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After that flurry of activity, the floor gradually transitioned to nightti became calmer and quieter A lot of the staff and the visitors went ho

My usual schedule was ten-hour shifts four days a week, from four pm to two am As much as I enjoyed the quick pace and bustle that came with the job, I also liked the sense of peace that usually settled in after dark

Once everything slowed down, I toldfrom my locker Then I knocked on the open door to room telve and called, “Hey, Oz Want some company?”

The freckle-faced ten-year-old had been here for a week He had a broken ars fro relative—was downstairs in intensive care, fighting for her life

He’d been staring listlessly at the TV screen, but when he saw me his face lit up “You know I do” As he turned off the TV with the re it?”

I produced the book I’d been hiding behind my back with a flourish It was the third volume in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, since we’d finished the second one the night before I’d actually bought the series for hi theer

After I handed hi the bed’s re the pillows When he winced, I did too and whispered, “Sorry”

As he ran his one good hand over the colorful dust jacket and read the copy on the back, I did a quick check of the IV that was ad a steady drip of pain killers into his skinny arm Then I moved the only chair in the room closer to his bedside, and he set, happy birthday”

“Thanks How’d you know that was today?”

“One of the other nurseswith the staff, which I attributed to the total boredo stuck in a hospital bed day after day “How old are you?”

He handed me the book, and I sat down and crossed my ankle over my knee “Thirty-three Does that sound ancient to you?”

He brushed his auburn hair out of his eyes as he said, “Pretty much”

I chuckled at that and nodded “Thought so”