“Why do you look like death warmed over?” Jennie, one of my favorite nurses and work friends, asked.
“Is that your way of flirting? I don’t think it’s working,” I grumbled.
“Well, she’s not wrong. You look like you’re ready to pass out on the floor and won’t care if someone stepped on you,” Sarah, another one of my favorite work friends, joked.
Some days I wondered how we became friends and then remembered that one of us probably started talking and we just never stopped. Sometimes they remind me of the sisters I never had but always wanted. I knew they cared, but sometimes their honesty stung when I started to believe them.
“Can I count that as getting some action?” I propped my head up.
I joked, but something in me regretted it as soon as I did. Sarah and Jennie knew about Chris, maybe not all of it, but a good portion. As much as they tried to get me to just leave, too much pride and stubbornness stopped me.
“Self-sabotage, classy Flynn.” Jennie smirked.
Flynn, because I never want to be a McDonnell at the one place I knew I could escape to, away from the cruelty I lived with. I was Amelia Grace Flynn at the hospital and to the majority of friends. And that’s how it was going to stay.
“Hey, got to keep it on par, right?” I laughed.
As I was waiting for other orders to come through, I would do a round of check-ins, but for the moment I was catching my breath, watching the clock tick by with the hours dragging by. I should never have taken another night shift.
“I’m afraid to look in the waiting room.” I grimaced.
“Afraid that you’ll catch something?” Sarah joked as she returned to her screen.
That was the worst feeling and best feeling, the dreadful feeling of walking into something and then being tasked with that person’s care but also the wonderful feeling of being needed. And then maybe at the end of the day I’d get a thank you. Not likely, but a nurse could dream right?
“Well, it would seem that they’re not giving you enough to do, my dear.” A slightly accented European feminine voice came from behind. I glanced over my shoulder seeing one of my favorites on call tonight. Dr. Amira Andres, a tougher than she appeared doctor, one that “if mama ain't happy, ain’t nobody happy” but the type of doctor that would fight for her patients and be completely honest with them. Working alongside her had been a pleasure, a voice of reason I never asked for but definitely needed.
I plastered a charming smile. “Yet if I was a true glutton I’d be asking for more, doc.” I winked at her.
“Mia, didn’t you work last night?” She cocked an eyebrow, shoving her hands into her white coat.
“Checking up on me?” I turned, leaning back on the nurse’s station.
“More like trying to make sure HR doesn’t have your ass for pulling too many hours. You work more hours than some of my residents,” she teased.
“Don’t tease on the new residents, they’ll learn.”Unlikely.
“It’s almost been a year, the new one should know by now.”
I rolled my eyes; she expected better out of the new doctors that walked those halls.
“What can we do for you, doc?” Jennie piped up.
Andres took one of the iPads from the desk and pushed it into my hands. “New admission, other than elevated heart rate, blood pressure borderline concern, came in for possible fracture.”
I tapped on the device, looking to understand the quick diagnosis. “Is that what the patient said?” I asked.
She threw her hands up. “That’s what triage said he said.”
“Of course, it’s a male, thinking he knows best.” I huffed out, I turned to see Jennie and Sarah holding back a laugh. Knowing them they thought “Only Mia could get the stubborn alpha males that think they know everything about medical care.”
“Alright, doc, I’ll take the hint. I’ll get some history and vitals. You want me to send one of your residents in?” I asked.
She nodded and then walked away. That was Andres, when she didn’t have to explain herself and trusted you, she would just move on to the next task at hand.
“River Brooks, thirty-eight, male, limited patient history and oh look at that,” I pointed at the screen, “would not give any information until seen in a room.” I rolled my eyes; someonewanted the “VIP experience” by being difficult and making it harder on our jobs. It looked like he waited two hours which is fast in our area, especially this hospital. “Wish me luck.”
“Bring back stories.” Sarah raised her voice.
