A few hours later, the intensive care doctor calls.
She’s very unwell, he says before getting to the real point.
“I am asking you if we can make an early call to palliate and discharge her from ICU.”
“When?”
“Now.”
My disbelief must be open because it prompts the rueful explanation that a Covid patient needs an intensive care bed.
The pieces fall together instantly. With intensive care at capacity, I am being asked to move my patient to make room for another. “After all, your patient does have incurable cancer.”
My bile rises. And even as I know it’s a petty question, I can’t help asking: “Is the Covid patient vaccinated?”
“No,” he says wearily. “That’s why he is so sick.”
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