First clinical posting

It was 7:48 am but the sky was dark outside the dining hall, the rain poured heavily and the thunder roared which made some students shake in fear.

Unlike Diane who was eating happily

With Femi and Emily who was on the same table eating furiously. Rosalyn made her way to the table where Dan, Damon and some other guys sat, eating merrily.

Rosalyn stood behind Damon, facing Dan with her food tray in her hand.

"I would like to join the table but it's occupied," she said and the guys turned to face her with Dan staring back at her.

"maybe one of you would like to join me. " Rosalyn said to them but she was obviously staring at Dan which made Damon uncomfortable.

"I will join her," Dan said and one of the guys smiled.

"you are a lucky man...you spoke before me." the guy said and Dan smirked, packing his food to the tray.

"thank you," Rosalyn said to them but was staring at Damon whose expression changed from furious to embarrassment.

Dan and Rosalyn settled on an empty table close to the window. The thunder struck again when they were about to sit which made Dan drop his plate on the table in fear.

He looked at Rosalyn who looked calm as she sat down majestically.

"seems you are here for business," Dan said while packing the bent soda can and wrapping spoons from the table to the tray.

"uhm uhm," Rosalyn said and nodded while drinking the hot tea from the tea cup.

"the first person to impress me here," Dan said while his gaze was fixed on Diane.

"I know you do cocaine but I'm not buying," she said quietly and Dan became curious.

"Don't tell me that you fixed your gaze on me to have me here just to dine. Is that the business?" Dan said, looking at her with great interest.

"I have a bigger business, Dan," Rosalyn said and Dan looked at her amusingly.

The rain was pouring more heavily when the buses arrived. The students were taking their seats when Hannah saw Michael.

"holly! I've just seen you since you got back. I'm so sorry that I couldn't make time for you. Have some things I was solving." Hannah said to Michael who listened to her attentively before hugging her.

"you've grown." Michael teased as he released her and Hannah laughed.

"take a seat opposite us and also Michael meet my roommate. Jane." The innocent Hannah introduced Jane who was finding it difficult to pretend as if they had not met.

The nervous Micheal managed to say "It's nice meeting you" while Jane only nodded.

"you know each other?" Hannah asked, sensing the tension between them.

"No!" Michael said sharply and smiled nervously at Jane.

"It's nice having you onboard Michael," Jane said calmly and smiled warmly at him.

"Anyway, clinical posting will start next week." Jane declared openly and most eyes were on her.

"I can't wait!" one of the students said happily and others began murmuring.

Diane and Rosalyn walked in, going towards Jane's seat, and making their way to the back.

"Hello, Rosalyn!" Jane called happily and Michael raised his head.

"Jane...it's been a while," Diane said as she and Rosalyn stopped to greet her.

"how do you do?" Rosalyn asked.

"I'm good and meet my roommate. Hannah." Jane introduced Hannah.

"It's nice meeting you." Diane greeted Hannah.

"pleasure meeting you both," Hannah said, blushing while Rosalyn smiled at her.

"I hope we four will be posted to the same unit with Emily too," Jane said.

"Which unit?" Diane asked.

"clinical posting starts next Monday Diane." Rosalyn said, surprised that she didn't know. "well, we hope to see you." she said and glanced at Michael who was looking at her sternly before leaving for the back seat.

"how come you know nothing about the posting?" Rosalyn asked as they both settled on the seat at the back.

"Not everyone knows. I guess." Diane said and continued. "by the way, what were you doing with Dan?"

"I made a deal with him." Rosalyn said nonchalantly. "a deal about you."

Diane laughed and said. "you may not like the fact that I'm back with Femi but Dan is out of it. He cannot persuade me to go back to him."

"Nothing related. It's drugs and business. " Rosalyn said quietly and Diane looked at her puzzled.

"Why that look?" Rosalyn asked. "are you left out again?"

"Are you guys paying yourselves to learn pharmacology?" Diane asked and Rosalyn opened her mouth in disbelief.

"oh! You are left out again." Rosalyn said "he sells cocaine and you were even with him for some time...how come you don't know?... you are unbelievable." Rosalyn whispered.

"cocaine?" Diane asked in disbelief.

"Keep your voice down...and don't fuss too much over it," Rosalyn said.

The lecture hall looked cool after the rain as the students sat down quietly and listened to the lecturer.

"Professor Audrey, why can't I keep my fingernails when I'm on scrub?" A lady asked the lecturer.

"you and the patient can get infected or even you or the patient may get injured when performing a procedure," she explained calmly and pointed to Rosalyn.

"And you...your hair is too long and full.  You should pack it well. It must not touch your scrub." she said sharply and faced the class.  "Long unpacked hair can also spread infection. I thought you were taught all these already," she said and some of the students nodded.

