Chapter 3

Laura spent most of her shift doing the things she normally does, administers drugs and injections to the in-patient under her care, prep some for surgery, tried to calm frightened relatives of patients down, and so on. She was now in the ward to do her last roll call before she leaves for the day. It's was almost 8: 30 pm.

"Hi, good evening Mr. Sean" Laura greeted her last patient for the day.

"Hi Nurse Laura " he replied.

"How are you feeling and how did your day go?" Laura asked smiling at him.

"I am feeling okay and my day was boring Nurse, how soon can I be discharged?" The patient Mr. Sean asked.

"Soon sir, we just have to run you through some more processes Laura answered.

"In the main time here is your last drug for today" she added.

"No, not again I don't want more medicine Nurse", he lamented.

" Mr. Sean,"

Laura called with a soft smile, "you have to take your drugs, you must complete the full dose. It's very important ".

"All alright nurse, he said and collected the drugs from her, placed them in his mouth, and drank the water given to him.

"There you go, very good now you can rest, goodnight," Laura said.

"Goodnight Nurse," the patient replied and closed his eyes. Laura checked his file, wrote down the drugs and time she gave it to him on the file, placed it back beside his bed, and left the room.

Laura strolled into the nurse's room lazily, looking forward to picking up her bag and leaving the hospital. She plans on drowning herself in sugar while watching her favorite TV series.

"Oh Laura, hi the director was just here looking for you, Tasha disclosed.

"Really? Do you know the reason he is looking for me?" Laura asked.

"Nope, I have no idea. He said to tell you to see him in his office when your shift is over that's all" Tasha replied. Okay, Thanks, I go to his office on my way out" she replied. okay, I've got to go my shift starts now." Tasha said moving out of the room.

"Goodnight Tasha," Laura replied wondering the whole time, what the director could want to tell her. She was not supposed to be at work this week, maybe Sylvia had not told the director about her journey and that Laura was taking her place. That's not even a problem cuz workers fill in for their coworkers every time. or did she do something wrong, maybe gave the wrong drugs to a patient, or sent the wrong patient to the surgery room.

Nope, she has done none of those, she was sure. So why would the director wanna see her? She thought to herself as she walked the few miles to the director's office.

The director is a no-nonsense strict man in his early fifties he is a consultant and the head of the hospital. He mainly handled complicated issues and mostly deal with the overall wellbeing of the hospital. He is a brilliant man from whom Laura has learned a lot. She wasn't scared of him, she just hated being scolded.

Back when she was still in the orphanage, she did her best to avoid been scolded. She made sure she was up early to do her daily chores, make her bed and brush her teeth. She was rarely scolded, the few times the sisters had scolded her it was because she did not finish her food or when she forgets to eat. She has always being a light eater. Speaking of food, Laura suddenly thought. When did I last eat? She asked herself. "Oh no, Laura not again you should not forget to eat lady," she said scolding herself out loud.

The only food she had eating the whole of the day was breakfast which was just scrambled eggs and bread. She had wanted to drop by the hospital cafeteria when she got to the hospital earlier today but sue had somehow forgotten. Well, she still had some leftover chicken in the fridge, she just had to reheat it when she gets home, she concluded as she knocked on the door of the director's office. "Come in" came his voice from within the office.

"Good evening Doctor Francis." Laura greeted.

"Good evening Laura how was your day?" he asked.

"Fine thank you, sir, you asked to see me?"

"Yes, I did, please have a sit". He replied. "well Laura I ought to be home by now, my wife is already calling and she is not a very patient lady, so I will go straight to the point".

"Okay, sir" Laura replied listening intently

"relax Laura you are not in trouble".

" Ha," Laura sighed with relief, "I thought I was".

"Well you are not, you are one of our most trusted and reliable nurses" he added

"thank you, sir," Laura said with a smile.

"Okay, we have a patient that needs to be taken care of at home, you know we usually use a calendar to determine which nurse or nurses will do home service. It's supposed to be Sylvia but since she traveled and even if she comes back she has her wedding preparations. So I want to ask you to be the one to care for the patient."

"Oh, for how long sir?" She asked.

"For maybe two to three months depending on how well the patient responds to treatment. The patient a VIP broke his legs, he can't stay in the hospital, his agency is paying big money for our services even if you were not filling in for Sylvia I would have still asked you to be the one to take care of him. Because your records of home services have been perfect so far. You are to resume the day after tomorrow as the patient will be discharged tomorrow.

"Okay, sir," Laura said when he stopped talking.

"Like we usually do, You are in charge of taking care of the patient till he recovers, you are to report everything to the hospital and call immediately there is any complicated beyond your capacity. The director explained.

" I understand sir,"

Laura said. She was used to the drill but it's was a norm for the director to go over the rules every time.

"Regarding sleeping arrangements and other stuff, you will discuss with the patient manager. He will probably still be in the patient's room. You can stop by the reception to collect the patient file and go through it. That's pretty much it. Any questions Laura" he asked looking at his phone that was ringing nonstop.

Laura had a few questions but she figured she could ask the head nurse or put a call across to the director the next day so she shook her head and said

"No sir when I do have a question I will call to ask."

"that's good to hear Laura, I have to take this call," he said apologetically.

"No problem sir, I will leave now. Good night sir".

"Good night he replied as he started talking to the person on the phone whom Laura was sure is his wife.

As Laura left the office, she checked her time. It was almost 8;30 pm. She was tried but she thought it best she meets her patient with whom she will be spending the next two or three months. Since she won't be in the hospital till afternoon tomorrow.

The last home patient she had, had been a seventy-two years old man who had a stroke and could not walk or do anything on his own for two whole months. She had helped him through the recovery process and the old nan gas remained a friend of Laura . he even went as far as offering to marry Laura to his son. Laura had laughter and wave off his proposal as the son had been much older than her. He was in his forties and a widower with two kids. The son had eventually found love again and is now living happily with his new wife and kids. the old man had been very nice and Laura hoped her new patient will be nice too.

"Oh no," Laura thought hitting her head with her hand, " I forgot to ask for the name of my patient".

"Aish" she complained as she turned back towards the director's office. Luckily the director was just walking down her way.

"Sir, I was just going back to your office"

"oh, Laura any problem"? He asked.

" No sir, I forgot to ask the name of my new patient". "His name is Devon Williams, you can collect his file from the receptionist. I have to go now," he said. "okay thank you, sir, goodnight," Laura replied

"good night Laura" Doctor Francis called as he walked out of the hallway.

Devon, Laura thought. The name sounded familiar not that she knows the person but she was certain she has heard the name before.

"Not overthinking this,"

she said to herself as she walked back down the hallway to the reception.

"Hi, Grace,"

Laura greeted the receptionist with a smile.

"Hi, Laura, she replied.

"Please I need the file of the patient Devon Williams". She said.

"Wow, you are the nurse assigned to him Oh my God you are so lucky laura I would have loved to be the one to care for him. What a time not to be a nurse" Grace lamented.

"Yeah, I am " Laura replied finally remembering where she heard the name.

"How to be you right now". Grace said. searching the file cabinet for the file.

" Hmmm" Laura replied not knowing what to say to her.

"Here you go, Laura," Grace said handling the file to her.

"Thanks, Grace," Laura said looking through the file.

"You are welcome Laura". Grace replied.

"Bye Grace I need to see the patient's manager before I go home," Laura said as she closed the file and handed it back to her.

"Okay bye, Laura. Just know that you are so f*cking lucky to be Devon's nurse. She replied.

Laura laughter softly as she walked out of the reception.