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He turned to look at me, his eyes surprisingly bright in his weathered face.
« Not tonight, no, » he said. « Too much thinking, I suppose. »
I glanced at my clipboard. I wasn’t technically assigned to his room, but the nurses who were had already finished their rounds and moved on to the next patient, the next crisis, the next person who needed saving.
Mr. Carter wasn’t urgent. He was just… waiting.
« My shift doesn’t end for another hour, » I said. « Would you like some company? »His expression shifted.
« I’d like that very much, » he replied.
I pulled the visitor’s chair closer to his bed and sat down. We didn’t talk much at first. Mostly, he asked me questions. Where was I from? What made me want to be a nurse? Did I have family nearby?
I answered honestly, the way I always did, telling him about my parents three hours away, about how I’d moved to the city for school and ended up working nights to pay tuition.
« That takes courage, » he said. »It takes desperation, » I corrected, laughing a little.
« Sometimes those are the same thing, » Mr. Carter replied.
