Where: Durem Hospital
When: Early morning
Weather: Raining, but lightly
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The hardest part about being a nurse wasn't the work, though that was tough. It wasn't the hours, the ache in her lower back, the strange sleep schedule that meant she saw her friends and family less often than she did her coworkers. It wasn't even the part of her job where she lost patients, though that was hard, almost the hardest part.
It was the gap.
The gap between what they could do with the resources they had, the medicine available to them, and what their patients needed. Nothing made her feel quite as restless and helpless as watching someone they should have been able to save slip away from them inch by inch because the medicine wasn't there yet, or the procedure was still in trials, or insurance wouldn't pay for the treatment. Most nights she could at least pull herself back, remind herself that she had to be compassionate but also had to compartmentalize, but this particular patient was hitting her hard.
Maybe it was because it was the end of her work week, or because so much was going on otherwise, but...
"No, put it away," she muttered to herself, taking notes down on the chart at the foot of her patient's bed. She glanced up to where the young man was sleeping, breathed in, and replaced his chart.
Behind her, there was a knock on the door, and Dani crossed over to open it, expecting the doctor.
Who she opened the door to was most definitely not the doctor, or at the very least, not one she'd worked with before. Her gaze flicked down, seeking a nametag, and then back up to his face. "Can I help you?"
kotaline
