Week 23: Holiday Weekend at the Hospital

Amber Lynn was furious when she got the schedule for May. “There ain’t no way in hell I’m workin’ Memorial Day Weekend!” she shouted in the break room earlier in the month. But here she was, sitting in the nurse's station the Friday before the unofficial start of Summer, with four days on in front of her. 

“This is some Bull sha-hit! I could be on the lake or in a club or under a man. Anywhere but here!” She looked over to Skye, her roommate and best friend, who was logging some files into the computer. “Ain’chu even gonna say anything?” Amber Lynn was beautiful, with flowing red hair, long legs and movie-star looks. But the face she made when pouting was not what most would consider attractive. 

The computer beeped and buzzed as Skye punched in some data. “What do ya want me to say, that I’m pumped to be here this weekend instead of going to see Trenton?” She felt as sullen as Amber Lynn sounded, but was doing a little better at not showing it. 

Amber Lynn blew a giant bubble with her gum. “I done told you, you need to forget about that boy. He’s three hours away and ain’t no way he’s coming to Black Grass. He’s a city boy.” 

Skye spun around in her chair. “He might. You don’t know that for sure.” She sounded almost childlike.

“Uh-oh! Fox in the hen house!” The nurses turned to see Jarrod, the overnight janitor standing in the doorway to their station. He was thin and lanky, with patchy blonde facial hair and a permed mullet that draped down past his shoulders. His janitor’s uniform of pine green did little for the sallow tint to his skin. “What kinda trouble you girls gettin’ into tonight?” he asked as he leaned onto his mop. 

The sight of Jarrod turned Amber Lynn’s stomach. She’d let him feel her boobs in high school years ago and he’d followed her around like a lost puppy ever since. She was convinced he started working at the hospital just to be around her. She’d tried being nice, she’d tried being mean, but nothing worked. He kept coming around no matter what. “We’re workin’, Jarrod. What’s it look like?” she said tersely. 

Skye spun around in her chair, facing the two. It always surprised amber Lynn at how friendly her roommate was to a creep like Jarrod. But, she was pretty nice to everyone. “You get stuck working this weekend too, Jarrod?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Naw, just tonight and tomar. I’m going to Laurel Lake Sunday with my cousin. He’s got him a pontoon. Newer model. Gonna be pretty sweet. See if we can’t mess with the BFO’s down on the lake.” 

Amber Lynn knew not to engage, but couldn’t signal to her friend to just let it go. “BFO’s? What’s that?” Skye asked. Amber Lynn let out a defeated sigh. 

“Bastards from Ohio!” he guffawed at his played out joke. 

Amber Lynn could see Skye’s annoyance at the comment. “You know, Skye here’s got her a man in Ohio. Lives in Cincinnati.” 

Skye blushed a little. “We’re not really dating. We just chat and FaceTime. I’ve only seen him twice in person.” 

Amber Lynn knew her friend was way more into this guy that she might be willing to admit. They talked almost every day for at least an hour. They met in Lexington on a Saturday for lunch last month, a date which Skye had described as “Magical.” Trenton seemed nice enough, but three hours is a long way for any relationship. And Black Grass might as well be a different plant from Cincinnati. “Anyway, she’s spoken for, Jarrod. And you ain’t got a snowballs chance in Satan’s jock strap a’ gettin’ with me! So, you can go pretend to mop somewheres else!” 

Jarrod’s sheepish grin grew a little wider. “You use’ta not feel that way, Amber Lynn!” 

“Yeah, I used ta smoke cowboy killers and drink Rebel Yell like it was Mamma’s Milk too. I done a lot a stupid shit. Now, get out a here before I file a HR report on your creepy ass!” 

Jarrod held up his hands, showing his palms to both ladies. “A’ight. I get it. I’ll just go see what Wanda’s up to down in the ER.” He dragged his mop bucket toward the elevator and waited patiently for the doors to open. 

“That guy’d give goosebumps to a garden snake!” Amber Lynn shivered. “I got half a mind to report his ass anyway.”

Skye shook her head. “He’s harmless.”

“Tell that to my titties! He twisted ‘em like they was tunin’ nobs on an old radio.” They both laughed. “I’m serious, he’s a freak show!” 

The next couple of hours passed without much incident. Skye had to give a patient some pain meds when he woke up after surgery and Amber Lynn helped another to the restroom. It was a typical, quiet night on the Med/Surge Unit at Black Grass Community Health. 

Around 1am, Skye’s phone buzzed. She clicked on it to see picture texted from Trenton. It was a closeup of a pina colada with a purple umbrella and a slice of pineapple sticking out of the top. The message under the pic read “Wish you were here to kick off the summer with me. I’ll save you one for next time!” 

Amber Lynn could see her friend make that sad puppy face while looking at her phone and knew exactly what was wrong. “Was it sweet or funny?” 

“Sweet. Literally.” She showed the phone to Amber Lynn. 

“I ain’t never been one fer them fu-fu drinks. If I want desert, I’ll eat some damn cake!” 

Skye raised an eyebrow. “What about amoretto sours?” 

“Yeah, I kinda like them.”

“And Sloe Gin Fizzes?  

“Ok, those are pretty damn good.”

“Frozen Mudslides?” 

“S’at that chocolate thang with ice cream and vodka? Those are the shit!” 

“Your honor, the prosecution rests!” Skye leaned back in her office chair and propped her feet up on the filling cabinet to her side, smiling widely. 

