The exercise:
Today we write about: the nurse.
Kat and I had our first prenatal class tonight and it was good. We ended things off with a tour of the maternity ward at the Penticton hospital (where we briefly met a couple of their maternity nurses), which was very... effective at making this all seem extremely real.
Lots of processing to do, and thankfully three more classes to go - this Wednesday, next Monday, and the Wednesday after that. I really like our instructor a lot, so I'm looking forward to hearing what else she has to say.
Mine:
After a long shift of unappreciative patients and too appreciative doctors, Diane could almost taste the Merlot waiting on her dinner table at home. Closing her work locker with a little more enthusiasm than was strictly required, she pulled up the hood of her coat and headed for the elevators.
The ride down was blessedly quick and unaccompanied. In the parking garage she found her car where she'd left it, though not quite in the condition she'd last seen it in. She studied the scratch across the driver's side door for a moment before shrugging it off and climbing inside.
Maybe she'd get it fixed next paycheck.
Turning the key in the ignition, the engine rumbled to life on the third try. Not bad, considering the chill in the air. Before long she'd be lucky to get it going in less than ten.
As Diane eased the car into reverse her cell phone began to ring. She considered not answering it at all, but her conscience got the better of her on the fourth ring.
"Yeah?"
"Judy just called in sick," her supervisor informed her. Was that a hint of glee in her voice? "I'm going to need you to pull a double shift."
3 comments:
Looks like it was a pretty long day for you! I can't say I know anything about prenatal classes, but the concept seems like a good idea at least. You'll have to share the highlights with us :)
I can sympathise with Diane, though it's been a while since I've had a job with shift-work and double shifts. I think you've got a lot of the little details spot on.
The nurse
The Hospice had clearly seen better days. The windows were all cracked – try as he might, he couldn't find one that was whole – and the ivy growing up the walls was brown in places and black in others. Some tendrils were green still, but it was a sickly colour. As he turned the engine of the car off the front door swung slowly open, creaked painfully, and then fell off its hinges and crashed to the ground. A cloud of sawdust and woodworm puffed into the air, mushroom shaped.
He jumped when someone knocked on the passenger-side window, and when he looked over he felt no better: a haggard man with deep-sunk eyes, wrinkles enough to shame a pug, and what he could only hope was a skin disease was staring at him, looking hungry. He cracked the window just enough to talk through and no more.
"I'm your nurse," said the man, his voice sounding wet and liquid. "I'll take you to your bed."
@Marc - Poor nursy, she's going to need that bottle by the end of the night I suspect... I will say I loved the nurses in teh pediatric ward my daughter was in - she' wake up with some new litte gift from them (being a Catholic Hospital they get lots of donations for the kids) she even got to bring home a blanket from Project Linus
@Greg - I get the feeling your protagonist ought to drive away, very, very fast... a talking Zombie, is not a nurse... or at least that's the sort of impression I got of the guy. *grins*
The Nurse
A Halloween costume,
A red cross on white foreground.
Not something a real nurse,
Would ever consider wearing.
She prefers the scrubs,
In which pumpkins abound.
There’s no way she’d ever,
Wear something so daring!
Greg - yeah, I think the classes are going to be extremely useful.
Jeez, you have a real talent for making my skin crawl with your descriptions. That's some excellent descriptive writing.
Cathryn - that's the first I've heard of that project, but I like what I'm seeing. Very cool idea.
Fun little poem. And I suppose we are getting close to that time of year again, aren't we?
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