There are signs all over the front desk area stating the trauma center is closed. Six helicopters had delivered critically injured patients to the ED. Due to the extent of their injuries and the intense care needed, the trauma center is shut down. This translates into half the ED being closed. This comes at an incredibly inconvenient time. The ED is extremely busy with walk-ins and folks arriving by ambulance. And now everyone has to be funneled through just half the ED.
I am feeling extremely sick. I cannot put my finger on it, but something is wrong. I am losing muscle strength and coordination. My breathing is growing ragged and chaotic. I can feel my lungs are filling up with mucus. I am trying to cough up this sticky substance, but I am having very little success.
After waiting nearly 30 minutes and having yet to be triaged, a nurse enters the waiting room. She informs everyone the wait time is approximately eight hours to be seen in the ED. My heart nearly breaks upon hearing this news. Not knowing what else to do, I start praying to God. "Oh LORD, I am so sick. Oh LORD, I cannot wait eight hours. Oh LORD, please help me!" After a few short pleas to God, I end my prayer.
As I continue to fight to breathe, a homeless man approaches the check-in desk. Waiting for the clerk to acknowledge him, the gentleman looks around. His eyes widen when he catches sight of me. Instantly, he races to me, grabs my hands, bows his head and starts praying. He starts with the most beautiful rendition of the Lord's Prayer I have ever heard. He continues on by asking God for me to be seen quickly, for me to have fast relief from my symptoms and for me to receive treatment quickly. This man’s prayer is one of the most powerful prayers I have ever experienced. As the man is praying over me, the check-in clerk hurries over to the man and tells him to leave me alone.
In an instant, the man disappears. The check-in clerk has a brief conversation with the triage nurse. Then my name is called to go back to triage. The check-in clerk summons another associate. They both come around the check-in desk and help me gather up my ventilator and heater/humidifier. I am wheeled back to the triage area. As I leave the waiting room, I search for the homeless man, but I cannot find him amidst the myriad of people. The nurse takes my vitals. She inputs the information into her computer and checks on the bed availability. She tells me she cannot believe the homeless man was trying to hurt me. She informs me she is not going to send me back out into the waiting room. She does not want anything else to happen to me. She finds an ED room in which a patient has just been taken upstairs to a hospital room. She summons an aide and has her run back to get the room ready.
As I sit in triage waiting for an ED room, I am in disbelief. I know instantly what had happened. God had sent the homeless man into my life as an answer to my prayer. God changed the image of a man praying into a man trying to hurt a person on a ventilator. God heard this man's prayers and worked a few miracles. Everything the homeless man had asked for was being fulfilled. I have the distinct impression that this homeless man was sent in direct relation to my interaction with another homeless man six months prior. ("One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed" Proverbs 19:17.)
Very shortly, I am wheeled back to the chaotic ED. (I am in disbelief that I have skipped the eight hour wait and am being seen so quickly. But, God knew I needed urgent medical help.) When the physician enters my tiny ED cubicle, his eyes grow wide in panic when he sees my physical appearance and vital signs. He immediately orders blood work. When the results come back, they indicate I am in the beginning stages of sepsis. Quickly treatment is started, and I am soon on the path to better health.
As I think about the homeless man, his powerful prayer and his sudden disappearance, Scripture floats through my mind: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2). Was this homeless man an angel; was he a messenger from God? My heart is too overwhelmed by God's abundant kindness to think too much about these events. I weep for God's kindness. If I would have had to wait eight hours in the ED waiting room, I am not sure everything would have gone so smoothly. I praise God over and over again for His abundant love and for hearing prayer.
(Link to Part One, click here)
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