The Fine Line Between Life and Death

I pronounced my patient dead at 2:47 AM, signed the paperwork, and called the morgue.

Twenty minutes later, she sat up on the gurney and asked for water. The morgue attendant

screamed so loud security thought someone was being murdered. My attending refused

to believe me until he saw her vitals himself. Turns out she had a rare condition

that mimicked death so perfectly even our monitors couldn't detect a pulse. I had to call the

family back and tell them their mother wasn't actually gone. The husband hung

up on me three times thinking it was a sick prank. Now I triple-check every single thing

because what if I'm wrong again? What if next time they're actually alive and I don't