Acceptable Risks, chapter 2

It was approaching 3 AM when Rose, the senior NEST nurse on duty, got her first opportunity to go check on Lee Stetson. She'd recognized his name immediately when she had gone over the list of patients whose care she'd be supervising on her overnight shift. During the ten years that Rose had been working on the DC NEST team Lee had developed an unfortunate reputation with the staff. Rose charitably described patients like Lee as being a "challenge" to deal with.

Rose thrived on finding ways to deal with the most challenging patients so even though she now had enough seniority to assign Lee's care to one of her subordinates she elected to care for him personally. While striding purposefully down the quiet corridor towards his room Rose was struck by the thought that Mr. Stetson hadn't been injured this seriously since he'd begun to work with Mrs. King. Mrs. King is such a kind and caring woman and she has the patience of a saint when it comes to dealing with Mr. Stetson. During all the years that I've been caring for Mr. Stetson it seems as if Mrs. King is the only person who comes to visit him simply because she cares about him. I wonder if he realizes just how much she cares. Arriving at the door to Lee's room Rose wasn't surprised to see Amanda, fast asleep, with her upper body slumped over where she was holding one of Lee's hands.

Rose entered the room gingerly; hoping that she would be able to check Lee's vital signs and check the bandage that was covering his chest wound without waking the sleeping couple. As she reached out to wrap a blood pressure cuff around Lee's arm her ample hip brushed against the mattress causing it to move minimally. The slight movement was enough to wake Amanda from her fitful sleep. Amanda was visibly disappointed when she realized that Rose was the cause of the movement that had awoken her but she still managed to smile at the nurse that she recognized from past visits to Lee.

"Good morning, Mrs. King, I'm sorry to have woken you", Rose whispered as she motioned for Amanda to follow her away from the bed and out into the hall. Amanda followed Rose as quickly as her stiff and weary body would permit.

"Good morning, Rose, is it morning already", Amanda asked sleepily but continued speaking rather then wait for Rose's response. "It isn't your fault that I woke up; it's the mom in me, the slightest sounds from my boys still wake me and they aren't little anymore."

"I know what you mean; it's an instinct that we moms never lose. We always worry about the ones that we care about but sometimes we need to take care of ourselves too. How long have you been in that room? Have you eaten recently", Rose asked Amanda.

"I've been here since they got Lee settled into his room. I don't want to leave him alone; he's…um…he doesn't like hospitals", Amanda answered.

"I've noticed that", Rose replied with a smile as she noted that Amanda had stopped herself from saying that Lee was afraid of hospitals. "I understand why you want to stay with him but you need to eat something; if you don't take care of yourself you won't be able to remain strong for him. I need to complete my examination of Mr. Stetson and I expect you to go get something to eat. If you won't go to the cafeteria than I expect you to get something from the vending machine in the waiting room; go, that's an order from one caregiver to another", Rose said using the mom look that Amanda used so often on Lee.

"I'll go but I'm going to come right back", Amanda replied since she knew that Rose was right about the importance of keeping up her own strength. Amanda walked off to find the vending machine and Rose returned to Lee's room. Rose completed Lee's blood pressure check and took his pulse. When she began to move his hospital gown aside to check the bandage on his chest Lee started to stir. He opened his eyes; realized where he was and blurted out the first thought that came to his mind.

"Ah hell, another hospital room, I thought I'd bought it for sure this time", Lee said in his surliest tone.

"Better luck next time, Scarecrow", an exhausted and emotionally overwrought Amanda replied from the doorway and then walked off leaving a stunned Lee staring after her.