He Poured Beer Down My Jacket And Demanded My Call Sign Until He Realized Who I Really Was

a tourist with heat exhaustion who seemed genuinely personally offended by the California summer, as though the season had singled him out. Then a retired Marine with chest pain who apologized three times during intake for being a bother and a burden and taking up space, and I told him firmly and without any ambiguity that his heart did not care whether continue reading …