Bite Shift

2

Six months ago

All I could think about was my birthday. Should I have a party and invite the girls from work or just go out to eat with my kids like always? It feels like 40 is just around the corner and celebrating birthdays was just getting morbid and sad. As long as I don't end up drinking a bottle of wine and crying in the shower, like last year, it would be an improvement. I expect a couple of handwritten cards, a homemade breakfast and some original paintings from Olivia and Ellie. I should probably make more room on my bedroom walls.

"Kate."

The voice pulled me out of my thoughts and landed me hard on Floor 5B-Cardiac Stepdown. I remembered I was working, just as Monica's face came into focus. One look in her eyes and I knew that she was well aware my mind was halfway gone for a few minutes.

"Welcome back," she chuckled. "Dr. Boone wants 502 to get two units of O Neg. If you go get it, I will put the order in. The weird one is down there and I am not in the mood."

"You got it. I could actually use the walk and I don't mind Rhys. He's quiet. I like quiet."

Monica rolled her eyes. "He's bizarre and you know it. I bet he lives with his Mom and reads comics in a room full of toys that he left in the box so they hold their value."

"So, should I not have given him your number?"

"Kate!" She made each letter sound like it was written in all caps and bold. "That is not funny".

I laughed and walked towards the door to the stairwell. I swore I would take the stairs until the last 20 melted off of my hips. Stairs and vegetables. That was finally going to get me to 130 lbs. I just knew it.

The basement floor was so quiet at night. You can't imagine the silence that falls over a hospital at one in the morning. On the units, you can hear the beeps of the monitors and the subdued whispers of nurses at the station. But places without patients, like the lab or the blood bank, have a stillness that borders on eerie.

I often used my breaks to walk around the parts of the hospital that I don't often get to see. That's how I've met people like Stewart the night watchman, Camilla the night operator and Rhys the blood bank guy. They move around silently completing their tasks, helping the place run, but rarely getting seen.

Rhys is the most interesting. I would put him at no older than 30 and no younger than 26. He's probably just under 6' tall with this reddish-brown hair that's just a little too long over his ears and often unruly. It looks like he rolled out of bed and went straight to work. I doubt he even owns a comb. It makes me think he doesn't live with a woman. Whether it is a mother or a girlfriend, a woman would have told him, at some point, to trim his hair and run a brush through it. Sometimes, he says a word with just a little bit of an accent. I can't place it but it makes me think he is not from here originally. A lot of the nurses think he is weird. Honestly, I think he is just shy.

Camilla is the exact opposite. She's barely 5' tall with blonde hair down to her hips and straight ironed within an inch of its life. Her heavy makeup makes it hard to guess her age. If she sees me, she takes a deep breath and I know she's about to start a story that will last hours, if I let it. Because she is trapped in her little cubby, she is desperate for someone to talk to. I have taken her coffee a few times when I just need to get off my floor and go for a walk. She is the perfect person if you don't want to talk, but love to listen.

That leaves Stewart. I place him at 60 years old. His gold wedding band is tarnished and looks like it hasn't been off that finger since the dawn of time so I'm figuring he's been married since high school. I have never asked details but I think he has a few kids. I would be willing to bet they're all in the area and probably in manual labor. The silver tag on his uniform says Milano, so I'd wager my paycheck that he is Italian. I can picture Stewart, his plump wife and a table full of grown kids with their partners around a big table having a loud, chaotic Sunday dinner.

I reached the basement level and swung open the door from the stairwell to the hallway. Rhys's music hit my ears. It is not as loud, in the room, as it seems it would be when you hear it. The sound has a funny way of traveling in these lower levels. The closer you get to the blood room, the quieter the music gets. He must have thousands of CDs. Every time I come down, it's a different album. Tonight, its Pink Floyd.

"Hey, Rhys". For four years, since Rhys started, I have started our conversations the same way. He never has the first word.

"Hey Kate," Rhys jumps up from his desk in the back and I can see his face over the computer monitor. His hair is extra messy tonight. He might have been sleeping at that desk when I called out his name. "Business or pleasure," he asks and then chuckles at either his idea of a joke or just the word pleasure.

"Both" I quip and immediately regret it as I watch the blush move from his neck to his face. "Kidding! Two units of O neg for 502, please. Dr. Boone is the ordering".

Rhys's fingers fly over the keys at a pace that still impresses me. He clearly spends a great deal of time on the computer. I use the 'search and peck' style of typing. One finger at a time. Thankfully, my ability to type is not a requirement for being a nurse.

"Got it" he whispers, almost like it is to himself, and then he looks up to meet my eyes. "Is that all you need?"

"Do you have anything other than blood," I ask, laughing.

"I guess not," he responds sheepishly, looking down.

"I appreciate you asking but, no. The two units are enough. I will take one now and come back for the other when it is time." I felt bad. I don't want him to be embarrassed. Looking again, I guessed that he was younger than I thought, maybe 25. He looked like a young man, still trying to figure out how to talk to a girl. I wanted to change the subject. "How is it tonight?"

The look left his face and he became a little more comfortable in his skin. "It's been slow. You're the first person I've seen all night. So much for the whole 'full moon craziness'. I thought I'd be running all night long".

"Don't say that," I shouted. "You're going to jinx us!"

His hand shot up to his mouth like he wanted to bring the words back and trap them in his mouth. "Dang. Sorry, Kate!"

"No worries. Just know it's your fault if a ten-car pileup comes into the ER and they all need blood."

He handed me a bag of blood out of the warmer and I signed a paper for records. Every bag of blood that comes in is kept track of. You would be surprised how many get wasted or are no good. For those of you who don't give blood, you should. Hospitals are always in need.

"Talk to you later, Rhys. I am night shift all week."

"Me too" said as he dropped back down into his office chair and became lost behind the screen. As I walked out a thought pops into my head, I wonder if he is watching porn.

I swallowed back laughter and hurried to the stairwell door before the giggles fought their way out and I laughed all the way up to the 5th floor.