“And who are you?” Emily did not avert her eyes, maintaining calm. “A nurse, let me take your blood for analysis, and everything will be fine.” The man snorted, but did not argue.
She deftly inserted the needle, and even he, despite the booze, surprisedly raised his eyebrows. After a couple of hours the chaos in the emergency room subsided a bit. Emily, though tired, felt satisfaction, she really helped people.
“Well, newbie, what did they send you here for?” — smirked one of the nurses, watching her with interest. From the office a middle-aged man looked out, with a good-natured expression on his face. He took off his glasses, examining her.
“Are you the newbie?” — he asked. Yes, Emily nodded embarrassedly. And already managed to annoy Susan Thompson.
She hastily shook her head. “No, what are you, she just doesn’t trust me to work independently yet.” The nurse smirked, and the doctor, Alex Peterson, handed her a mug with warm tea.
“Well, let’s get acquainted. This is Sophia, and I am Alex Peterson.” Emily carefully took the mug, enjoying the aroma of the hot drink.
“In an hour it will be hell here again,” — warned the doctor, glancing at the clock. “How do you know?” — Emily was surprised. “It’s simple,” — he smirked.
“Now everyone has stocked up, because alcohol is not sold at night. First they drink quietly at home, and then it turns out that it was not enough here and the fun begins.” Emily listened admiringly.
“Experience,” — smiled the doctor. “I have been working in this hospital for a long time and living in this town even longer.” Sophia suddenly turned to Emily.
“I will talk to Susan Thompson,” — she said. “I watched how you work. You are already doing everything excellently.”
Emily widened her eyes. “Really?” “Really,” — nodded Sophia. “Just continue in the same spirit.”
Emily felt warmth inside. Even if the senior nurse did not accept her, but other colleagues already began to see her efforts. And that meant that everything was not in vain.
Emily with difficulty suppressed a yawn, rubbing her tired hands. Alex Peterson turned out to be right, exactly in an hour a new stream of patients poured into the emergency room. The first was brought a man about forty, with a beaten face and bruises all over his body.
“What happened?” — asked Emily, while the doctor examined him. “Well went out for cigarettes to the store. Hoarsely the patient, wincing from pain.
And there, tipsy guys decided that I somehow displeased them.” The doctor examined his bruises and shallow cuts. “No fractures, but the wounds need to be treated.
Taking to the dressing room,” — he calmly commanded, gesturing to call Emily. She deftly prepared antiseptic and dressing material, helping to apply bandages. The man nodded gratefully.
But as soon as he was taken away, the next patient was brought into the reception a young guy, clearly overdone with alcohol. This one behaved aggressively, picked on passers-by, explained the policeman accompanying him, in the end got punched in the face. The guy was holding his nose, from which blood was flowing, and his lip was swollen from the blow.
Emily sighed, preparing everything necessary for the examination. “Does it hurt a lot?,” — she asked, carefully touching his arm. “Yeah,” — muttered the guy, wincing…
“She left me, and I…” He did not finish, but Emily understood everything. “You are lucky that it ended only with bruises,” — she said calmly, starting to treat the wound. The guy tried to smile, but soon he was sent further to the dressing room.
They did not have time to catch their breath, as they brought an elderly woman who received burns, she accidentally tipped a kettle with boiling water on herself. Next came a man who slipped on the stairs and badly hit his leg, and after him a woman who in the heat of a family quarrel managed to break her arm. The hours dragged on endlessly, patients arrived one after another, and Emily only managed to run from one to another.
Finally, closer to five in the morning, the flow subsided a bit. Alex Peterson put aside his gloves and looked at the tired nurses. “Everyone to sleep, in a couple of hours the morning patients will come.”
Emily nodded gratefully, but could not fall asleep, she stared at the ceiling, remembering her mother. She always endured until the last, just not to bother the doctors. One case was etched in memory especially vividly, high temperature, which could be brought down only for a few hours, but mom refused to call an ambulance.
“If it doesn’t get better by morning, then call,” — she said weakly, lying in bed. Emily was not yet a nurse then, but understood that mom was risking, and yet arguing with her was useless. The next morning she still had to call a doctor, and then Emily firmly decided, she would become that nurse whom people would not be afraid to turn to for help.
Heavily sighing, she still closed her eyes. But her rest did not last long. The next morning, starting her shift, Emily immediately realized that something was wrong.
As soon as she entered the corridor, Susan Thompson literally jumped on her. “Well what, complained?” — said the senior nurse with a smirk. Emily blinked confusedly.
