SOS

I am the worst med student ever. No, forget that. I'm the worst person ever.

So, the law school atrium has the most beautiful set of stairs going up to the second floor library. And I'm sitting right next to the staircase on the second floor. Having lunch and catching up on my celebrity gossip blogs.

Then, all of a sudden, someone shrieks. Followed by a couple of loud and echoing bumps.

This someone slipped and fell down the concrete stairs in her rush to get to class (and exam) on time.

Immediately, everyone sprang up to see if she was okay. And the people closest to her on the ground floor ran over to see if she was hurt. She was still conscious, her ankle hurt pretty bad, but she was okay, she replied.

Don't move! said one of her rescuers as she tried to shift herself into a more modest position. In his mind, it was much better to pull a Britney than exacerbate a possibly broken neck. Another classmate rushed to the administration office to get help.

Five minutes later, and everyone was still milling about, hanging over the stairwell, wondering if they were going to call an ambulance to come get her, when the hospital was less than a block away.

And that's the thing. Everyone was just standing about, anxiously awaiting to see if she was okay. No one laughed. No one talked. And no one wanted to be the first person to walk away from the scene.

Except me. I figured, they had sent for help. And there was honestly nothing that I could possibly do. So I was to first to turn away. I went back to my table and resumed eating my lunch.

And now I feel terribly guilty for leaving. And terribly stupid for not knowing the first thing to do in this situation. How do you assess for a broken neck? Is there anything that I should have done? Is there anything I could have done?

I can't believe I was to first to walk away. I wonder if this makes me compassion deficient?