Scrub suits and lab coats came out of the woodwork as the paramedics rolled their cot into the exam room. The patient screamed on, pain peppered with, apparently, his three or four favorite words in a language nobody spoke. And he"d added a new trick, struggling to get off the cot. “Aswan,” he cried, or something like it. Then a scream. “Mennon! Gal!” Then another scream. And then, God knew why – Ben certainly didn"t – the patient shouted, “Tick. Tick!” as if he were a clock. It wasn"t funny; the guy was hurting. Still it was hard not to laugh as he started over. He had the attention of all assembled; pharmacy tech, lab tech, respiratory therapist, two nurses, and the ER unit clerk. “Aswan!”
“Whoa!” one of the techs said, covering her ears.
Ben caught the O2 bottle trying to jump the cot
