A cab ride later, Peter found himself deposited in front of the sliding glass doors of MCV’s busy Emergency Room. He didn’t know what he had expected, but there was no police officer waiting for him, no doctor or nurse who seemed to know or care that his friend was somewhere in the bowels of the hospital. Peter stood at the intake desk for a full minute, glaring at the nurse on duty, willing her to look at him, but she was on the phone and didn’t bother making eye contact.
Finally another nurse came out from a back room and Peter managed to catch her attention. “Excuse me,” he started.
“Did you sign in and register?” she asked in a bored voice, as if his emergency was nothing more than a night’s work for her.
Peter didn’t even spare a glance at the computer screen she indicated. “No, I’
