Chapter Four
Wednesday 5:45 a.m.
Michele and Mark gazed down at Kate who was sitting at the desk asleep. “Her pen has slid down the page,” said Mark. She writes better than some of the doctors."
“You’ve got a point there.” Michele entered the nurses’ station. “Well, at least she’s not drooling or snoring,” said Michele. She slid Kate and her chair to the side and reached in for the trash can under the desk. Michele removed the trash bag and put in a new one. She put the trash can back and put the chair with Kate on it back where they
“Can you believe that?” Michele looked at Mark.
“Wow. You know she fell asleep every night last week too.”
“Yeah, you expect it from us, but not Kate.”
“We used to threaten to kill her when she was so cheerful at 5 a.m.” said Mark.
“Or superglue her lips together so she couldn’t smile.” They both started laughing quietly.
“Oh don’t do that,” said Mrs. Thornton. Mark and Michele jumped.
“Damn, you took 5 years off of my life,” said Mark.
“You’re just a pup Mark. Go run a few miles and you’ll get it back.” Mrs. Thornton and Michele laughed.
Kate startled awake. “Huh?”
“Hi, did you enjoy your nap?” said Michele. Mark snickered moving off with the cart.
“How long was I out?”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Mrs. Thornton. “But your teamwork is excellent when you are unconscious. I’ll have to bring that up in our next supervisors meeting.”
“Oh, did I snore?” asked Kate.
“No, but Michele emptied the trash can in front of you and you didn’t even move. It was funny.” said Mrs. Thornton.
“Oh, I can’t get enough sleep lately.” Looking down at the form in front of her Kate said, “It seems like it was yesterday we did this C-section.” Her stomach did a flip worrying about the whole incident.
“No, that was tonight,” Michele said as her forehead furrowed with creases. “You okay, Kate?”
Kate shook her head. “Things are a little strained at home. Rob and I are having trouble.”
“I can relate to that after two divorces. I have a plan though. I’m just going to shoot my next man if he gives me trouble.” Mrs. Thornton laughed as her pager went off.
“Michele, I can’t just shoot Rob,” said Kate.
“Why? He’s just going to shove you, swing at you or hit you. Being hit is the best because then you can go to the ER and have it documented. They’ll take pictures of the injuries and then Rob will become cooperative so that you won’t press charges and take him for every thing he has left. It just all gets better. If being hit doesn’t improve your situation then shoot him before he kills you.”
“Well, while you two figure out how to treat men, I’ll go down to the ER and see what their emergency is all about. I’m glad that all I have to do is dust mine off occasionally, and he stays happy.”
“ER had a woman coming in with chest pain earlier,” said Kate.
“I hope that’s all it is.” Humming Mrs. Thornton turned to leave and then turned back. “I will be in touch with Barb sometime before I go home. She will hear nightshift’s side of the story. So don’t worry about that situation.”
“Wow, thanks Mrs. Thornton,” said Michele. Mrs. Thornton went of humming as she went. Michele turned back to Kate.
“Uh, Michele, I don’t think things are going to get so bad Rob will hit me. He’s only swung at me once. And we are going to marriage counseling.”
“I always thought you and Rob would make it. But after they swing at you all you get is the abuse, and no one takes it seriously because there aren’t any cuts or bruises. You’re just stuck waiting for the punch to land on your face forever, and when it doesn’t, you wonder how painful it would have been or would it have broken a bone. It goes on and on around in your head until you don’t know what direction is up. I hope the counseling works out. All it did in my marriages was help us separate more peacefully. I didn’t get to shoot either one.”
Kate started laughing, a big belly laugh. “Your mind is evil, Michele. And your advice is priceless.”
“What’s Rob’s problem anyway?”
“He’s pissed. I’m not doing what he wants me to. He wants me to take care of his saintly mother since she has emphysema now.”
“And what is the result of all this?”
“We’re both miserable. It’s as if our marriage has come down to the dirty underwear he leaves on the floor. Dirty underwear doesn’t fuel love.”
“His underwear would be in shreds at my house.” They both started laughing again.
“Uh, Michele, are you dating any one right now?”
“Er…no. I’ve had a little trouble with anger lately. It seems to chase some men away.”
“Oh.” Kate chuckled. “That explains a lot.” Kate went back to her report.
Michele stood up. “Oh, hello Barb.”
Kate whimpered to herself. She swung around in her chair and faced the Director of Surgery, Barb Davis. “Hello. We had a busy night. I just got done with my report.”
Michele covered her smile with her hand and walked out of the nursing station. Barb liked to surprise them every once in a while by showing up early.
“Yes. I’ll take that report while you tell me why I was called by OB last night at 11 p.m.?”
“Evening shift let them wait until we got here and sent us to respond to OB’s emergency c-section. Dr. Baker and OB were upset with the wait. The baby had to be resuscitated.” Kate kept her tone level trying not to betray all the emotion the emergency caesarean had left behind. She knew Barb didn’t want to hear about between shift conflicts.
“Cheryl will be here in a moment to count narcotics with you.” Barb entered her office and shut the door.
Kate shuddered. Cheryl was coming up the hall, as were some of the other members of the day shift. They approached the desk in an intimidating manner. Aggressive nurses with an intense set look on their faces that said, “Don’t mess with me,” punctuated every step they took. The herd stopped at the nurses’ station, their voices loud. Cheryl separated herself and moved behind the desk and its glass partition.
“I’m ready to count,” said Cheryl.
“Good. I’m ready to get out of here,” said Kate.
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