Delinquency

Chapter 30: Distance

Caelan

"Really? Balut? For breakfast?" Pang-aasar ko sa kapatid ko nang makita ko siya sa dining area. She really assimilated well because she has a plate of hot rice in front of her, as well as a set of assorted ihaw-ihaw, a bowl for vinegar, and another plate for her Balut. Her foot is also up on the chair and she's eating with her hand. She's now casually dressed in a shirt and pants. She looked calm for someone who literally handled a life and death situation last night.

"I was busy saving your life last night, so I had to put the food that I bought last night in the fridge, you're welcome." She gently put the opened egg back to her plate and started walking towards me. "And you are supposed to be resting." She said with her nurse tone again.

"Ate, I'm fine." I said as I rested my hand over the wound for a moment. It was now covered in a dressing, and I was no longer wearing torn clothes since I managed to change into new ones last night.

"Says the man with multiple stitches and has to receive blood from his very amazing sister."

I jokingly rolled my eyes. She helped me sit on a chair in front of her.

"You're really amazing, you know."

She only smiled and turned to go to the open kitchen where there is a pot on the stove. She scooped some of it and put it on the bowl before she started to walk back to the table. The delicious smell of mushroom and gravy filled my nose and my stomach growled in hunger.

"Thank you." I murmured when she placed the bowl in front of me.

She hummed and went back to her seat.

"Have you always wanted to become a nurse?" I asked curiously.

"Hm," She shrugged and started eating her Balut. "Yeah, I guess. I always knew that I wanted to help people like what Mama and Pops did, so I thought nursing was a great choice. I used to think that I get to look cute in scrubs and everything, but boy, was I wrong."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There are so many types of nursing but I decided to be at the bedside, and it could be a dumpster fire. It is definitely not for everyone.  If you don't love what you do, you're not gonna last in the field, period. Medical aspect of it, I love it, but the bedside?" She sighed. She was peeling another egg.

"Like this one time, I had a patient who was admitted for infection. He was AAOx4 and able-bodied, which basically means he's able to do everything by himself. He was just on my floor because I was giving him an antibiotic intravenously so the infection wouldn't spread to his kidney. This man, a grown, old åss man , found out that I was going to be his nurse for twelve hours and suddenly he didn't know how to pee on his own. He had the audacity to ask me if I could go to the bathroom with him and hold his penis for him."

Nanlaki naman ang mga mata ko. I stopped sipping the soup, but she continued getting a quarter handful of rice in her hand.

"So he was really insisting he couldn't pee, so I told him that I can just put a foley catheter in his penis, so he doesn't have to worry about it. Magically, he could stand up and pee by himself again." She said. "And I also had this one time where I was in a code, and the patient next door got mad at me because I didn't give her the apple juice she asked before I got pulled into the code. Like sorry, is your fúcking apple juice more important than saving a life? But did I actually say that? No. I smiled and gave her the goddåmn apple juice."

"...wow..."

"Yeah, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bedside nursing could be a dumpster fire." She sipped the sauce from the Balut and proceeded to eat the rest of it with her rice. Meanwhile I try to enjoy my soup, but my appetite is really not there.