Night Shift [h.s]

two

☁️ ALANNAH ☁️

Blue scrubs were new to me. Working in the paediatric ward for the past year meant that I had rocked the purple for twelve whole months, but I had been getting sick of it just recently.

Not only was the hospital I used to work at a whole forty five minutes from the flat, but I was working during the day and that just didn't fall right with the structure of my little family.

Whilst Grace was an amazing babysitter and helps out whenever she can, she was also at college studying full time. And my hours were so long that I couldn't drop Harmony off at school, I couldn't pick her up, I couldn't go to her little assemblies or watch as she runs out of the gate with a huge beaming smile on her face. I had only met her teacher twice. I was completely absent from her school life and I hated that.

My old job just didn't allow me to be a mother and I knew I couldn't stay in a job that prohibited me from such things.

I also hated having to pay a babysitter for the morning and after school shifts. My money was draining a lot faster than I could even make it.

But then a job came up at our local hospital, Hartley Bridge, the one where I had given birth to Harmony, the one where Grace and I had also been born. They were looking for a nurse in their emergency department, specifically one to work nights shifts which is just was I was looking for.

Ideally I would've preferred to keep working in the paediatric ward, even though I was trained in emergency medicine, I was somehow trusted with the role of working in the children's ward and had been for the past year. I didn't think I'd enjoy it at first, but I soon learnt to love the gentle pace of it, as well as getting to bond with the children and just care for others. My mother had always said that nursing was in my blood.

I knew as soon as the job came up in the emergency department for night shifts, I couldn't brush past the advertisement. It was a little more money than what I was making now, as well as better hours for both me and Harmony. Working nights meant that I'd be able to take Harmony to school, tackle the housework as well as catch up on sleep during the day and then be back at the gates to pick her up for three o'clock, all whilst making better money than I did when I was a ward nurse.

It seemed like a win win situation, and plus, I did secretly love the rush of an emergency department, especially the amount of stories and people you come across in just twelve hours of work, though I think it would take me a fair few shifts before I fully got back in the swing of it all.

A new job and a new role all in one would be sure to throw me off for a little while. But I was determined to make this work, if not for myself then at least for Harmony. She at least deserved a mother that was in her life, not one that works throughout the day and then sleeps throughout the night, hardly having even an hour spare for her.