Another Time

Words might be a form of 'medicine' that transcends time.
The emergency room.
It is a place where relentless 'time' flows.

How many minutes are left before the brain ceases to function?
The brain is an organ that requires a massive amount of oxygen.
If the supply is cut off, it loses function immediately.
Even if the heartbeat returns,
consciousness may not.

This single action right now determines life or death.
Choosing the best course of action within a limited amount of time.

Emergency medicine is,
literally, a 'battle against time'.

Time is life.

We have kept saying that.
That the accumulation of time is life itself, and
that time is that person's life.

However,
as I continued to stand on the front lines for a long time,
I realized there is another kind of 'time'.

It is,
the time that continues to flow quietly even after the procedure is finished and treatment has reached a milestone.

The other day, someone remembered a lecture I gave several years ago and spoke to me.

“That one phrase from back then,
‘I am now living the tomorrow that person wanted to live,’
still supports me even now.”

That person
had come to the lecture just after losing their spouse.

I was speechless.

That day, I had simply spoken with all my heart.
I thought they were just words for that moment, for that time.

But those words,
had continued to live for many years.

Emergency medicine,
might be something that is completed on the spot.
Diagnose, treat, stabilize the condition, and
rush to the next patient.

But words were different.

Even after leaving the treatment room.
Even after leaving the ICU.
For years, for decades.

Deep within a person's heart,
words can continue to work quietly.

I felt that,
it transcends physical time.

After confirming a death,
I say in my heart, 'Thank you for your hard work.'

From a medical perspective,
it might be a meaningless act.
There is also no guarantee that it reaches the person who has passed away.

Even so, those words
remain within me.

They remain within me,
changing how I approach the next patient,
and making the words I say to the next family I encounter
just a little bit softer.

Words are not just for that single moment.

They transcend time, change people,
change actions,
and even alter the direction of a life.

If that is the case.

Words, too,
might be a form of 'medical care'.

Surgery heals the body.
Medicine alleviates symptoms.

But words
enter into the long time of that person's 'future,'
and continue to support their will to live.

If emergency medicine is a job that saves 'this very moment,'
words hold the potential to save the 'future'.

That is what I have come to think.

That is precisely why I choose my words and convey them to someone.

The tone with which I announce, 'I have confirmed the time of death.'
The warmth with which I say, 'They may still be able to hear until the very end.'
The prayer I whisper in my heart, 'Thank you for your hard work.'

Because those words
might one day, within someone's time,
continue to work like a quiet charm.

Time is life.

But,
words,
might be the things that
gently wrap around that time of life.

I am now thinking once again
that I want to convey such words
to as many people as possible.