I lay across the seat in the back of the white ambulance van, trying to sleep. This task was more strenuous than it might seem: every time I was about to doze off, I was awakened by a sudden burst of screaming, explosions, or sirens.
The other staff members rushed out of the van whenever this happened to assist the wounded, but I remained behind and did my best to sleep through the chaos. What was the point? What could a pediatrician like myself possibly do in a situation like this? No one ever came stumbling out of the flames with a lethal case of chicken pox, nor were there throngs of children lying half-dead in the streets due to an unusually aggressive infestation of head lice.
I was jolted out of my near-sleep by a banging on the window by one of my colleagues. Apparently such a situation had indeed arisen, and my services were needed. I began to get up but suddenly froze, struck by the horrible realization that I was not a pediatrician after all.
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Notes:
Please forgive the pretentious title; I was trying to be clever. The Rod of Asclepius (a single snake coiled around a staff) is the correct symbol for the field of medicine. However, the Wand of Hermes or "Caduceus" (two snakes coiled around a winged staff) is often mistakenly used instead. The confusion between the two symbols seemed to be an apt analogy for the content of the dream.
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