“You are?”
“Yeah. Atlanta got enough trash. We needed somebody decent to balance it out.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “You’ve known me for all of two days.”
“I know enough…”
“You don’t think you’re judging a little fast?”
“Nope…”
“I watched you yesterday. Even after everything that happened outside, you never made it about yourself. You stayed with that patient until we took over, and when we got him inside, you were still trying to help.”
My smile faded.
“I couldn’t just leave him.”
“I know…” She rested a hand on my shoulder for a second before letting it fall. “That’s exactly why you’re gonna be a damn good nurse.”
I looked away, swallowing the lump that suddenly formed in my throat.
“I just wish it had been enough.”
Nia was quiet for a while.
“You know...” she then said softly, “That man had somebody with him during the worst moments of his life. He wasn’t lying on that concrete by himself wondering if anybody cared.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way.
“I don’t know if that helps, but is the truth.”
Giving her a genuine smile, I nodded and told her, “It does.”
“Good… Now let’s get through this shift without you witnessing another damn crime. My nerves can’t take it.”
I laughed, shaking my head as we walked toward the assignment board.
“Trust me, mine can’t either.”
As I reached for my assignment sheet, one of the older nurses looked up from the desk with a grin.
“So this is our famous new girl.”
I frowned. “Famous?”
The woman chuckled and said, “Baby, you’ve been the only thing people been talking about since last night.”
My stomach tightened because I had a feeling this shift wasn’t going to be as normal as I’d hoped. I didn’t even want tothink about what happened last night, but, of course, that was hard to do.
“You holding up okay?”
“I’m getting there.”
She gave me a sympathetic nod. “These shifts are hard enough without all... that.”
“No kidding.”
“I’m Denise, by the way.”