some sense into her and give her a
blanket and a ride back to the ER.
Maybe this time something will change.
Three hours later, Leena calls again,
about a block away from the ER where
we left her. A different crew attends to
her this time.
OVERDOSES ALWAYS GO up at the
beginning and the middle of each
month. I know more about social-
security cheques than I do about can-
cer, for sure. And people who have
run out of resources, who are lost and
scared and alone, will always vastly
outnumber people who happen to be
having a stroke or a heart attack.
There are just more of them. So as
long as 911 remains free and fast, the
bulk of our work will never be about
rapid transport.
In Evicted, Desmond writes, “There
are two ways to dehumanize: the first
is to strip people of all virtue; the sec-
ond is to cleanse them of all sin.” Des-
mond writes about his people, my
people, with compassion and detail.
He reminds me of their good days,
their happy moments in between the
rough patches. He fills in the story of
that month when we didn’t hear from
Leena, when she was well-fed and
staying with her auntie up north some-
where. It’s good for me to see that part
of the story, to remember the human
behind the call.
When we drop Susan at the emer-
gency room, my partner and I both
compliment her on her sweater. We
say it looks nice on her, and cozy in
the winter air. She smiles broadly. “I’ve
had it for so many years,” she says. “It’s
my favourite.” She pulls at the sleeves
and sets her chin in the knitted bundle
of cloth. I tuck her blanket in and wish
her the best. I hope she gets to feeling
better, gets her prescriptions sorted
and stays out of the hospital for a
while. In other words, I hope I never
see her again.FROM “REAL EMERGENCY” BY ELIZABETH ROSEN,
HAZLITT.NET (JUNE 27, 2018), HAZLITT.NETReading Riot
Just overheard someone say,
“I wish I had a Kindle that never ran out of batteries.”
You know. Like a book.
@JORDAN_STRATTONEveryone: Don’t judge a book by its cover.
People who make book covers for a living: Wait, what?
@SAGEBOGGSrd.ca 77