As someone who works in an emergency room, I relate to this story heavily. I am very much an orderly in the department, and this story follows one and demonstrates what happens when the desire to help and the incapacity to do so (due to ignorance, inexperience, or lack of sobriety). Perhaps its my view, but this story seems to wrestle with competency. Would you allow someone who is qualified but hesitant to help you or someone who is quite the opposite? This can be seen in both Georgie and the narrator, whose qualifications are as uneasy as his concept of reality. What I’ve noticed with Johnson is that he is very good playing with the reader’s intuitive need to trust the protagonist. An untrustworthy protagonist, someone you share eyes with, makes for a nail-biting read, even if the plot is absent of thrill. I guess the opposite can be said for people who come into the emergency room (or kids who hitchhike). There is an immediate distrust in these people. Why is it that we trust our protagonist so easily? Is it because we have no choice but to do so? Or is it because we find the need to trust someone over ourselves?