Page 11 of Accepting Fate

In the past fourteen hours, we've had a boatload of people sick with the flu, four major car accidents, and two heart attacks. One of those resulted in me pumping someone's chest for thirty minutes and then doing it again when the other patient coded.

I'm wiped the hell out.

After living here for a few years, I still don’t understand how these people don’t know how to drive in the rain. I like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are tourists until I look through their wallet for their ID and see they are local.

As for the people down with the flu, I can already tell by this time next week I’ll be sporting the same sickness. But unlike the patients that got sent home pumped full of medicines, I’ll be getting an IV bag full of electrolytes before my shift and sent back to work.

So, if I’m going to be stuck here until day breaks, I’m taking this brief pause in the chaos to go steal some candy from my favorite receptionist, Ms. Nancy.

I sneak away from the nurses' station on the hunt for that sweet stash she keeps around for the kiddos. She’s been at Mt Rainier Medical Center for as long as I’ve been alive. Ms. Nancy took me under her wing, and I was added to her list of “kids” she takes care of. I feel honored because despite her sweet looks, she is feisty. If she doesn’t like you, she will make it abundantly clear. I wouldn’t say she is mean, but she doesn’t give them hugs, which are the best, especially after a rough patient. The big tell she doesn’t like you is that she doesn’t share her stash of goodies.

I open the door to the waiting room and smile as I catch sight of her.

My favorite thing about this woman is that every week she has a different hair color. She claims it keeps her young, but I think it’s her way of silently flipping off the big wigs of the hospital. It’s against policy to have non-natural looking hair color, but they can’t fire her since she’s been here for so long.

This week my favorite seventy-year young lady is sporting neon pink. Ms. Nancy may be a little old lady with neon pink hair paired with a copious amount of leopard print blouses, but she will bite your head off if you come in here demanding and impatient.

Sneaking up behind her I grab her shoulders and yell, “Boo!”

She lets out a small yelp and her head whips around, “Girl, you scared the shit out of me!”

I can't contain my laughter, which earns me a nasty look from her. When I get my laughter under control, I lean down and give her a hug. “Sorry, I had to! You should have seen your face though. I wish I was recording!” I say as I mimic her scared face.

She shakes her head and hugs me back. “You’re lucky you’re my favorite. You got a second or are you here to steal a treat and run?”

Looking back at the door I just came through, “Umm, let me see if Laura will mind if I sit up here for a bit. I could use a break,” I say while grabbing a chair from the other check-in desk.

Logan: Hey do you mind if I hang out up front for a while since shit has calmed down? All my patients are good and Sadie is at the desk watching vitals.

Laura: Go for it. Just look like you’re helping Ms. Nancy in case a big wig comes in. Thanks again for staying. I owe you.

Logan: Will do. Thanks. And no problem but I call first dibs for Halloween off. Let someone else deal with the bloody skeletons.

Laura: You got it.

I turn my attention back to Ms. Nancy and relax in the chair, “I’m here until she needs me.”

“So, why are you here so late? Didn’t you work the 11-11 shift today?” Ms. Nancy asks while handing me a cherry lollipop that keeps in stock for me, and I immediately pop it into my mouth.

The sweetness spreads across my mouth and relaxes me.I launch into the story about understaffing and the disaster of the shift. Somehow I am laughing at the end of it, despite how crazy it has been.

“Well, my dear…” Ms. Nancy scrunches her nose and pats my leg. “That sounds shitty as hell.”

Just as she finishes her sentence, the entrance doors slide open, and a man rushes in holding a lifeless little girl. Immediately, I shift back into nurse mode and run over, tossing my lollipop into the bin on the way.

I turn back to Ms. Nancy and yell, “Page Laura now!”

Taking the little girl into my arms, I start sprinting to the nurse's entrance.

Jesus, she’s light as a feather.

I check to make sure the man is following me, “What happened?”

He starts to explain, and I don’t hear anything because Laura and two other nurses rush through the door with a gurney. Meeting them, I lay her down and check for a pulse in her neck.

At first, I feel nothing and my heart sinks. I check again and feel a small thud against my fingers. Letting out a sigh of relief, I whisper, “Hang in there, baby. You’re in good hands now.”

As Laura guides the gurney to a trauma room, I look back and ask the man again, “What happened?” I snap.