Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 5

Grace

"Time is up boys." I warn both Harry and Ben after I let them see each other for a while. Ben was in his wheelchair by Harry's bed and they seem to be having fun together, you could really see that they were close friends.

My shift was ending now, or better, it should have ended three hours ago but there were just so many things to do that I couldn't leave in time. So now it was already 8 pm and only needed to do two more things before I leave the hospital. I feel as exhausted as I did yesterday after staying awake for 36 hours, but today I was a little more relaxed. Probably because the patient on bed number four was no longer hanging between life and death. He was here in front of me laughing with his friend, very much alive.

 "Five more minutes, please?" Ben asks as if he was a five-year-old who is trying to negotiate bedtime with his mother.

I shift my attention to one of the nurses who had just entered the room, I needed to speak to her urgently. "Fine, only because I have to do something else now. But only five more minutes, you both need to rest." I warn them but they don't answer. Harry simply shows me a smile that makes my legs feeling weak. Did he have to be this attractive?

My legs move fast towards Miss Sandy who was in charge of the appointments of the X-Rays. I had been trying to find her all day but she was too busy to spare a minute to talk to me. But now she didn't have any excuse. "Excuse me." I tap on her shoulder while she is reading a file of one of the patients, probably she is starting her round of patients.

"Yes?" She is one of the oldest nurses here which means that she doesn't really like or respect us who are still in training. But was not going to give up.

"I am sorry to bother you ma'am but I was wondering if you could find a spot for one of my patients to do an X-Ray to his arm and shoulder. I suspect it is broken." I simply say.

Miss Sandy looks at me through her round glasses with an unpleased facial expression. "As you can imagine it is impossible we are full. Maybe in four days." I fight the urge to roll my eyes at her as it would be extremely unprofessional. She is my superior and I need to respect her even though she is being unfair at the moment.

I understood that they prioritize the most serious cases but four days? That was too long, even for her. "He needs to do it earlier than that. He is already in too much pain." It was true, the only way Harry was feeling alright was due to the number of painkillers I gave him during the day. "Please it is really important." I say almost begging her.

"I don't know..." She shakes her head and I already know that I won't be able to get what I want through this approach. I need to give her something in exchange because unfortunately, that is how things work around here. If Miss Flinch knew that some of the nurses acted like this she would not allow it, but if we tell anything they would make our life a living hell.

"I can cover a shift for you." On top of managing the appointments for X-Rays she was also a regular nurse and she also had assigned patients to attend to. But I rarely see her around here which means that she must get people to do this for her as a favour. And I was going to do it if I needed to.

Miss Sandy pretends to think for a while, even though she has already accepted my offer as soon as the words came out of my mouth. "If you insist..." She hands me the paper she was holding in her hands which had the information of her patients. "Tomorrow at five take that patient to the X-Ray room, the doctor will be expecting him." It is all she says before turning around.

When I finally take a better look at her patient sheet I realise that I won't be leaving the hospital for at least another three hours. It wasn't a problem if I didn't start my shift tomorrow again at five.