I was rolled in on a yellow stretcher with black straps. The place was busy, and I was told it always was. Someone rushed off to register me, though I never provided my ID or insurance. I was rolled up, placed next to a burly, hairy, bearded man covered in bandages and blood. Unconscious.

I took out my phone, responding to texts from the people I loved. They were together, terrified together, but I was alone.

That is, until I started playing some music, softly. I raised the volume slightly, and then slightly more, and smiled while I did so. The nurses didn’t seem to notice. Well, one did, but she supported my efforts.

The Beatles started playing, I think I remember. The man next to me stirred. His groans morphed into chuckles, though, and to my surprise, he started to sing. He said, out loud, “I can’t feel the pain anymore! My ankle is healed!” and I, in turn, became convinced that I was Jesus.

Then it was time to come down off the stretcher, unfortunately. Onto a small, hard, plastic chair pressed against the wall. I small, fat woman with black hair was rolled up to sit next to. She was screaming, her mouth open, revealing her teeth’s absence. I looked her in the eye and told her I loved her.

She stopped screaming immediately and started laughing maniacally, of course. She unloaded her story onto my lap. She’d tried to kill herself because her pet rabbit had died. His name was

I don’t remember.

She looked me in my blue eyes and asked if I was an angel. Of course I said yes, of course that convinced me all over again that I was meant to be someone.

And I am.

I found, too, that I could speak Spanish and quieted a patient screaming in pain and screaming in Spanish. I smiled at the nurses and consoled patients. I was told I should be a model so maybe I’ll try to be.

I raised my hand immediately when they asked who wanted to change, and put my lanky little body in a pair of blue hospital scrubs. They fit me well and emphasized my eyes, and I found the vaseline I had asked for in the bathroom.

A girl who had fallen off the back of a motorcycle learned how to walk and the nurses stopped her.

All of this happened in the ER, and nothing, nothing at all happened in that while, walled, sterile room they brought me to next.