The Silence Is Over

So I'm sitting here in the EDECU (Emergency Department Extended Care Unit) at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) waiting.

No, I didn't bring my future child(ren) in for a checkup, nor did I bring in someone else's children. I'm nursing.

There are two nurses, one clerk, and one patient (with her mother). We are evidently providing fantastic care. And we are waiting for more patients to come back here (although none are slated as of now). The ED has been empty for the past two days, but now, suddenly (n.b., the Philadelphia fireworks ended about an hour or so ago) the waiting room is filling up with kids with burns, respiratory distress, trampling, cuts from broken glass, falls, overheating, and kids that have had constant fever for three days but now all of a sudden are here. Oh, and there's one with bleeding from the ear that started this morning, but the family was "out of the country" (wait, whatt???), so they came now.

In a few minutes one of the two of us will obtain a set of vital signs. Then we're free (aside from catastrophe or admission) for the next four hours. I have a book. She's reading news online. We already watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Here comes the rain again.