"The Respondent"

These are just some of the calls at my 2nd job I take in an evening for a medical answering service..

The caller on the other end explains, while sobbing, that her home needs an exorcism

because Satan is perpetrating Jesus Christ.  Only to conjure up all of her dead relatives to

haunt her dreams, and all of her waking hours.. I explain that the church will have to call

her in the morning as soon as they arrive!  I wish I could do more, I say, but what more could I do?!.....

~The Respondent~

The caller on the other end explains that there has yet been another suicide in a motel.  Last

week;  a hanging, this week in a home with a gun.  Someone's face needs to be cleaned off the floors. and walls.  Call in Trauma Scene Cleaners, and they come in swift.. detached.  No one will ever be the wiser..

~The Respondent~

The caller on the other end explains that she is only two months into her pregnancy and is hemorrhaging!   Just turned twenty-five, and this is her 1st..  I empathize, having a son myself, now twenty..  I patch her through to the Dr. stat!  I don't allow it to show in my voice but I know she's in trouble, and will most likely loose the life growing inside her!  

~The Respondent~

The Hospice Nurse explains on the other end that a young mother has just passed at home with her two young children by her bedside..  I try not to even get my mind around that kind of pain but I do, and it hurts so!  I have to get up and go outside for some air.. breathe in.. breathe out..  breathe in..  hold..................   breathe out!  Time to go home soon, just a few more traumas,  or disasters to ride out.. 

~The Respondent~

The nurse on the other end explains that a patient has just expired, and I am always compelled to correct them by saying, "passed away."  I realize that it is just a technical term but people  are more than an expiration date..  It is so unnatural to refer to someone leaving this earth in that manner!    

~The Respondent~

The Er Nurse explains on the other end that they need a stat consult for a face, and head trauma> young man on a motorcycle who was in fact wearing a helmet but did not have it fastened.. I pray and think about him through the night.. what were his dreams, did he have a sweetheart, was he going off to College in the Spring? ............. 

~The Respondent~

The caller on the other end explains that he has a bolt caught in his esophagus from holding them in his mouth while doing carpentry.  Hiccuping, he swallows the bolt - needing emergency surgery, his Dr. advises him to the nearest ER,  he will survive..  this was my last call for the night..  I need to rest!     

~The Respondent~

Author's Note

These are just a few of the calls I take in the evening at a Medical Answering Service.. {2nd job}* It can be very rewarding at times.. quite mentally exhausting as well!!!

Reviews

[Michael X]

I remember reading this before the great delete, as i found the meaning to be stunning, as well as the
seperate circumstances you had to deal with, its like watching the events unfold on t.v, i love the
overall creativeness you put into every well placed word, creating a scene unfolding before the readers
eyes, the fom is original, there is an astonishing dfepth in this writing to be pondered, impressive.

[Steffi]

This was a really unique piece. I think your voice really shines out in this piece.

[Yvonne Heidt]

Oh wow. I applaud you for your courage and strength to take these calls. I know that I would completely fall apart and make things ten times worse.

Very interesting and creative piece.