With the utmost care, I scoop the baby up and cradle her to my chest, get to my feet, then make my way back to the corner of the room.
Margie’s eyes go wide as I stop in front of her, my hand gently patting the baby’s back. She opens her mouth to speak as she holds out her arms but I shake my head and whisper, “Fast asleep. We don’t want to wake her.”
Margie nods, the tears in her eyes glimmering in the pale moonlight streaming in through the window. She takes Jolene from me with a level of reverence and relief that makes her entire body sag and when Margie immediately hugs the baby tight and starts to rock, I can’t help but smile a little.
With her world finally right again, I watch Margie for a moment. I watch her rock and hum softly while her eyes drift closed, and see the tension drain from her body as she presses a kiss to her baby’s head.
Such a good mother.
I move to let myself out, but just before I close the door behind me, I hear, “Thank you, Stevie. Thank you so much.”
An exhausted sigh escapes my lips as I lean against the closed door, my energy totally depleted after such a minor thing. A regular occurrence, nothing out of the norm. It happens far more than it should, and despite the fact that this isn’t my first time searching for Jolene and I know it won’t be my last, it wears me out all the same.
“I thought you already left?”
I spin toward the voice behind me, my hand clutched over my heart as it begins to race. “Jesus, Linnie.”
She gives me a half smile. “Sorry, thought you heard me walk up.”
“No.” I push off the door and start toward the exit.
“What happened?”
“Mrs. Sanderson thought Jolene was gone again.”
Linnie glances over her shoulder with a cringe. “Sorry.”
“Please,please, make sure you’re telling the new girlsnotto put Margie’s babydoll away at night.”
“I did.” She sighs. “I trained Sasha myself and made sure to hit on stuff like that.”
“Yeah, well, you’ll probably want to review it next time she’s on shift because we were seconds from another meltdown. If I hadn’t been walking by…”
Linnie nods. “I will. But upper management has been riding my ass overtalkingto any of the CNAs about anything. We’re so short-staffed and the last girl quit because I politely reminded hernotto use the emergency exit as her own personal smoking lounge.”
“I remember. That’s when Mr. Riggs got out.”
We both giggle a little, even though it’s not really appropriate. But you have to look for the humor, the bright spots or happy moments, when you do the kind of work we do or else you’ll become so bitter and jaded you won’t be able to keep doing it. And when Mr. Riggs snuck out the deactivated emergency exit, stripped down to his briefs and started re-enacting King Lear on the front sidewalk outside the facility, itwaspretty great.
Alzheimer’s or not, the man still has some serious talent and the crowd he drew absolutely agreed.
“Maybe I’ll just avoid assigning the new girls to Mrs. Sanderson,” Linnie says as she stops behind her cart with a huff, pushing her blonde bob behind her ears.
“I’m not sure that’s possible, though. Not when we’re this short-staffed.” Then I frown when I realize she isn’t logging out of her computer. “I thought you were getting out when I was?”
She smirks at me likeyeah, and we’re both still here, then sighs again. “Chris called off. Some line about apersonal emergency. No one else could cover it, so I’m staying.”
Not that I want my friend to pull an eighteen hour shift on the lockdown unit, but I won’t lie and say I’m not happy Chris isn’t coming in.
He’s one of four RNs that work this part of the facility and he typically only works overnight shifts, but even if it’s just the brief exchange at our half hour overlap, I can’t stand seeing him. Chris makes me uncomfortable in the worst kind of way, and most of our residents don’t like him either.
He isn’t necessarily bad at his job; Chris went to school, got the credentials and knows what he’s doing, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good guy.
I know first hand that he isn’t.
“I’m sorry you got stuck, Linnie.” I sigh as I reach under the nurse’s station and grab my bag. “They really need to try harder in their search for more people.”
She shrugs. “It is what it is. I don’t have anyone to go home to except Harvey, and the overtime will go right into savings.”
