st. vincent's

a fainting spell/bumped noggin on the subway landed the missus in the emergency room this morning. we spent about six hours waiting to find out that she was, thankfully, fine. which is more than can be said for st. vincent's e.r. wow. it wasn't as scary as it could've been, I guess. very few doctors rushing around to save lives NOW like on that e.r. show I've never seen. but it was still quite the scene. there was the guy who tried to claim that he was drunk until the doctor told him that there wasn't any alcohol in his blood system. he finally copped to having taken four valium, but seemed so relieved to do so, I suspect he had actually taken a much stronger opiate. he left in his coat over his robe. then there was the woman next to us, who had so many ailments even the doctor started laughing. but my favorite had to have been the really mellow older guy lying calmly in his bed reading the new york times. seemed perfectly healthy. he'd only look up from his paper when asked to explain what the problem was. "I've had the hiccups for a week."