She was in the ER for dental pain, a common complaint for those seeking drugs to sell or abuse. The triage note said, "Needs antibiotics for dental procedure." Well, that was understandable. A lot of people don't have primary doctors and need these antibiotics. Simple enough.
A woman in her mid-twenties sat up on the stretcher as I walked in the room. She was attractive and yet looked to have a bit of a hard edge to her. She had a pleasant smile. While "confident" overstates her demeanor, she was certainly ready for the encounter.
"So what's going on?" I asked cheerfully.
"I have impacted wisdom teeth that I need to have removed, and my doctor told me I need to get antibiotics before I get it done."
"When is your appointment?" I asked.
"I don't have a dentist. My teeth started bleeding so I have to get them taken care of."
"I can help you with that. We have a dental clinic here at the hospital you can go to tomorrow." She smiled gratefully. "How did you find out about the problems with you teeth," I asked.
"I just got out of prison," she said. She was not ashamed, but neither was she she proud or indifferent. It was simply a fact. "The doctor there told me my wisdom teeth were impacted. He said I needed to take antibiotics before getting them fixed."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because I got endocarditis from my previous IV drug use." She had that same calm and simple demeanor, without any trace of perturbation or expectation. She had done these things but she had recovered, repented, and started again.
She was a woman who had been through some very awful things, had come to terms with them, and talked to me about them as if she were telling me any sort of banal, yet necessary, detail of her life.
I very much admire her courage, and will think of her when I have to tell others about bad things in my past. Even more so when I have to face up to something that needs to be addressed. We are made new in Christ.
