Christmas Eve night in the Emergency Room

Christmas Eve night in the Emergency Room

a Christmas story

fiction
edward w pritchard

Dr. Lewis was too old to work nights in ER but tonight he was pulling a four hour shift on Christmas Eve for an old friend. Dr Lewis was sitting in the ER with the young RN on duty and she was wrapping Christmas presents for her children for Christmas. It was a slow night and Dr. Lewis who was once chief surgeon here and later, but before this Christmas eve night, was on the board of Directors of this hospital. Dr Lewis  told the nurse she could wrap presents since they weren't very busy tonight.

About 4:30 AM a cab pulled up to ER and a young woman carried her three year old daughter into the reception area of ER where Dr. Lewis and the young RN were sitting and talking as the RN wrapped Christmas presents. The little three year old girl was barely breathing. Later, after the Doctor had diagnosed an asthma attack, the girl's first, which was scaring the Mother badly: Dr. Lewis wrapped the little girl in a blanket and took her out into the brisk night air to open up her lungs. 

Dr. Lewis never admitted the young girl figuring that anyone who drove up on Christmas eve in a taxi wouldn't have health insurance or much money. Since the little girl was doing better Dr. Lewis let the RN leave an hour early so she could drive the young Mother and the girl with asthma home; which also would let the RN get home to her family about a half hour before her own children woke up. Dr. Lewis also gave the Mother a prescription for an inhaler, a couple of sample inhalers for now and refered the little girl to a colleague.

A memo about the incident with the young girl not being properly admitted to the Hospital was put in the Hospital compliance audit file but nothing ever came of the matter since Dr. Lewis was long retired and was once Chief Surgeon and later on the Hospital Board of Directors. The Mother of that little girl sent a thank you card to Dr Lewis and another to the RN. It took a while for the thank you card to get from the Hospital where it was sent to Dr. Lewis but after he got it, the card sat on Doctor Lewis' mantel for a long time.
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