I sit patiently in the waiting room lobby tucked into a corner.

I have to be patient because patient is my role.

Waiting as long as it takes to get help.

Even if it takes hours.

Surrounded by others in better or worse condition.

Yet always the same position.

***

I look around and see both the young and old.

A different environment from the pediatric emergency room I saw when little.

But exactly the same as I look into the eyes of other patients.

A scale between boredom and fear.

That scale is also mine yet I rarely have the same result.

Desperation an invisible friend of different forms for everyone in the room.

***

I am not sure how similar I am to the person next to me.

Are you thinking the same as me?

Racing thoughts entertaining a million and more outcomes.

Or maybe bracing for further pain.

Or simply getting something checked because the urgent care did not have the proper equipment.

I wonder if you are thinking about me too.

***

Always a waiting game.

Even if serious things can fall through the cracks.

Watching as everyone else gets called in first.

A million and one possibilities emptied from the waiting room.

Drained like a slow drip from a faucet.

I just have to wait for my drop.

***

I always hope I get fixed.

A favorable outcome asked for politely.

That hurt fixed.

Bones, blood, and flesh mended.

For there is nothing worse than waiting for nothing.

So as a million and one possibilities pass by, I will be patient.