The Storm

It’s Halloween and we have our first snow of the season—not much, just enough to be a pain. I stomp my feet as I walk into the hospital, trying to get the snow off them.

Some of the staff are dressed up. “You look cute, Lynn.” Max gives me a wink. He’s dressed as Superman.

Smiling at him, I say, “Thanks.”

I look like a bubblegum machine.

“Hope you’re prepared for tonight.” He raises his eyebrows at me.

“Shit, that’s tonight too?”

“You know it,” he says, pointing to the calendar.

“Awesome.” Full moon, Saturday night, and Halloween at the same time. “It’s going to be a long night.” I put my purse in my locker.

Kids with stomach pains from eating too much candy, drunk party people, and a man who somehow got an arrow through his arm.

Not only did he have an arrow through his arm, but he walked around with it there for most of the night, drunk of course.

“Hey, Superman!” he shouts when Max walks in.

“That’s, Dr. Superman.” Max puts on a pair of gloves. “How did this happen?”

“I pissed Batman off.”

“I didn’t know Batman used arrows,” I quip.

“He does when he catches you fucking his wife.” The man winks at me.

I take the blood pressure cuff off his other arm. “Better keep that in mind for next time.”

“I’d do it again though,” he says, smiling.

“All right, lover boy, let’s get you an x-ray.” Max laughs.

Once the x-ray is back, he says, “Well, Flash, you earned yourself surgery.”

“Awesome picture man!” he interrupts.

I can’t help but laugh. “It’s your picture. Let’s get you sobered up.”

We bandage his arm and send him upstairs. He’s singing by the time they make it to the elevator. They are my favorite kind of drunks.

“I’m sure he will be feeling it tomorrow.” Max nudges me.

Nights like this make the shift go fast, and we are grateful for them. Most of us work twelve-hour shifts, four to five days a week, and there is nothing worse than a dead night where you’re just watching the time tick by.

Some work swing shift and they are familiar with the majority of the staff. Others, like me, primarily only work one shift.

I have to say that I will miss working with most of the night shift crew when I move to days, but they understand.

“How much longer do you have?” Max looks at my stomach.

I rub it. “Six weeks.”

“Bet you’re getting excited.”

I nod my head. “I am but I also can’t wait to not pee every five minutes and to be able to get comfortable in bed.”

Max is a very nice man, ten years older than me, with jet-black hair and brown eyes. A very attractive man. He’s not as serious as some of the other doctors—he will joke around with us.

“No word from Justin?”

“Nope, not one.”

He puts his arm around my shoulders. “His loss, you’re a catch. I would ask you out, but you’re not really my type.”

“I know, you prefer outies, not innies.” It’s not really a secret that he’s gay—his boyfriend works in the radiology department.

“Very true. You’re still cute though.” He winks at me.

“You wouldn’t be hitting on my man now, would you?” Speaking of the boyfriend…

It’s the end of our shift and we are getting ready to leave. “Actually, I think he was the one hitting on me. He did just tell me I was a catch.” I grin.

He throws his hand over his chest, fanning drama. “I can’t go on, you’ve broken my heart.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his theatrics as Max rolled his eyes.

“All right, drama queen, let’s go home. Have a good day, Lynn.”

I watch them walk out hand in hand.

My feet are swelling and I know that’s a normal part of pregnancy. My doctor recommended I stay off my feet and rest as much as possible throughout my shifts.

I have decided to stop working the week before I’m due so I can make sure that I have everything ready.

November has brought us more snow and the weather man says that we better get used to it, because we’ve got a long hard winter ahead of us.

Thankfully, I have decent tires on my car and am confident in my ability to drive in the snow.

However, if it gets too deep, my little car won’t be going anywhere. It’s a small, four-door Honda with a manual transmission and low ground clearance.

Should I have a truck or at least an all-wheel drive? Absolutely. Can I afford one? Not anytime soon.

I have had to cancel a couple of my visits to Walter because the snow hadn’t been cleared yet and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it.

I felt terrible when I called Mary, but she understood and preferred I stay at home anyway. He is the only home patient I have left.

I live along a busy main road, so my route to the hospital is clear and I don’t have to miss any days there. I toss an extra sweatshirt in my car and head in for another shift.

I’m hoping that it is a quiet night and I can sit down as much as possible. I have cut back from five days a week to four, and that has helped the swelling.

When I’m home, I spend the majority of the time on the couch with my feet propped up on the cheap coffee table I bought.

I don’t know what it is about snow that makes people think they just absolutely need to be out driving. Do you really need to go to the store at three in the morning? What are you even buying anyway?

And the drunk drivers…you can’t drive well when you’re drunk, yet you think the snow is going to make it better. I often wonder about people.