"Can we have a coloured hair-on scrub?" another student asked.

"yes! But dark-coloured hair is often preferred Because bright coloured hair can be harmful to some patients with certain conditions." she explained and smiled.  "this is the end of today's lecture and the class president should come for your list." she said and left the class.

"so this clinical posting is for eight weeks and we are only going for observation and vitals? I can't believe it. We've been taught in class it's just a waste of time." Diane complained bitterly to Emily who laughed at her.

"with the observations, the weeks are not going to be enough," Emily said.

"what are we observing? Is it not the patients?...so I will dress and go to the hospital as a student nurse on posting just to watch the patients all day?" Diane said, looking frustrated.

"Check your phone. My group list has been sent to me." Rosalyn said to them as she scrolled through her phone. "sadly, I'm not with you guys." she said and the two girls moved closer to her to see the list.

"you are with Charles Lewis?" Diane asked looking surprised and Emily turned a bit purple.

"yes. and there, is Li Zheng and Elon Bellingham," Rosalyn said.

"I don't know those two," Diane said curiously.

"me neither and we are in the I.C.U" Rosalyn said calmly.

"I think this is mine," Emily said as she scrolled through her phone. Rosalyn and Diane bent over to take a look.

"We are together in the male surgical ward." Diane said happily and Emily blushed." and Bruno Baker."

"That's the South President," Emily said

"We have two presidents in the group. Let's see who the next person is." Diane said excitedly. Suddenly, Diane's smile faded and she let out a frustrated groan.

"what's wrong?" Rosalyn asked as Emily looked at Diane's pale face.

"We have Damon Robinett here," Emily said quietly and Rosalyn smiled mischievously.

"Seems you are not the only angry one here," Rosalyn said, still smiling mischievously as they looked at the other students in the class. Some were expressing their anger while some were excited.

Among the boys, Damon's gaze met Diane's and he gave her a furious scowl which made Rosalyn who noticed the two, laugh out loud.

Hannah and Elon walked out of the class as they talked about their posting.

"I am with Armando Suarez, Femi Bertok and Dan Walton in E.R.," Hannah told Elon blankly. "I don't know any of them."

"I don't know anyone in my group either. " he said and took out his phone. "see..." he said as he scrolled through. "here is Li Zheng, Rosalyn Barbados and Charles Lewis. I.C.U."

"oh! I met the Barbados earlier today. She looks cool though and uhm...quiet." Hannah said calmly.

"Who is Jane with?" Elon asked.

"I don't know...till I get to the hostel." Hannah replied.

"I told her about my dad," Elon said, almost whispering.

"cool!" Hannah said casually.

"told her I killed him," Elon said calmly which Hannah couldn't pretend not to notice because there was no coldness in his voice when he said it.

"What?" Hannah stopped and Elon did the same. "what did she do when you told her?" She asked.

Elon remembered when he had told her that he killed his father.

"I killed my father," Elon said to Jane as he tried hard not to sob.

Jane who was puzzled at first calmly said.  "you have committed a treacherous sin but not the worst on earth." she swallowed and Elon looked into her eyes sadly.

Jane held his hand "It must be very hard for you and I know you are a good person... you are not alone and if you ever need a friend...just know that I will be there. Elon, please forgive yourself." Jane said softly and  Elon began to cry.

"come on." Jane released her seat belt and hugged him.

Elon came back to his senses and smiled as Hannah looked at him as if telling Jane was more mistake than killing his dad.

"she hugged me." Elon smiled unbelievably. "I'm still finding it hard to believe that she didn't criticise me for it and she hasn't changed a bit," Elon said.

"wow!" Hannah exclaimed in disbelief.  "Jane doesn't pretend...if she hasn't changed to you, it means she doesn't care about it. " Hannah said to Elon.

"you have a great friend, Hannah," Elon spoke emotionally.

The door opened automatically and the excited students in black scrubs entered the hospital with two of their clinical instructors.

"Alright, after the orientation...I'm sure you all are now familiar with the environment. " one of the instructors said and some of the students said 'yes'.

"further instructions will be given to you in your various units. I believe that you all have your manual and I hope you all have a great time." the second instructor said and the students went to their various units.

Hannah and her group members were on their way to the Emergency room when a patient who was drenched in blood was brought in by the police before the nurses and doctors took over.

"What happened?" Hannah asked curiously.

"I heard the policeman saying his chopper crashed and neck's fractured," Femi answered.

"what should we do?" Armando asked.

"we will go in to help them," Dan said urgently.

"nah! We can't because we are only here for observation. we will go in with our written materials, watch them and jot down." Hannah said.

