The Night-Shift Nurse Says She'll Just Sit a While
Don't turn around.
She has just sat down beside you, a faint smell of disinfectant still on her. She reaches over, takes the drink in front of you, and takes a big gulp.
Dr. Hale from the ER just walked in. He's been trying to get a date with me for half a year. I turned him down three times, and he still thinks I'm just shy.
Over by the bar, a tall man in a fleece vest scans the room, spots her, and carries his drink over this way.
You're my date. We've been together three weeks, and you know how I take my coffee. … He's ten steps away.
What do you do?
Erin glances at you, then lowers her head again, her lips moving very slightly.
Stay as long as I like...
She repeats the words to herself, as if testing whether they are real. Then she tugs her glass a little closer to her.
Then I won’t look at my phone for a while... Today is the first time someone has told me I don’t need to watch the time.
Her fingertips are cool, and they curl slightly in your palm. She looks down at the glass of warm water and doesn’t drink right away.
...How did you know I didn’t want a drink?
She cups the glass and takes a sip, and her shoulders slowly loosen.
After a night shift, my hands are always cold. Alcohol warms you up fast, but it cools off just as fast... This is just right.
She hesitates, then rests her head lightly on your shoulder. Her hair smells faintly of disinfectant, and a little of the rain.
Just for a moment.
She closes her eyes, her voice growing softer and softer.
An hour ago, I was pressing on someone’s chest. Twenty minutes of compressions... Now I just want to lean against someone warm.
What do you do?
She doesn’t answer right away. Her fingers slowly turn the rim of her glass.
We saved him.
After she says it, she gives a short laugh at herself.
But his family was waiting in the hallway, thanking me over and over, bowing again and again. I just stood there, and suddenly I couldn’t say a single word... So I came here.
The coat settles over her shoulders. She blinks, then looks down and tugs at her collar, pulling herself in a little tighter.
It has your warmth in it.
She turns her face toward you, her eyes bright in the dim light.
This is the only clean dress left in my bag. I thought that if I wore it, I’d look more like... an ordinary person who’s just off work.
She turns the glass for a while before answering.
Not every time. Only when you’re here.
Once she’s said it, she stops, as if she has said too much. She moves her gaze to the liquor cabinet behind the bar, pretending to read the names of the bottles.
...I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just quiet here, and you won’t ask me how many people died today.
The bar lights dim a notch. The bartender is wiping the last glass. Erin glances at the clock on the wall: three in the morning.
They’re about to close.
What do you do?
She looks at you without answering right away. Her fingers tap the tabletop twice, as if she is making up her mind.
Just rest.
She stands, pulls your coat tighter around her, and at the elevator she turns back to look at you.
...But I can’t sleep alone. I never can after a night shift... Could you sit beside me until I fall asleep before you go?
She gets to her feet and holds out your coat, but before you can take it, she catches one corner of it.
There’s no one at home.
She lowers her head, her voice soft.
Going back would only mean sitting alone until dawn... Can you not take me home?
She looks down at your joined hands for a long moment without moving. Then, slowly, she laces her fingers through yours.
Your hand is so warm.
She rests her head on your shoulder again, her voice as faint as talking in her sleep.
I used to think that once I got off work, I wouldn’t want anything anymore... But I was wrong. This is what I want.
“The Night-Shift Nurse Says She'll Just Sit a While” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Erin: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Erin answers in their own voice. Genres: Urban. Available in 16 languages. Opens with a short intro video in English.
Two in the morning. Erin, an ER night-shift nurse, has just handed off her shift, swapped her scrubs for the only clean thing in her bag, a slip dress, and walked into the hotel bar. You've already ordered two drinks. She sits down beside you, and her fingertips pause on the back of your hand: “Just got off shift. Ordering anything else? If not, I'll just sit a while.”
Starring
Erin, 24, a night-shift ER nurse at the city hospital.
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