Waylaid

I was all set to do my usual weekend chores and write my usual weekending post, but things veered off in a sightly different direction. I got started on my list - taking the sheets off the bed, getting them started in the washing machine, gathering towels for the next load, making the bed with flannel sheets, loading my car with all the things I got rid of during my first round of Swedish Death Cleaning - and then sat down to check email while the first load of laundry finished. I often quickly delete emails trying to sell me something, but this time I actually read through the one from Amazon telling me about Prime Reading. I had never used this before as I can't even keep up with my Overdrive requests, but I decided to take a look. I stumbled upon Trauma Room Two, borrowed it, and that's when I got waylaid.

It's a collection of short stories written by an emergency room physician. Unlike other medical fiction I've read before, these stories are written with enough medical detail to ring true, and enough honesty and emotion to be profound and poignant. I started reading the first story, told myself, "just one more" and then read three. I made myself go hang out laundry and get the next load of towels started, but then had to return to reading. Once I got to "The Crew", a story about the dread that every member of the trauma crew feels while they wait for an ambulance to arrive, fearful that it might involve one of their own sons or daughters, I gave up on the mundane chores.

Thankfully it's not a long book because I couldn't put it down. Dr. Green is exhausted and possibly burned out, but he writes sensitively about the tragedies he sees on a daily basis, and the last story is a beautifully fitting ending. After I finished the book, I made myself at least finish the laundry and make the bed, but my other chores seemed so insignificant compared with the things that had happened in Trauma Room Two. I simply could not stop thinking about this book.

Dr. Green has written another book, People of the ER, and I hope it's as good as his first. My approach with this one is going to be a little different. Before I even downloaded it to my Kindle, I used some self-discipline on Sunday to put a roast in the crock pot, do some grocery shopping, buy a new iron, finish the pile of ironing, and deliver my donations to the Salvation Army. My Monday is now relatively free, so once again, I'm going to love getting waylaid by a book.