Snippet #2279284

"Shannon," a winded nurse peeked through the doorway. Shannon Woods was sitting on a stool, wrapping up the paperwork of the last person she and the doctor had seen. The patient was a soccer player with a torn ACL, who came in looking for relief and how to help it heal. Shannon had sat by and watched closely as the doctor examined and moved the leg, hoping that one day she would be in his position instead of a nurse who wants an inside look at her desired future career. Now, she scribbled new information on the paperwork of the patient's file. Her brown eyes hesitantly strayed from the paper, not quite done with her writing. The nurse was a heavier woman named Amelia, and she was known around the hospital as Bridgeport's sweetest nurse. She rested her elbow against the frame and continued now that she had Shannon's attention. "I've got a lot of patients under my watch and if it's not too much to ask, I'd love for some help checking in on them and setting up IV's for the more sick."

Shannon nodded. "Of course." It was her real job after all. She had a few patients of her own but they seemed to be all in stable health. One or two with bad flu cases, but nothing that hydration and bed rest shouldn't fix. "There have been a lot of ill patients lately, haven't there?" She stood from her chair and followed Amelia's lead.
"There sure have," she said. "Been a nasty season for the flu this year. And at least two of mine had a bite mark from a full grown man!" Her eyes widened as she expressed the peculiarity of it. "I've already got the police involved in both cases to see if there's been domestic assault on either of them, but the stories they've given are strange."

Amelia changed the topic as she lightly tapped a finger on one wall of a patient's room and then pointed to two more down the same aisle. "This one needs an IV, the next one needs strong antibiotics, and the last just has a broken arm so just check on her for me, will you?" She handed Shannon the files for each of them.
"Absolutely, thanks for getting me, Amelia." Shannon smiled and looked through the folder briefly before entering the first room. A man lay in the bunk looking rather exhausted, but alert. His droopy eyes looked to Shannon as she closed the door behind her. "Hello, Mr. White, how are you feeling?"
His voice had a sleepy sound to it, like he was about to fall asleep, but also a slight wheeze which tickled his throat and made him cough before sinking back into the pillows. "Well, I'll feel better once I'm back home with my wife," he said with a weak smile. Shannon gave him a small smile back. Having worked this job for quite a while now, she didn't feel very sympathetic towards the patients with small colds or basic needs anymore. She just thought of it as more of a job; get in, help them get better, leave the rest to the doctor, get out.

Shannon hooked Mr. White up to an IV, bid him goodbye and left the room. The next patient went much the same, only she looked much worse. Her eyes had dark circles and looked sunken. Her hair and lips looked dry. She didn't even acknowledge Shannon when she walked in the room. This one she did feel sympathy for. The way she lay lifeless but loudly breathing made Shannon wish she wasn't going through it. She found the antibiotics in a locked cabinet, looked at the woman's file and then gave her the proper dosage and hoped it would help before leaving the room. The next patient went without any odd happenings.

When she walked back into the hallway, Amelia had just finished up with her other patients. She looked at Shannon and closed her eyes as she exhaled and shook her head. "Ain't it funny how quiet this hospital is right before it gets so hectic?"
"It is! Everyone is always getting hurt or sick at once. That one lady, Ms. Doe, isn't looking well at all," Shannon noted.
"No, she isn't. She's one of quite a few in the same state... from what I hear from the other nurses, a lot of patients with the same illness are just about to drop," a solemn look came across her face. Shannon nodded and looked down to the floor. She never liked to hear about death.