"but we've got to do vitals. We will still help." Dan said and Femi nodded in agreement.

"let's go in then," Armando said and they all entered the E.R.

"Good, you are here." one of the nurses said to them as soon as they entered the E.R.  "Someone should monitor his blood pressure and pulse."

Femi moved forward, washed his hands, put on the gloves, took the sphygmomanometer and wrapped the cuff around the man's hand while others watched him.

"They don't know that his ankle is bleeding because they all focused on the upper trunk," Hannah whispered to Dan who called the nurse's attention to the ankle.

"cool! you!" she said, pointing to Hannah. "apply pressure on the ankle. Take the gauze over there and hold it firmly on the bleeding sight." she said urgently.

"We are only here for observation," Hannah said nervously.

"do what I said and observe till the bleeding stops." the nurse said calmly and Hannah stood hesitantly.

"you do it." the nurse said as she pointed to Armando who obeyed without complaint.

"you are nervous. aren't you?" Dan asked Hannah quietly as they watched what others were doing.

"his feet are turning blue," Hannah said to Dan who looked at the feet and all of a sudden, the man's parameters started dropping.

"B.P. is now 80/52 and pulse is 48," Femi announced.

"The oxygen level is low... the temperature is dropping also." one of the doctors said. "we need to start C.P.R a.s.a.p."

"increase the oxygen flow rate." one of the nurses said.

Hannah stood there looking at the patient blankly. Suddenly she lashed out.

"you should have observed enough to see that the sixth cervical bone is pressing hard on the left common carotid artery. No supply of blood to the left part of the brain. "

They all turned to face her. "The X-ray is not even in yet." one of the doctors said.

"How did you know?" a nurse asked.

"see the position of his neck and how prominent the vertebrae are to the left side," Hannah said importantly.

"that's true." one of the doctors said. "we need to reposition his neck so that the weight of the vertebrae will be relieved a bit and we can still have him alive for the surgery."

"True!" one of the nurses said. "let's do it.." she said and they positioned themselves.  "one...two...three." she counted and they repositioned the neck simultaneously.

Almost immediately, the oxygen level increased and the nurse who instructed her to apply pressure earlier smiled at her.

"Secondly, the lower trunk is not getting enough blood supply. His feet are a bit blue." Hannah said calmly and the nurse nodded.

"his x-ray result is ready." one of the doctors said and stretched out her tab to the nurse.

"exactly what she said." the nurse said in awe.

"This shows that there is an occlusion in the abdominal aorta which made it impossible for the blood to flow well to the lower limb. " the doctor said and looked at Hannah."wonderful."

"We need to take him to the theatre now." one of the nurses said and they all agreed.

After the patient had been taken to the theatre, Femi who looked tired but excited went to Hannah with others.

"I'm impressed," he said pompously.

"I'm surprised. When did you learn all these? I'm sure it's not in the school that we both attend with Mountain High assignments and non-stop lectures." Dan said playfully.

"Seems you can even do surgery. Why didn't you go when she told you to apply pressure on the bleeding sight." Armando asked curiously.

"I hate blood!" Hannah said, almost whispering.

The nurse who had told them to apply pressure earlier went to meet them.

"Hello guys!" she said and they bowed slightly.

"I am Nurse Maurice and you all impressed me as first-timers on the ward." She said to them.

"thank you, Nurse Maurice, my name is Armando Suarez." He introduced himself.

"you should address yourself as Nurse Armando during this posting. First names sound more formal than last names and Patients would feel comfortable to know that you are also into the profession rather than unknown personnel caring for them." Nurse Maurice said.

"I am Nurse Bertok." Femi introduced himself warmly.

"I am Nurse Walton." Dan introduced himself.

"I am Nurse Dakota," Hannah said warmly.

Nurse Maurice looked at Hannah with great interest and asked. "are you also in freshman year?"

"Yes," Hannah said calmly.

Nurse Maurice looked surprised and said. "I've never seen anything like it...trust me...but why did you refuse to be near the patient?"

"the instructions given to us is to observe and take vital signs," Hannah said briefly.

"And you were told to come here for further instructions, isn't it?" asked Nurse Maurice calmly.

"Yes!" Hannah said quietly.

"come on...that was an instruction, isn't it?... You are good. Don't stand back like that next time." Nurse Maurice advised, faced others and continued. "go to Nurse Cole, she will tell you about the patients, dos and don'ts, she will also introduce you to the health team and feel free to ask questions."

"thank you ma," Femi said politely and Nurse Maurice left them.

"I'm hungry," Hannah said and Femi looked at her.

"I also want to go to the Cafeteria," Femi said. "I hope you don't mind going with me."

"Okay." Diane agreed and they both left the ward.

