Wild Night Calling: So after all the chaos ended, about midnight, I stepped out to walk home from work (just a mile or so), all dark, no street lamps, and a few steps into my ramble the storm comes roaring with thunder, lightening, weirding the landscape, soaking me completely in less than a minute---I walked, I ran, I stomped through the river running down the streets, the world went mad and it was just so appropriate, trees cracked, no person or animal anywhere to be seen, I didn't take the shortcut through the wood, maybe I should have.... Oddly, the best part of the night---I actually had to undress in the dark on my porch and hang the dripping clothes up before going inside...the water was pouring off me by then.
Found my son, comforting his son, I took over after a bit; poor kid---& finally just hopped into the crib with him and he cooed & laughed and fell to sleep till 10am. I woke up in my own room but don't recall getting here.
The air, for now, comes fresh and light through the open window.
Before all that I'd had a long shift (had to stay over an hour late to finish notes)--the nurse on the adjoining wing was still there, I had a patient pull out her IV (PICC) line, another fell, she had an admission with IV and no information on the IV, then without the right equipment to run it, a fall, oh, first it began with one of our aides on the floor shaking and crying and feeling symptoms of a stroke (could have been a severe panic, fingers crossed, we sent her off to the ER) so we were short, short staffed, and I answered lights and helped the other nurse by doing her first med pass---she helped me find the missing paperwork on the pt. I had leaving today (saturday, so we Had to Have it or else) and took a look at the line my pt. pulled out (it did not look like it was all there, so off to the ER)---I kept one sweet, weak, new admission with me for the last med pass as she kept getting up and I didn't want her to fall, luckily she found my medication cart and antics absorbing and sat there smiling, didn't leave even when I left to administer or do treatments...the unit is pretty full right now, we each had 14 skilled pts.---broken hips, sepsis, younameit...I think we did pretty damn well, no one died, or was injured, not even me toileting a woman way too heavy for me to be helping alone----but, she was grateful to make it to the toilet and I don't feel any ill effects (I pride myself on body mechanics, attribute that to being small but never having a work related injury in my 40yrs in health care--first as an aide, then RN)---but boy my legs cramped up last night (those damn concrete floors and no breaks) and I am aware of my body today. Think I'll go back this evening for more: I am nuts.
The day was appropriate after all, I realized part way through that it was my late brother's birth day. May the couch fold up around me.