Among the Nobodies
Paul came into the emergency department borne by paramedics on a county stretcher, all of his possessions stuffed into a five-gallon plastic bucket. His beard was long and matted. His clothes were threadbare. Torn shoes. No socks. Nothing to look at. The triage note read: “Homeless, known to ED, no acute distress.”
My fellow emergency staff and I parked him in the hallway—not out of cruelty, but of necessity. The department was overrun.
Even so, I paused. He looked tired, thin, almost timid.
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