"Rosalyn, it's so sad that you didn't work with us today." Diane said as she walked into the cafeteria with Rosalyn. "that idiot named Damon frustrated me...Emily's aunt is Head of the unit and she made Emily work her ass. She's still with her though. I can't cope with that."

"the I.C.U is a bit scary." Rosalyn said without any emotion in her voice. "patients begging you not to let them die...like I'm just a student nurse...If you want to die I can't hold you."

Diane smiled and said. "you sound annoyed and I hope you didn't tell them that."

"I hate people begging to live but I didn't say a word to them," Rosalyn said bluntly.

"It's good that way," Diane said as she served herself some salad and also helped Rosalyn.

"look who's there." Rosalyn pointed and Diane's gaze fell on Femi who was eating happily with Hannah. "isn't that Jane's roommate?"

"yes! With Femi," Diane said as she tried to ignore them while Rosalyn looked closely and realised that it was Femi.

"You can tell from his back view. That's crazy. I was only able to recognise him after seeing his reflection in the window." Rosalyn said as she took her tray from Diane and they both went to settle on a table for two.

Diane couldn't eat well as he kept glancing furiously at Femi who just removed something from Hannah's lips and smiled warmly at her. Rosalyn noticed that Diame was using the knife and fork on an empty plate instead of the meat.

"Are you okay?" Rosalyn asked.

Diane looked into her plate and realised that the salad was all over her plate and she had been using the cutleries on the plate. She breathed deeply and looked into Rosalyn's eyes.

"I'm angry," Diane spoke out and stuffed a full spoonful of salad into her mouth.

Rosalyn nodded and looked at her pitifully.  "One of our patients at the I.C.U mumbled some words to me before he passed away," she said and Diane looked at her.

"is that you were angry earlier?" Diane asked.

"sort of...Immediately he packed, some of the patients who were somehow conscious became nervous and seemed they do not want to die." Rosalyn said, trying to hold back her anger.

"so they begged you not to let them die? " Diane asked, his mind totally drawn to Rosalyn.

Rosalyn nodded and said. "he had asked for my full name when we got to the ward this morning and I told him but he fucked me up with it."

"What did he do?" Diane asked curiously.

"he handed over a file to me later on, told me to lean over and said I should never let anyone take it from me for his sake," Rosalyn said, sighed and continued. "I opened the file and realised that the man willed all his properties to me."

"wow! You shouldn't be angry...you are just lucky." Diane said excitedly.

"Lucky my heel! Don't let anyone take it from you for my sake..." Rosalyn grumbled and Diane laughed at her.

"is he from a powerful family?" Diane asked,  eating the last slice of meat on her plate.

"Gilbert Palm. Sound familiar?" Rosalyn asked.

"obviously an ordinary family...wow!  an unforgettable first clinical experience. " Diane said as they both stood up from the table.

"off to the ward and I will see you soon," Rosalyn said and waved to Diane.

Immediately she left, Diane looked at the table where Femi and Hannah sat earlier but they were not there anymore.

Diane made her way to the ER and Luckily she saw Femi who was walking towards the door. He smiled warmly when he saw her and the door opened automatically for him to go out.

He stepped out and opened his hand for Diane to hug him which she bluntly refused.

"Sweetheart, what's going on?" Femi asked, worried.

"you were with someone else at the cafeteria...who should have come to call me?" Diane said loudly.

"you are shouting," Femi said, whispering.

"Are you for real?" Diane lowered her voice. "Tell you what hurts me is a noise to you?" she said emotionally.

"Diane...I believe you are the insecure one here." Femi said and Diane looked into his eyes in disbelief.

"you had a romantic lunch with that lady while I was left alone and here you are telling me that I'm insecure," Diane said, letting her emotions take over.

"stop snivelling Diane! You are making me look like I've done something wrong! She's just our colleague. My unit mate for that matter." Femi said bluntly.

"did she know that you have a girlfriend?" Diane asked, allowing the tears to drop freely.

Femi was speechless as he stood like an idiot and didn't know what to do or say.

"I thought you have changed. you know what? Femi Bertok...it's over between us." Diane said angrily and left.

Femi stood there regretfully for some time before going back into the E.R.

When Diane got back to their ward, Emily was attending to a patient when she saw Diane run into the nurse's room.

She handed over what she was doing to another colleague of hers and went to the nurse's room in a hurry.

She opened the main door and stood at the entrance of one room which had a transparent door.

She saw Diane who knelt and buried her head into the bed. The room was soundproof which made it impossible for Emily to hear her cry but she knew that she was hurt.

Emily opened the door gently and stood behind Diane whose cry struck her heart like some arrows.

She knelt beside her and patted her back. In return, Diane hugged her tightly and sobbed.