An Unlikely Return

I looked on the board at the name. It couldn't be. The first and last name were the same. The age was similar.  I had to go look in the room.

The man in question was Mr. Poopy- the homeless man who crossed my path several times at different points in my life. He was the man who stole my ID when I was working in research in another building. He was the man who knew and was frisked by my late friend, still greatly missed. He was a patient of mine whom I had to treat with multiple, serious problems. He was a man who died, friendless, homeless, alone, and unknown to us for hours in our own waiting room.  

Suddenly, there was this doppelganger by the same name. I scrambled to the other side and looked in the room- the man did have a beard and glasses, but it wasn't the same man. He didn't have the same scholarly nose, wrinkles in his forehead, and strange stare.  I laughed at myself; Mr. Poopy, whether I like it or not, has become one of those fairy-tale figures in my life; an archetype of the leper- a lost soul, doomed to wander alone forever.  Why he continues to visit me, even in death is a mystery. 

Rest in Peace. 

Tales of an Emergency Tech: Disappearing into the Background
Tales of an Emergency Tech: Coming Back Full Circle

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