Amber Lynn stood in the doorway of the nurse's station, hands on her hips and head cocked to the side. “Ok, so there are some good fu-fu drinks I guess. Hell, I’d take a warm PBR if a hot piece of ass was handin’ it to me right about now.” 

Skye started scrolling through her phone. “We could plan another trip to Cincinnati. We got a few days off in a couple weeks. I could set something up.” There was a level of excitement in her voice that Amber Lynn loved hearing. 

“I promised Aunt Norma I’d come stay with her a few days at some point. But besides that, I’m all for it.” Amber Lynn had been raised by her aunt and saw her as much of a mother as anything. They had a strong relationship, and Aunt Norma was one of the few people Amber Lynn enjoyed spending a lot of time with. 

An alert siren blared through the PA System, startling both women. “Attention Black Grass Staff. Attention. Code Yellow 500. Repeat. Code Yellow 500. Any available staff report to ER immediately.”

Amber Lynn knew instantly that something terrible was happening. A code yellow meant that some sort of disaster had occurred. The modifier of 500 required all available staff to report to assist in the ER. She took a deep breath and looked down the hall, seeing a few folks running toward the elevator. 

Skye looked at her roommate, a hint of panic in her eyes. “You stay here,” Amber Lynn said. “One of us has to monitor our patients on the floor. I’ll go see what I can do.”

“You sure?” she replied, sounding a little more relieved than she probably wanted to.

Amber Lynn nodded and made her way to the ER. There, she found an area in mass chaos. How had they not heard anything on the third floor? She thought it looked like a scene out of a movie; the bank of windows in front of her were filled with flashing red and blue lights blaring from the emergency vehicles parked out front. At least four or five gurneys carried mangled bodies screaming in pain or frozen in shock and terror. It was too much for her to take in at once, and she found herself frozen in place, unable to move, speak or even hear. 

“Nurse Johnson. Nurse Johnson!” Dr. Carter was standing in front of her, trying to snap her out of this fog. “Nurse Johnson! We need you in ER 3, stat.” 

Amber Lynn blinked her eyes a few times and forced herself back to reality. The sound of the hysteria in the room flooded in, yells and screams filling her mind. She hurried to the third curtain of the ER and found a young man on the brink of death. His left leg was completely gone below the hip, a mass of blood and bone sticking out of the massive wound. His hands were mangled as well. But his face was pristine, showing every ounce of anguish he felt. 

“Amber Lynn, I need him prepped for the OR. We gotta stop the bleeding.” She somehow turned off her fear and let her training take over. It had been a few years since her time in the ER, and at no point was she ever looking down at someone in this shape, but she somehow knew what needed to be done.

“What happened?” she asked as they attempted to cauterize his wounds. 

An EMT strapped down the patient's uninjured leg. “Explosion at the gravel pit. Not sure what happened, but it took every bus we had to bring ‘em in. Six in total. Two already gone.”

“He’s coding!” Dr. Carter yelled as the solid buzzing of the heart monitor cut through the air. Amber Lynn grabbed the defibrillator paddles and handed them to the doctor. “Clear!” 

A bolt of electricity shot through the young man's chest. But it was not enough. “Again. Clear!” Another bolt, with the same result. “He’s lost too much blood. I’m gonna call it. TOD 2:38am. Let’s check on the other three.” Dr. Carter ripped off the latex gloves from his hands and tossed them into the biohazard bin before running over to ER 4. 

Amber Lynn grabbed a sheet and placed it over the young man’s body. When she finally got a good look at his face, she realized he was an old schoolmate of hers. “Harold something,” she thought. 

The rest of the night was no easier. The other three patients were all touch and go, but the staff at Black Grass Community Healthcare Center came together and saved three of the six lives impacted by the terrible explosion at Peril Gravel. Amber Lynn felt as if she had fought in a war when the last of the patients finally went up to ICU. Her scrubs were bloodstained and her hair sat matted to her head. 

She made her way out to the smoking area, several yards from the hospital, to find Dr. Logan already there. “Good work tonight, Nurse Johnson,” he said as he took a long drag from his cigarette. 

Amber Lynn hadn’t worked with Dr. Logan much before, but had noticed that he was quite handsome. “You can just call me Amber Lynn. And thank you. That was a rough evenin’. Think I can borrow one a those?” 

He handed her a smoke and then flicked his bic to life. “Ever think about moving down to the ER? We could use you?” 

She shook her head. “I’m happy at Med/Surge. Quiet. Peaceful. My best friend and I do shifts together.” 

“I’m telling you, you’ll make a hell of an ER nurse. Better pay. Less hours. Got a lot going for it.”

“Why Dr. Logan, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were tryin’ to spend more time with me?” She tilted her head to the side and grinned. 

He grinned back. “Would that be so bad?”

As the sun was rising, Skye and Amber Lynn climbed into the car and headed for home. “Thanks again for letting me stay on the floor. I don’t deal with stress as well as you do,” Skye told her.

“It was rough, I’m not gonna lie. But I got good news! I think Dr. Logan want’s to get him a piece a this!” She pointed at herself and giggled. 

Skye’s mouth fell open. “What? He’s not at all your type, though. Why are you so excited.”

“Girl, he’s handsome, a doctor and right here in Black Grass. I’m sure I can talk him into growing a beard and gettin’ tatted up once he gets him a little taste a Amber Lynn Johnson!”