Reliving the day
================

* Jacqueline Darcey

> There's a general hum on the wards:
> 
> Beeps, bells and buzzers
> 
> Mixed with carts rolling, drawers opening and
> 
> Voices helping.
> 
> An occasional delirious, “*Nurse*!”
> 
> Rings out, followed by
> 
> A soothing reassurance.
> 
> It's a measured calm, a sensation of
> 
> Welcome.

> Without warning a chasm opens wide around us,
> 
> The air from our lungs sucked into its depths.
> 
> Panicked shouts are followed by
> 
> Overhead pleas;
> 
> The mood turns tense with the electricity of
> 
> Fear.
> 
> Runners pass by, ruffling onlookers' hair
> 
> With their breeze, like the
> 
> Breath that is missing.

> A frenzied pace settles in
> 
> Along with a desperate hush.
> 
> The chaos turns into a
> 
> Resolute cycle of, “1, 2, 3, 4…”
> 
> As breaths are squeezed and elixirs infused.
> 
> 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes tick by and
> 
> The silence is peppered only with orders.
> 
> The silence is deafening;
> 
> The anticipation, immense.

> At once the quiet is shattered;
> 
> Not by noise, but by movement.
> 
> People walk slowly away,
> 
> Shoulders slumped and hopes dashed.
> 
> Beeps, buzzers and bells begin again,
> 
> No longer muted from the urgency.
> 
> Carts start to roll, and
> 
> As the chasm slams shut,
> 
> The sobbing begins.

## Footnotes

*   Competing interests None.

*   Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.