The quiet before the storm, and the patient who forgot to breathe

It’s 4:15 on a Friday, and the air in the OR feels thick with something between anticipation and stillness. I watched a woman in her sixties—just had her appendix out—start to drift off during induction. Her breathing slowed, then stopped for half a second. I didn’t rush. Just waited. She took a breath again, like she’d remembered how. That moment—between not breathing and remembering—felt heavier than any code or data ever could. The world outside is already humming with weekend plans. Inside? Just us, and the slow return of rhythm.