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All patients have needs
I wonder what this one’s will be
I hear its heart beat
I see the body move through a t.v. and think
What kind of life it will be
Although it can’t talk and respond to me
I get its answers indirectly
The questions I ask are routine to me
Unfortunately she answers them positively
Hearing the answers I begin to see
That this patient will inevitably need me
I begin my differential
Of what has passed through
And again I wonder, of what its needs will be
As I say good-bye and wait to see
I wish she had thought of its needs before me.

Julia Castillo, Class of 1999