Some (Re)Assembly Required

Poked my head into the trauma bay the other night after hearing an overhead page for a full trauma.  Listening to the tail end of the EMS report as the patient was transfered to our stretcher, I learned that he was a (surprise!) no helmet motorcyclist who ended up on the losing side of a collision with a semi-truck.

Now, to be fair, I was standing at the back of the trauma room and only half-heartedly paying attention.  I was not present when the patient arrived, and my view of the stretcher was blocked by the crowd of people surrounding it, preventing me from noticing that something fairly important was missing from the picture.  So when the paramedics returned a few moments later carrying a large bundle of sheets and pads, I had no reason not to lift the cover of the linen cart and motion for them to drop their bundle in with the rest of the trash.

Imagine my expression, then, after the medic stared at me for a second before explaining, "No, this is the guy's leg."

Peering over the doctors' shoulders, I noticed that patient was in fact missing his left leg below the knee, and promptly closed the linen cart.