A Little Sweetness in My Life

I didn’t stop to talk to the hockey players like Kylee did, I was more concerned with visiting a patient of mine. My first real patient during these clinicals, a little boy with leukemia named Cameron. He was doing pretty well with his treatments so far but he was pretty weak lately so we needed to keep him and monitor him. He has him on intravenous fluids to keep his system running at its best possible. I popped in to check on him, take his vitals for the morning and deliver a new stuffed animal. I had it in my locker so I could ask the parents first, just in case they weren’t cool with it. Once they agreed, I finished with my paperwork and went to grab it.

“Scuse me, nerds.” I said as I passed by Kylee and some hockey players. I heard her snicker a little and then say something but I didn’t quite catch what it was. I was heading towards the locker room when someone walked into my back. I quickly turned around to see one of the giant hockey players.

“Um….she….Kylee….told me to go with you.” He said awkwardly, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He reminded me of a little kid but he was probably the same age as me. I peeked around him and saw Kylee grinning and waving back at me. I huffed a little and looked back up at him.

“Yeah….alright, just wait right here.” I said, going into the locker room and grabbing the panda bear from my locker and then checking my phone quickly. I then sanitized my hands and stepped out, him still standing there looking lost. “Let’s go.” He followed quickly behind me, hopefully not catching the look I shot Kylee. I take my internship seriously and I wasn’t about to have some rookie player mess with my work.

“I’m Ryan, by the way….I think we've met a few times....Kylee and you are roommates, right?” He said, kind of jogging up next to me. He was pretty tall, I was probably up to his chest, if that.

“Yeah….” I said, stopping in front of Cameron’s door and reading an update on his chart. Another nurse must have stopped by when I left to double check. It mentioned that his chemo would be administered soon. The equipment was already in his room, I just had to start the IV.

“I’m sorry, am I getting in your way or something?” Ryan asked quietly, coming over on my side and hunching over slightly to talk quieter. I looked up from my chart to look at him. He had these rosy cheeks and just looked like a total softy.

“No, you’re fine….” I said, shaking my head a little. I wasn’t trying to be rude to him but I just get so serious at the hospital. “Are you afraid of needles?”

“No….why?” He asked, looking a little bit nervous. I knew Cameron was a hockey fan so I’m sure having Ryan in the room would help distract him while I administered the poison that was helping him live.

“I have to start my patient on his Chemo, so if you could just talk to him while I do that, it would help a lot.” I said, checking off a few things and then dropping the chart back in the slot.

“Sure, anything you need.” He said, nodding and stepping aside as I went for the door. I stepped in, knocking a little as I did. His parents smiled at me and Ryan as we headed in.

“Cam! I brought an extra friend, if that’s okay. This is Ryan, he plays for the Blue Jackets.” I said, smiling at poor sick child in bed. He didn’t look bad today, he might be able to pass as completely okay but then there are days where the poor thing looks like death. I pushed the thought out of my mind and handed him the stuffed panda first.

“Ryan Johansen! You’re my favorite player!” Cameron gushed, his eyes lighting up. I couldn’t help but smile as Ryan went over and sat on the bed with Cameron, starting to talk to him about hockey. It was such a good distraction as I prepared the bag and then started working on the new line. I finished without so much as a twitch from Cameron, opening the bag valve and watching the chemicals fill up the line and go into his arm. I looked from the line over at Ryan, who was watching me.

“Looks like you’ve got a pretty great nurse, bud.” He said to Cameron, smiling over at me for a moment.

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. I’ve been teaching her about hockey! She’s an expert now. She said when I’m better, I can take her to the rink and show her how to skate!” Cameron said, smiling at me too.

“Just as long as you don’t laugh at me!” I said, smiling and adjusting his pillows so he was comfortable. “Alright Cam, I’ve gotta do some rounds but Kylee will be by when Ryan needs to leave.”

“Okay!” He said, smiling and going back to talking to Ryan about hockey again. I slid out of the room and sighed a little bit, checking my watch. Only six more hours.