Sophia
Aloud yawn escaped me as I placed my coffee cup under the machine for a refill. I’d been on the clock for well over eighteen hours and still had several left to go before leaving. My bed called to me, begging me to come home and sleep. Unfortunately, the patients here at the burn unit needed me more.
I was a nurse, specializing in the care and treatment of severe burns here at Memorial Hospital, a job I took very seriously and loved doing. There was no doubt my dad had a lot to do with this particular passion of mine. He was a firefighter who spent twenty years of his life giving Bay Harbor Fire Department his best, all while raising me and my older brother Kaden by himself after our mom died from cervical cancer when we were kids. He was a hero in so many ways and hundreds of lives were saved over the course of his career.
He didn’t stop until the day the fires he fought finally consumed him. His life was given for the lives of others, and it inspired me to do what I could to help people like the ones he did. I wasn’t brave enough to fight fires like Kaden grew up to do, but I knew without a doubt I could be the one who helped them after the fire department did their job.
So yes, I was exhausted, but that wasn’t going to stop me from being there for the patients that needed me. I finished filling my cup, and despite the scalding liquid burning, I sipped it down as fast as I could. After checking my chart at the nurses’ station to see who my rounds were today, I made sure my hands were washed thoroughly at one of the many sinks located throughout the burn unit. One of the keys—and without a doubt—most important parts of working this unit was sanitation. I learned pretty early on to keep a bottle of lotion in my possession. Washing our hands as many times as we did made for some seriously cracked and raw hands. After I was satisfied they were clean, I gloved up and suited up in a disposable gown. Germs were not taken lightly. The smallest amount could be detrimental to a patient’s healing. Finally, I put on a mask, the final step before I made my way to one of our newer patients. It was a lengthy process, but it was necessary.
My patient, Mr. Donahue, grinned as I knocked before wandering into his room, his lips a bit lopsided and droopy from the surgery medications starting to wear off.
“I see you’re awake now, Mr. Donahue. You feeling any pain?” I asked as I checked his IV fluids and vitals.
“I feel right as rain,” he slurred a bit, trying to lift his head up.
I laughed and gently pushed his head back down to the pillow. “Uh uh. No moving yet. Do you remember why you’re here?”
Mr. Donahue glanced down at his arms, both wrapped in bandaging after he’d been severely electrocuted on the job. His third degree burns had been extensive and needed immediate debridement, cleaning, and grafting.
“I got zapped. Had surgery?” he questioned, sounding unsure of his own memories.
I smiled, glad there didn’t seem to be any mental effects from his sedation during surgery. “That’s right. Which means no moving. The doctor should be here shortly to ask you some more questions and update you on how the surgery went,” I explained.
He grinned that lopsided grin again. “You sure are pretty. Are you single?”
I held back the snort of laughter I wanted to let out. This happened a lot more than I cared to admit, but I couldn’t blame him entirely since drugs did crazy things to a patient’s brain to mouth filter. I usually just went with it to keep the person in good spirits.
“Eternally. I’m married to my work, taking care of amazing patients like you,” I replied, finishing adjusting his fluids and rounding his bedside to the computer where I typed in all his vitals.
“Shame. Big shame,” he muttered softly, dozing off once again. He’d do that several more times until the meds wore off completely. I took the chance to exit the room quietly, hoping he’d forget all about asking my relationship status the next time I came to check on him.
I hadn’t been lying to him. Relationships just weren’t possible right now with my work schedule, and I was in no rush to find one. In truth, even though I internally complained about being tired constantly, I enjoyed my job. Sure there had been boyfriends scattered throughout my twenty-six years of life, but no one was ever quite able to fill the void inside me like my work did. And that was fine with me.
“What are you smiling about?” Alice, my coworker and fellow nurse, asked amusedly as I tossed my gloves into the trash and began washing my hands once again.
“Oh, just Mr. Donahue coming off his meds.”
She chuckled and handed over the box of gloves we kept at our station. I grabbed another pair and slipped them on.
“Ah, I see. This happens to you a lot. Remember that one guy we had here that wouldn’t stop asking you out on dates? Ha! Priceless. And you said he always smelled like maple syrup cause he only ordered pancakes from the cafeteria, for like every meal. That guy was creepy.” She found so much pleasure in my discomfort with patients throwing themselves at me. It wasn’t as if it never happened to her; it just didn’t happen as often.
Lucky girl.
I rolled my eyes. “How could I forget? One of these days though, you’re going to get a patient like that and you’re going to regret making fun of me.”
Alice laughed. “Yeah. Sure. You know though, Mr. Donahue isn’t married and you’re still quite single. Maybe you should finally take up one of the offers? You’re not getting any younger,” she joked, winking at me suggestively.
“Very funny. My love life is not in that much jeopardy that I’d need attention from someone almost double my age,” I replied with a huff, turning in the direction of my next patient’s room.
“I wouldn’t count on it!” she shouted after me with a laugh. She wassolucky I loved her.
Thankfully, my next visit would be someone I looked forward to seeing every day. I knocked on the door, entering after a soft voice told me to come in.
Ten-year-old Melody sat up expectantly in her bed; her mom Valerie sat in the seat beside it, both looking pleased to see me. Valerie donned the same getup as me since even visitors had to be extra careful around our burn patients. Even behind her mask, I could see she was beyond exhausted. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what this ordeal was like for her. Thankfully, Melody was strong and didn’t seem to let anything keep her down.
“Hi Miss Sophia!” Melody chimed gleefully.
“Well hello, little Miss Melody. How’re you feeling today?” I asked, coming to a stop at the edge of her bed.
