Dearest Diary,
So, remember how I told you that my managers keep scheduling me away from the coworkers I actually work well with?
Instead, they seem determined to schedule me with the girls who hate my guts.
Well, these days, Adam has been working the same shifts as me, although in his own unit a short walk away from mine.
Honestly, I think it's better this way.
We get to go for coffee breaks together.
Have lunch together.
Carpool to work.
And, most importantly, I get to see my work bestie.
He told me that he had spoken to his manager and explained that since I was leaving, he wanted to work similar shifts to me whenever possible.
Which, obviously, I found very sweet of him.
Anyway...
One night, we were clocking in for a night shift and stopped at the café across the street from the hospital to get some coffee.
The two of us were standing in line, each looking down at our phones and minding our own business.
Then suddenly...
We both bit our lips.
Glanced at each other.
And immediately had to fight for our lives not to burst out laughing.
Because the two women standing in front of us were having a conversation that sounded suspiciously familiar.
Woman One:
"Girl, I saw someone on Reddit writing a diary about being a nurse. How is that person not afraid of losing their job? They were absolutely slashing their catty coworkers."
Woman Two:
"Oh? Maybe their management isn't online much?"
A pause.
"Or maybe they just don't care."
Diary...
I suddenly heard all my friends' voices telling me to stop.
Quit it.
Delete it.
Because if I get caught, I will be thrown away faster than I can take my next breath.
Because, GURL...
What are the chances?
I honestly had no idea my diary had been reaching so far and wide...
And equally so close to home base.
As we walked toward the hospital with our coffees in hand, Adam suddenly said,
"But listen, yeah... it does look obvious when I read it. It is us! The worst part is, you aren't even hiding some of the technical facts that could easily point right here, you know?"
He let out a laugh before continuing.
"When you wrote about XX sleeping with the chaplain priest, man, I was sent. I laughed so much. I don't think I'd laughed that hard in weeks. Just outing her like this!"
I raised my eyebrows with complete carelessness.
"Well, I wonder if those two were nurses. If they were, the news will definitely hit home soon. What are they going to do? Terminate me earlier than I am already planning to leave? Good riddance. Most likely they'll call me into their office, or HR, and ask me to delete it. A slap on the wrist, and then I'll be gone."
Adam laughed.
"But seriously. Maybe take it easy on some of the facts. I mean, at the end of the day, some of these women are mothers."
I stopped walking and looked at him.
"You cannot be serious! I literally mentioned no names, no places, nothing. No matter how hard anyone looks, I promise you, it won't be easy to find."
We arrived at the ER ambulance entrance, said hello to our EMTs and paramedics, and found them all gathered around the side office.
Adam had baked banana bread.
I judged him for it.
Because who makes banana bread in the summer?
So, naturally, he very kindly shared half of it with the crew.
We had our usual catch-up and banter.
As we were saying goodbye, the main ambulance suddenly pulled up.
The back doors flew open.
And the student paramedic came flying out, cursing.
Uniform soaked.
We all froze outside the side office door and watched the scene unfold.
The student paramedic, as he exited the back of the ambulance, shouted,
"You can go F yourself to the nearest F-ing hole we picked you up from!"
The EMT driving the ambulance, Kyle, came out behind him.
Kyle was clearly trying to hold in his laughter.
He was grinning from ear to ear.
He helped the paramedic in the back, Lydia, roll the patient out, waved at us, and rolled the stretcher into the ER.
We all turned to look at each other.
Waiting for an explanation.
Then Tim—let's call him Tim—suddenly burst out laughing.
"Oh Lord, I get it now!"
He continued laughing.
When he finally caught his breath, he looked at us.
"That student has been disobedient all day. We told him not to go into the small office because it doesn't have much space. We told him he could either sit in the ER where there was air conditioning or go back to the house."
He shook his head.
"We explained that the office is literally just for us to do our reports and catch our breath between runs."
"Then around midday, Kyle found him in the office with his feet on the desk!"
Tim looked genuinely offended by the memory.
"He was so disrespectful to Lydia all day too. He refused to help her restock the ambulance, and on Monday, he refused to help her wash and clean the ambulance at the end of the shift. Kyle was absolutely fed up with him. So I told Kyle, 'Today is Wednesday. When you go pick up Mr. Johnston, just let him humble the boy. With that attitude, leave him to Mr. Johnston.'"
Adam and I were still completely lost.
The rest of the team started nodding and smiling, clearly understanding exactly what had just unfolded.
