Ella Greene- Age Five Essie. That's what everyone at the hospital calls me. Mummy says that one of the nurses came up with it. Essie is short for Esparanza, which means hope in Spanish. No one every explained to me why they gave me the name hope. I asked once. I just kept getting the answer, "When you're older." One time, I heard some of the doctors and nurses talking about me asking that question, and debating whether they should tell me about the "Fossen incident." I don't know what a fossen is. I'm five. I think I'm old enough to know what my own name means. Oh well, I'll ask when I'm 'older.' Both my mummy and daddy are doctors. When both of them are working, I get to go to the hospital with them and play in the lounge with someone. I like playing with Dr.Dave. He's really funny. He taught me how to get stuff out of the vending machine for free. He always plays hide-and-go- seek with me too. I'm just not allowed to go into anybody's room, or the storage rooms. I also can't go into the waiting area, because he says a lot of weird people are there. They look normal to me. Dr.Dave says that if anyone I don't know touches me, I should scream really loud. I don't think that will ever happen though. All those people look the same as other people. Carter is really nice to me. He takes me to see girls that are my age. Sometimes I can play with them, but most of the time I can only talk, because they are sick. Lucky talks weird. He says that he is from a place called Croatia. Sometimes, he looks at me funny, kind of like he's sad. When he's not sad, he's really nice. He says I pronounce his name wrong, and that it's Luka, not Lucky. I like the name Lucky better though. He says it's okay. I think Lucky and Abby are in love. One time, when I was playing hide- and-seek with Dr.Dave, I went into the lounge, and Lucky and Abby were kissing! I can call most everyone in the hospital by their first name. Just not Dr.Weaver or Dr.Romano. Dr.Weaver is mostly nice. Sometimes she yells a lot, usually at Dr.Dave. She's mostly nice though. I still call her Dr.Weaver, though. I don't know her first name. Dr.Romano is mean, and scary. He always calls me "Little Munchkin." I hate that. I told him so. He just got mad and walked away. Then everyone started laughing really hard. My mummy says to be polite to him. I don't want to though. One time, I heard Peter talking to him with Cleo. Peter says that Dr.Romano is a prick. I don't know what a prick is either. When I asked him, he said never to say that, and not to tell my mummy what he said. I won't. I like having secrets with the doctors and nurses. I know that Randi has a big bag of M&Ms in the lounge, under one of the couches. She said I could have some whenever I wanted, as long as I didn't tell anyone where they were. One time, Carter let me listen to someone's heart through that thing called a sethscope. I think I'm saying it wrong. I don't know. Any way, the man didn't mind. He said I looked like his daughter. Carter said the man had something called bronitis. Wait, no, bronkitis. Any way, Carter said that he would be okay. Sometimes, when someone is going over to Doc Magoo's, they take me to get a root beer float. I get those a lot. My mummy doesn't mind, as long as the root beer doesn't have any cafine. I asked Halay what cafine was and she said that it was something that made it so you couldn't go to sleep. I like to sleep, that way, if I fall asleep in the lounge at the hospital, I get to stay there longer, until either my mummy or daddy is done. If I don't sleep when they do a night shift, they try to end early to take me home. Sleeping in the lounge is fun. Dr.Dave made me a tent that I can sleep in. Sometimes, a nurse or a doctor will come take a nap with me while I sleep. Usually Dr.Dave does, but then just gets yelled at by someone. The tent is really big. It can fit three people laying down. Once, when there were no sick people at the hospital, mummy, daddy, Abby, Lucky, Peter, Cleo, Carter, Chuny, Conni. who am I missing? Oh yeah, Helea, Deb (just me and Carter can call her that. She says it's because We're special), and Dr.Dave came in and made the tent lots bigger. It was really fun. Dr.Dave didn't even get yelled at. Once, Dr.Weaver came in and looked under there. She said she'd like to join, but she needed to keep an eye on things in the ER. She went out and told Randi what was going on. Randi came in with a camera. She took lots of pictures. Lydia taped them up at the desk so everyone could see them. Then Dr.Romano came in. He couldn't see under the sheet. Everyone was trying not to laugh. He heard us though. He asked if we were having fun at our camp little camp out. Mummy said yes and that there were no patients to see. Then she asked if he wanted to come in. He said no, and told everyone to get back to work. He walked out and everyone stayed with me. My mummy says that the people at the hospital are like family, well almost. She says that they love me and that makes them family, well most of the people any way. I'm gonna be a doctor when I grow up, just like everyone I know. They are already teaching me how. They try to explain what a lot of those big words mean. My mummy says I can be any thing I want. I want to be a doctor, though. My mum always tells me to make sure that's what I want to do, and not what I think everyone else wants me to do. Being a doctor is what I want to do though. Sometimes, my mummy and daddy let me bring a friend to the hospital. I like to bring Sarah or Kelsie. They want to be doctors too. We like to watch the doctors work at the hospital. We aren't allowed to see the big accidents though. Everyone says that we are too young to see it. Maybe when we are older. We're allowed to see them help the people that aren't hurt really bad, but only with the person's permission. Most people say it's okay. They think we are really cute, already seriously studying for medical school. Doctors have to go to medical school. Some of them go for three years. A lot of them go for four, though. My mummy went for four years. Most of the people at the hospital went for three. They are still real good doctors though. My daddy has been at the hospital for the longest, except for Halay. She's been there longer. Peter's been there the same as my daddy. They went to medical school together. They both were medical students at this hospital, interns (my mummy says an intern is the hardest job in the world), residents, just like Dr.Dave, and now they are both attendings. I don't know what the differences are between an intern, a resident, and an attending are. I know that a medical student is when you still are learning to be a doctor, and an intern is the first step after you are a doctor. I love being at the hospital. It's really neat. My family is here. I'm really lucky. I have a really big family, of people that I am not even related to! I can' t wait until I'm "old enough" to do what I want- be a doctor.