Camden Vaile

Monday, April 20th

I woke up Monday morning feeling a little tired but ready to go. My foot felt much better even if it did look much worse. I hit the snooze button a few times too many and had to shower and dress quickly. It was 0635 when I grabbed a soda and a breakfast bar from the pantry. Just as I was about to leave my mom came into the kitchen and said, "You off to the hospital already?"

I said, "Yeah, I wanted to go run but I got up too late. I'll be done around lunchtime though. You want me to bring you something and we'll do lunch together?"

She hugged me and said, "That'd be nice, how about Subway?"

I kissed her cheek and said, "Ok. I'll pick it up and meet you at your work."

I ate my breakfast on the way to the hospital. As I got out of my car I dusted crumbs from my top and got all my trash out. I shoved my keys into my pocket and pulled my badge over my head.

I had my head buried in my back seat with my butt sticking out of the door and my legs were sprawled every which way trying to find my stethoscope when a male voice said, "Interesting view."

I let out a startled yelp and jerked up whacking my head against the roof of my car. I yelled, "Shit!" as I grabbed my head and turned to slowly sit down in my car door. I glared up to see Joel trying not to laugh. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking at the ground. His chest was shaking from his attempts to hold back his laughter.

I snorted and said, "Go ahead. Laugh. I know you want to."

A few laughs escaped him while I sat there and rubbed my head. He finally leaned back against his truck and took a deep breath. He said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He cracked a grin again and said, "How's the head? The foot? Anything else I'm missing here?"

"Just my pride. I'm fine and the foot's better. It's still really bruised and sore but I can pretty much walk on it now."

He said, "Good. So what exactly were you trying to do in there?"

I got up and shut and locked my door as I said, "Trying to find my stethoscope, but I must have left it back at school."

He said, "I have one you can borrow if you want."

I looked over at him and said, "If you wouldn't mind that would be great."

He got an extra one out of his truck and handed it to me. As we started towards the hospital he said, "You can just give it back to me on Thursday."

I finally realized he was in scrubs too. I said, "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are Captain Obvious?"

I murmured, "Smart ass." as we entered the hospital. He just snorted in response.

As we walked up to join Mrs. Waltman's medical professions class, she looked up to scorch us with her patented look. She said, "I'm very proud of my current students who managed to make it on time today." We both just smiled as all the kids turned to look at us. Some things never change. Haha it was just like being back in high school. God help us!

She continued, "This is Camden Vaile and Joel Lambton." There were a few murmurs at the mention of Joel's name but they quieted when Mrs. Waltman cleared her throat. She went on, "Ms. Vaile is a Registered Nurse with an Associate's degree from UAB. She's in the top of her class and is in her third year working towards her Nursing degree. Tell us Camden why did you choose to go the Associate degree route and what is your ultimate goal?"

I cleared my throat and said, "I chose to go the Associate's degree route because it enabled me to start working sooner in my chosen profession and allows me to get hands on experience while still attending college. My ultimate goal is to become a Pediatric RN."