Abroad Liberty

This is Where I am Now

August 27, 2025
Rochester, New York

At 8:35 am, Kyle comes in from a night shift rotation for his master, the sound of keys go against the doorknob, and Kyle steps inside his apartment to be greeted by Debby, she continues walking around his legs and meowing, he bends over and grabs her as she starts purring while he cradles her like a baby. He puts her back on the floor and goes straight to the bathroom, kicks his shoes one way, takes off his clothes, and jumps into the shower, as water runs down his body, he closes his eyes and drifts from all reality

Several hours later, Kyle wakes up late in the afternoon after taking a very long and needed sleep. At his age, young and all, he was starting to feel the weight from all the stress his classes were brought in, his hospital rotations, work and life, and his body was starting to fill it. As he grabs his phone to check the time, he finds a voice message from Malcolm, he hits play and lays the phone on the counter on speaker "Hey you, are you ready for our salsa class tonight?"

Kyle takes a deep breath as he puts the coffee mug inside the microwave and hits the little microphone button "I don't think I'll be able to make it, I have to finish my preventive measures on premature newborns with sexual transmitted diseases assignment, and besides, after what happened the other day, I don't know if spending time together is the wises choice"

The microwave starts beeping, Kyle opens it and sets the mug on the stove as he pours freshly brew coffee into it, as he's about to take his first sip, another message from Malcolm comes in "Are you serious right now?"

Kyle groans as he puts the mug down "I am, you know I don't like getting mixed up in the unnecessary drama and this is all very much unnecessary"

Malcolm immediately responds "Fine, but you owe me"

Kyle puts an awry smile as he sends the last message "As always"

As he continues sipping down his coffee standing on one leg wearing nothing more than boxers, he turns to open the fridge and brings some ingredients out.

He begins to cook and feeds Lil Debby and after finishing up he gets ready to sit down and continues working on his assignment. 

The next morning he goes to work, he arrives at the hospital, and as he walks through the sliding doors his spots non-other than Malcolm, who for the first time, manage to be at work earlier than him.

They meet at the lobby where the rest of the "ego nurses" Samantha, Tatiana, and Camille are waiting. 

Usually, they greeted each other, click their coffee mugs together and continue chatting, except today Kyle keeps walking and heads straight to the pediatric floor.

At lunchtime, instead of meeting with them for lunch as he always does, Kyle warms his food and sits down in the small kitchen on the peds floor.

...

Meanwhile, the rest of his friends meet at the cafeteria, since the very beginning of their friendship they've established a routine, everyone around them even expects it, every day is the same, but today they were staring because one was missing and that could only mean one thing for the ego nurses, trouble.

As they are chatting a radiologist approaches them "Is it me or are we missing one of the egos today?"

"Karl, keep walking" Said Samantha as she rolled her eyes

The guy puts his arms up as a sign of giving up and continued walking, Camille puts down her smoothie hard against the table "I swear to god, people in this hospital need to get over it, we get along, what's the big deal"