I see a man waxing the floor, with a very large and noisy piece of equipment.

"You gonna be in there long?" he asks.

"All night, except when patients need me. It's my call room-- and I'd like to try and get some sleep if I can."

"I need to know when you're gonna leave."

"When they page me."

"Yeah, when's that?"

"When something's going on with a patient."

"Yeah, I gotta wax the floor, so you're either in or out."

"No. I'm in, until my pager goes off, and then I'm out."

I close the door. I try and sleep through the noise.

Half an hour later, my pager goes off. Rapid response. I open the door. The guy is still waxing.

"You leaving?"

"I'll be back."

"How long?"

"I don't know."

He points. "You can't go down that hall or that hall."

"A patient isn't breathing."

"I just waxed."

"I have to get to this patient."

"You need to go around the other way."

"The patient!"

"Sorry. How long until you're back?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Doc, I'm just trying to do my job."