Long Shift

Disclaimer: Clearly I do not own any of the characters or settings created by Julie Campbell. I write only because I love her characters. No money is being made and as I have none to start with, good luck getting any out of me. This is my first attempt, possibly more to come based on feedback. Thanks to the wonderful Jane, who acted as a Beta… now if only we get you to read Trixie!

Rated E- for everyone

Dianna was exhausted both physically and emotionally. She closed her eyes, slid down the wall into a crouching position on the floor. Arms resting on her knees, her head fell into her hands. It was if she lived at the hospital these days. Lately she spent more time in her uniform baby blue scrubs than her own 'civilian' clothes; granted her scrubs were comfortable but she missed her favorite jeans that made her look tall and slender with the perfect butt; they weren't even dirty the last two times she had done the laundry!

A silent tear of frustration and exhaustion leaked out of her beautiful violet eyes. She had taken last night's shift in the emergency room. It wasn't her normal shift and it wasn't her floor but she knew the emergency room was always short-handed on Halloween and there were always so many accidents involving children. Today she was paying for it, having been up for well over 24 hours wasn't something she did often and the few times she did it took her forever to recover. A tired Dianna meant an emotional Dianna.

Last night had started off easy enough. She had spent some time down in the ER and was well enough respected but a change from a normal floor was always an adjustment. Within forty-five minutes of her shift starting Andrea Snell came through the doors. She was a beautiful five year old in a princess dress now forever stained with her blood, the tiara still in her gorgeous red hair. While trick-er-treating with her father and seven year old brother she had been hit by a white sedan while crossing the street. Shortly after Andrea had crossed her path Miguel came in. He had been a high school freshman at a Halloween party without parents. The party was complete with dancing, drugs, and alcohol. The freshman had too much of the wrong thing, by the time he hit the emergency doors it was clear his chances were low. Miguel held on for less than an hour before the drugs took his life. Dianna held his mother as she cried over the loose of her son, her only family. While Dianna was holding Mrs. Gonzalez, Henry came in. He was brought into the ER by his older brother Thomas. Henry was only three and his brother had given him a tootsie roll which Henry had choked on. It was like that all night; one disaster after another and then this morning it was back to the normal routine and she was already drained.

She started going over charts and doctors notes by willing her eyes to stay open. She had her own rule that when entering a patients room without a smile. It took a huge effort for her to paste a smile on her face before enter Kelly Bernadine's room. Dianna had completed her rounds when her cell phone rang.

"Hey Maggie how was your night?" Dianna asked as she answered the phone. She knew her sister Maggie had been excited for the first school social of the year and it killed her that she hadn't been there to help her sisters get ready although she was pretty sure Hannah could have cared less what she wore. It was a big day for them and she missed it. Another event she missed.

"Oh my gosh Di, you are never going to believe it…"

And so the conversation continued for the five minutes Diana had time for. Margret gushed about everything from the decorations to people's costumes and complained about her brothers' over protectiveness and Hannah's uncooperative nature. Dianna promised to call when she got off her shift and hear the rest of the details, and Margret promised she took tons of pictures and couldn't wait to show Di the next time she came home. The next time she came home. That had to be sooner rather than later; this job was eating her alive.

Half an hour later Di was having lunch at the nurses' station while filling out some paperwork. She had recently been promoted to head of her floor when Belinda had retired to be with her grandchildren. What should have been a positive had quickly turned into a nightmare. Dianna took another bite of her salad when she overheard Lauren and Nancy.

"Did you see Di's eyes today?"

"She looked like a raccoon! I heard she worked last night's shift in the ER."

"Maybe she needed the cash, maybe Daddy really kicked her out."

"Well a nurses' salary does not allow a person to live like she must have been use to."

"You would think though with all that money growing up that someone would have shown her how to apply make-up to cover up those dark circles."

And with that her fellow RNs were out of earshot. Dianna tried to control the tears now falling steadily down her face as she closed her salad and put her paperwork away. After quick trip to the restroom to reapply her make-up and change to clean scrubs Dianna felt slightly better. She squared her shoulders put a smile on her face and headed back to work.

Once her co-workers had found out that Dianna was the daughter of the wealthy Mr. Lynch they assumed she herself was wealthy, living off of her father's money. This was not the case, in fact Dianna lived in a tiny studio apartment and kept to a very tight budget. Dianna was proud of her accomplishments and her independence. While her co-workers did not understand this concept; luckily her father had accepted her choices and had even gone so far as to help her create a budget. The judgments made by her coworkers ostracized Dianna from the rest and made her job harder and lonelier than was necessary; but Dianna had learned that to keep to her principles was worth it.

It was several more hours before her shift was done. Two patients discharged one patient admitted and all patients cared for with love and compassion. Dianna stayed after her shift to attend a meeting and then complete the paper work she had neglected at lunch.