Emergency

Denis Johnson originally published “Emergency” in the September 16, 1991 issue of New Yorker magazine and later as part of his critically acclaimed 1992 short story collection, Jesus’ Son. These linked, fragmentary stories, all narrated by the same troubled, drug-addicted character, examine themes of violence, addiction, loss, and friendship from an unreliable yet sympathetic narrative voice. This guide uses the 1992 version of Jesus’ Son published by Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

“Emergency,” the sixth story in the collection, begins with an unnamed narrator—whose name is only ever revealed as “Fuckhead,” late in the story—describing his job as a clerk at an emergency room in the late summer of 1973. The narration is in past tense. As the narrator shares his recollection, he sometimes stops to wonder over his past self:

At the hospital, the narrator works with Georgie, an orderly who steals pills from the hospital and sometimes shares them with colleagues: the narrator, a jaded nurse, and a loathed Family Service doctor. The story begins as the narrator finds Georgie in the operating room, cleaning up nonexistent blood and crying. He does this for a long period; when the doctor asks the nurse where Georgie is, she replies that Georgie is not merely cleaning the operating room again but is “still” doing it.