Page 27 of Rise Above

Monday hit me like a freight train. From the

moment my alarm went off, I knew today was going to be a struggle. Whether it was due to the weather outside or the dreams my mind plagued me with was unclear. All weekend, my brain decided to provide me with extremely realistic dreams of TJ’s eyes… and well, the rest of him. For some reason, I couldn’t get him out of my head, and it was driving me a little insane.

Thankfully, work would be a blessed distraction.

There was a complicated case on neuro ICU that I knew would take up most of my day. It was one of my favorite things about work: being able to put my focus on finding

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solutions. It was one of my skills, and I prided myself on my ability to thrive in chaos and also find solutions. It was probably part of the reason I was so drawn to the neurology department. My case manager and I were the only pair that worked on two floors: neuro ICU and neuro acute (medical/surgery neurology). We were also apparently the only two crazy enough to like neuro and even want to work on it.

Settling in at my cubicle, I took a moment to center

myself. After all my medical trauma, I had to get into therapy. While there, I learned grounding techniques. I made sure to implement them throughout my day. The first thing I did after starting my computer every day was to do a body scan to check on the parts of myself that needed extra attention that day. It took maybe two minutes and then I was able to take down my notes for my patients.

“Good morning!” My partner, Julia, strolled in. She

had long, blonde hair that she constantly wore in a bun. “Let’s take today by storm!” Julia’s positive attitude was what I loved most about her.

“Hi, Julia. Who’s our neurologist today?” There

were five rotating neurologists who changed every Sunday. Two actually spoke to case management, and the other three barely acknowledged us. That wasn’t to say the other three were bad, but the weeks Dr. Bowie and Dr. Tims worked were our favorites. There was less antagonism.

“I think it’s Dr. Bowie, but I never know. Did you

hear two Warhammers players are coming onto the ICU units today?”

I narrowed my eyes. “A little redundant to say,

‘ICU units.’ Where’d you hear that?”

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“Our director just emailed everyone. The two

players will be visiting medical ICU, surgical ICU, and neuro ICU. They’ll be here for about three or so hours. Apparently it’s one of the things the team does to give back to the community. She only emailed us and Carol and Tina. I guess they want it on the down low.”

“Makes sense.” I continued to scribble notes on our

patients, writing down important overnight events.

“Hopefully, they are relatively well known and not

some fourth shift guys.”

“Does everyone know hockey in this city?” I asked,

my brows furrowing. I put my pen down and looked at my work partner.

Julia looked at me incredulously. “Girl, hockey is

important in the north. Not everyone is super invested, but we know certain players. How can you be so nonchalant about this?”

Shrugging, I pulled out my highlighters. “Hockey