My patient sleeps peacefully.
I wake him guiltily.
I don’t want my face to be the first he sees.
We love you, Pop-Pop,
the whiteboard reads.
No code,
the chart reads.
Later
the neurology attending
hurriedly packs his case
reflex hammer flying.
My wife went into labor
He says.
I’ve got to get going.
I sit, in the empty
conference room,
feeling something
a little like joy,
a little like loss.
The presentation about gait
is still on the projector.
I wonder how long
it will stay there.
I wonder if,
after his stroke,
will my patient ever
walk again?
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Writers-in-Training Intern and Contributing Writer
Geisinger College of Health Sciences
Ceili Hamill is a medical student at Geisinger College of Health Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Class of 2025. In 2020, she graduated from Saint Joseph's University with a Bachelor of Science in biology. Ceili is also a student member of the Health Humanities Consortium and of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care. She enjoys reading, baking, and playing with her pug Poppy in her free time. After graduating medical school, Ceili would like to pursue a career in pediatrics.