My Trip to the ER in Rome

I know this sounds like the beginning of a horror story but honestly that was probably the best ER visit I've ever experienced. I have major swelling in my tonsils and a really bad sore throat. One of my Magisters, Jason, took me to a hospital not to far from my flat. We had brought books anticipating a few hours of wait time. Instead we were immediately admitted to see a triage nurse who giggled at my passport photo then asked me a few routine question. They then took us right back to see the doctor and we sat outside her office for about 2 minutes. She didn't speak english but her assistant did and he helped me tell them what was up. No gloves, she looked down my throat with a tongue depressor and a flashlight and nodded sagely. As we went through the paper work dance of insurance and hospital forms the doctor asked me via her assistant if I was here in Italy alone. I said no, that I was here with a group for school. She said she was glad because I was too small to be roaming around Italy alone. She made sure I knew a few good swear words just in case. When we finished all the paper work they gave me a prescription and told me how to take it when I got it and told me where I would go to pay the small fee for coming to the hospital. (They said it was 41 euro but it ended up only being 25). As we were wrapping things up the doctor laughed and wiped her forehead with exaggeration and said that we all deserved a coffee and a cigarette. We all laughed and I left amid a chorus of 'ciao's' and 'arrivederci's'. We went to the main part of the church to pay, all of the hospitals are run by churches, and then walked in search of a pharmacy. My prescription, which I have found out consists of Amoxicillin and an antinflammatory, was 1.44 euro. Then Jason bought me some ice cream to make my throat feel better. It had bourbon in it. I felt like a big little kid getting candy after a shot. Now I'm home waiting for the drugs to kick in and make me feel better. I love this city.