The Night Shift

Chapter One: Kinsley

I glanced at the time illuminating from the dash board of the car. 9:28 P.M. I sighed, cutting the engine and taking the keys from the ignition. I gathered my work bag, placing the keys in one of the side pockets, and began to open the car door. The parking garage was brightly lit from the lights that hung above the different rows, but the night sky was painted a dark navy color with white specks twinkling here and there. Before shutting the car door, I grabbed my coffee from the cup holder, and started to make my way into the building. Two short horn bursts echoed throughout the garage, signaling that the car had been locked. I rushed to the front of the hospital as fast as I could. Report for the next shift started at 9:45 P.M., and there were a few things I needed to get situated before I was able to actually start my night shift.

As I approached the front of the building, I noticed a dramatic increase of policemen and hospital security guards, some of their squad cars having the lights flashing, causing my eyes to squint at the intensity. My immediate thought was to freak out, but I noticed that hospital staff were still allowed to enter the building. A few months ago, there was an active shooter at the hospital across town, so everyone was still on edge when there was an increase in security around the facility. Walking by the ambulance bay, I noticed there were a few steel pedestrian barricades leading from the bay where the ambulances came to the entrance of the Emergency Room. I didn't think much of it, and quickly flashed my work badge to the security guard that was standing at the door I was going to enter through. He took a moment to compare the picture to my face, as well as comparing my title to the color of scrubs I was wearing. I straightened my badge against my grey scrub top, and continued to the pediatric floor.

I made my footsteps as quite as I could, trying my best to make it to the end of the end of the wing without waking up any of the children who were sleeping. The last door on the left had a sliver of light shining from the bottom of it. She was still awake. I smiled, and nocked softly on the door, waiting for the small 'come in' that would soon escape the small girl's lips. It took her a moment to respond, which made my stomach churn a little, but as soon as those two little words made their way out of her mouth, I was entering the room.

She looked up from the book that was laying across her tiny lap, her light amber hair slowly falling back away from her face. "Mommy," she squealed, "you're back already? That was fast!" She placed her book onto her rolling bed side table that was rolled under her bed, hovering over her feet.

I gave her a big smile. "I told you it wouldn't take very long! I just needed to grab a few things, sweetheart."

Her eyes lit up, "Did ya bring it?" She pulled on the bag that I placed on her bed, and eagerly unzipped the zipper. She dug through the bag until she found what she was looking for: her bear with the mustard yellow sweatshirt. She smiled at me and reached her arms out towards me for a hug, "Thank you so much, momma! It'll help me sleep tonight while you're gone." Her voice sounded much older now than it had a few months ago. I felt bad that she felt that she had to be strong for me, but I knew it made her feel better about the situation too.

I let my eyes wander to the clock that sat on the bed side table. 9:38 P.M. A soft sigh escaped my lips, causing Teegan's eyes to look up from her chocolate colored bear at me. She followed my gaze to look at the clock and also let out a sigh. I had to leave in a few minutes in order to make it to shift report on time.

"Come here, momma. Wanna give you a hug and a kiss before you go."

She held her arms out to me once more, and I engulfed her in the biggest bear hug I could manage to give her watching for the IV connected to her right arm. "I love you, Love Bug. I'll try to come by tonight on my break and check on you, but for now, you need to go to sleep."