ANNISTON, Ala. — The emergency department waiting room at Regional Medical Center entered its fourteenth consecutive hour of occupancy on Tuesday evening, according to reporting conducted on-site by this reporter, who was present for a separate matter.

By the sixth hour, a seating committee had formed. By the tenth, a man in a University of Alabama sweatshirt had been unanimously recognized as having seniority. He accepted the role without comment.

"I've been here since this morning," said the man, whose name this reporter did not ask. "I told them about my back."

The provisional government has thus far established three standing priorities: the vending machine on the south wall, which accepts cards but not the specific card of one seated resident; the remote control for the wall-mounted television, which is tuned to a channel no one selected; and the question of whether the chairs along the east wall are better or worse than those along the west.

A motion to draft a petition was raised by a woman near the door and tabled following a brief procedural dispute about pens.

Regional Medical Center, which serves Calhoun, Cleburne, and portions of Talladega County, opened its current emergency facilities in 1986. The facility has a Level III trauma designation. It has not issued a statement regarding the waiting room's governance structure.

Mayor Lyle Henley, when reached by phone, said the situation was "something to look into." He noted that RMC is "a tremendous asset to our community."

As of press time, eleven people remained seated. One had been called back. Two were asleep in a manner that suggested they were not technically asleep. The man in the Alabama sweatshirt continued to face forward.

His back was still hurting, he said. He had mentioned this.