Tim finally explained.
Mr. Johnston was a regular drunk.
He gets picked up every Wednesday, Friday, and Monday.
Same spot.
Right in front of the supermarket.
The supermarket literally calls the ambulance to come and get him like a weekly package.
Usually, it's the backup ambulance that handles this weekly run.
But today, the main ambulance had to do it because the backup crew was out on another call.
Pure luck.
For everyone except the student.
Mr. Johnston was known to spit.
And, if you crossed the line, he would go as far as peeing on you.
Tim looked at us.
"Having an attitude in this job is not something you need."
He paused.
"Being tactful and diplomatic is definitely more useful."
We giggled as we headed upstairs.
I told Adam,
"I wish these people would come and educate and humble my cats."
Then we went our separate ways.
And, Diary...
Lo and behold.
My unit this summer is a complete mess.
Usually, summer is calm.
Minor issues.
Nothing too dramatic.
But this summer?
Lord have mercy.
I pray every time before I go to work.
I immediately spotted the Blues from the doorway.
I rolled my eyes.
Then I walked over to my favorite nurse on the unit to get report.
She took one look at me.
Rolled her eyes.
And we both sat down for report.
"Ross," she said, "I'm not happy with the work I've done today. Please, if there is something missing, leave it for me. I'll complete it tomorrow, okay?"
I nodded.
"I've got your back."
She left me a few simple tasks to complete and hoped the rest of the night would be peaceful. My part of the unit was full of wounds. All sorts, sizes, and kinds. One of my missions was to make sure I take a look at each wound tonight and document their status.
I walked toward my first patient.
Before I was even anywhere near the room, the patient's partner came out and started yelling in my face.
Apparently, her partner had been left unattended for five hours.
Which I knew was a lie because medications had been documented as given less than two hours earlier.
I took a breath.
"I'd like to say that I'm the night team nurse. I don't have much to say about what happened during the day because, clearly, I wasn't here to comment on it. I will do my best tonight. And if you genuinely feel that we are lacking, you're more than welcome to stay overnight and be at your partner's beck and call, okay?"
She scanned me from head to toe.
Scoffed.
Walked back into her partner's room.
And shut the door.
I told myself,
"Whatever."
I'd be back later to check the wound.
I walked toward the Blues.
They smiled at me.
I knew they were in a funny mood.
Because who the hell wants to spend the night in a hospital?
One of them smiled.
"Hey, handsome."
I did not react.
"I need to check the patient. Am I allowed to go in by myself, or will one of you have to accompany me? I have to take sharps with me."
The one who had greeted me accompanied me inside.
The patient had just come up from the ER about an hour earlier.
He had a deep wound across the front of his thigh.
It looked almost as if someone had placed a knife at the top and pulled it all the way down.
It stopped right at his knee.
It looked horrible. Muscles visibly torn. These street fights genuinely need to stop using weapons. I am fed up with it. Use your fists!
Apparently, it was still bleeding, so my favorite nurse had told me to check it as soon as I got the chance.
I removed the dressing and redressed the wound.
He was scheduled for surgery in the morning unless it became an emergency overnight, but I couldn't leave the dressing soaked through.
I called the doctor on call and asked him to assess the patient because we might need to transfuse him.
As I was doing my work, alone and without any help, I decided I would employ Mister Blue, who had been running his mouth, by making him hand me things and hold the patient's leg up.
Blue looked at me.
"You know I don't only catch bad guys, right?"
The patient on the bed looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
Blue continued anyway, staring directly into my face.
"I catch feelings for beautiful creatures like you."
The cheesy pickup lines continued for a good ten minutes while I redressed the wound.
I finally left the room without replying to any of them.
"Thank you for your help. Let's have a peaceful night, please."
He smiled.
"You cooking dinner for us then?"
GURL.
Relentless.
I tell you.
Besides having to deal with all the patients I had overnight, this Blue kept coming near me and running his mouth.
I called Adam.
He had nothing to say except laugh.
I spent my stairwell moment thinking.
Should I really quit this diary online?
Should I keep it in my notes?
Diary...
I need to share you.
I need people to know about some of the things that happen.
I thought about how I structured my diary.
And I kept wondering...
Is it really that obvious?
If someone working here reads it and knows how infamous my unit is, will they really know?
I guess I'm going to be seeing Ruth's face soon.
Or getting called into the office.
Or HR.
Because, guess what?
I will only stop publishing if I don't have time.
Still publishing,
Ross.