For our last day at Sinai, we brought donuts and Mexican pastries and bagels and yogurt and coffee for the nurses on the floor. This picture of Conan (my favorite nurse there) partaking in our feast was captured at the end of the day after the spread was much less impressive.

I was floated to the ED again today, and it was much busier than yesterday. There was a young man there who had shot himself in the head, awaiting decisions to be made regarding organ donation. The nurse I was shadowing encouraged me to come with her and the doctor to talk to the family about their options, but I chickened out. I know soon I will be there during some of the worst moments for a family, but I wasn't ready yet.

Later, his heart stopped beating, and my nurse told me to put on some gloves and start chest compressions. Just as I had gotten the gloves on and was going to take over compressions, the transplant surgeon came in and told us to stop. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, the doctor determined the time of death, and everybody went about their business. Out of the experiences I have had so far, this most closely matched what you would see on TV. The eeriest part of the whole thing was watching his chest rise and fall as the ventilator kept breathing for him after he had died. And the fly that kept trying to crawl into his mouth.