Just a few moments in the hustle and bustle of the Emergency room and she'd had to take a breath, standing off to the side.
But, Thuy had taken it all in stride, letting the rush and panic flow around her as they moved through the area.
Ducks.
When she was younger and they learned about ducks in school, she'd been fascinated about ducks and how they were so placid above the water, but under it, those cute little webbed feet were going a mile a minute.
Lexie had admired their energy.
That, and the way they waddled.
Too cute!
Later on she'd learned that duck dicks were... unique.
Butthat, was another story.
"Hello, everyone."
There were a number of greetings back.
"Hello!" "Hi." "Evening."
More that Lexie didn't hear specifically.
"As Laura said, I'm Thuy. You'll see me at the Cole Medical Center ER and I was sitting in one of these seats a... few years ago."
She cleared her throat and looked around the room.
"Thanks to all of you for not speculating how many years, but more specifically, I was sitting inyourchair."
Lexie tried to hide a smile when Thuy pointed at her.
It didn't work, but she tried.
"First seat in the first row, not because I wanted to be seen, but my parents always insisted that I sit in the front row as a child in school and it stuck with me as a habit, but I picked the one right inside the door because it's the seat closest to the bathroom. That's one thing you're going to learn as a nurse in a busy medical center, and every medical center is busy, is how to go to the bathroom like it's an Olympic sport.
"And no, I've never been handed a medal, we just go for our personal best."
The laughter in the room eased a lot of the tension that Lexie had been feeling.
"And humor is a must."
Lexie nodded.
"It doesn't mean that you have to be a comedian at the Laugh Factory, no one expects you to perform on stage. But having a sense of humor and the ability to find moments of fun in the mundane can be the difference between making it through a shift and... not. This isn't to scare you. By now you know that you're going to see blood, guts, and gore. None of that should be a surprise.
"But it's the other things that are going to leave you drained. It's the patient who has reached the point where there's nothing left to do besides accepting the reality of what's about to happen. It's the panic of parents when their child has been hurt and they've never felt so helpless before. There are days when it willbe moment after moment of heart-wrenching pain and emotion and you're going to find a little corner and take a breath.
"You're going to reach down deep inside for something to hold onto. It's not going to be a scene from Saturday Night Live or a slap-stick comedy. It's going to be a wry twist of humor. The ability to look yourself in the mirror and chuckle at the mess your hair has become.
"You're going to find a little chuckle in the way you trip over your own feet on the way outside to take your break and almost face-plant on the concrete.
"It might even be an old Knock Knock joke someone's child told you years before.
"It doesn't have to be big gut laughs. It just has to be the ability to find that little bit of humor when you need it. And," she looked around the room at all of them, "just make sure you take care of yourself even in the rush of crazy on a full moon night. Because you need to be functioning to help your patients."
She gave the room a nod and Lexie leaned forward, folding her arms on the desktop.
