It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25. I didn't think there would be any1, sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies2at my desk, a pale woman and four children.
"Are you all3?" I asked. "Yes," she said weakly and lowered her head.
But when it came to4of their problems, things got a little strange. Two of the children had headaches, but they didn't show any5of headaches at all. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother6of a cough but seemed to work to produce it.
Something was wrong. Our hospital policy,7, was not to turn away any patient. I explained it might be a little while before a doctor saw her. She responded immediately, even a bit8"Take your time," and then added, "It's warm in here."
Then, I checked their registration form out of curiosity. No address—they were9.The waiting room was warm. I went back to the nurses' station and mentioned we had a homeless10in the waiting room. The nurses, complaining of11on Christmas, turned to sympathy for a family just trying to get12on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there's a13emergency. But this was a Christmas emergency.
We were all14a free meal on Christmas Day, so we took back that meal and prepared a big dinner for our15.We needed presents. We16from different departments candies, fruits and other things17that could be presents. As seriously as we met the18needs of the patients, our team worked to meet the needs of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas.
19, as the family walked to the door to leave, the mother came20back, gave me a hug and whispered, "Thanks for being our angels today."
