Reality Check 8

"There are far too many residents living in this retirement home for one nurse to care for all of them properly," said the nurse to herself, "Fortunately, I still have a job while a lot of other nurses don't." 

With all of the recent changes in health care, many nurses were finding themselves unemployed, or being forced to find work in another field. She was tired after a busy day and not being able to find Amos, had been trying for her too.

"Twelve hour shifts are too long."

By the end of every shift, she was invariably exhausted because she had to go from one end of the building to the other, continuously all day long. Administering everyone's medication was ultimately her responsibility, including the heart medication Amos needed.

"What is he going to get it?" she wondered. "I am far too busy to stand around and wait here for him. I have enough work for three nurses. Most of these patients could look after their own medications, or at least come to me for them. I should not always have to go running after them all the time. But I know that if I say anything like that, or complain about my work load, there are a lot of other nurses waiting to take my position."

It was approximately 4:00 pm, and she was in the middle of writing her report for the matron. A resident's light flicked on. Normally, she would have answered it immediately, but she was working on her report and just as she went to answer it, the light flicked back off.

"No problem, it's probably just a glitch in the system," she thought to herself, as she finished writing her report.

An anxious looking, partly bald, elderly man wearing a bright red smoking jacket, stood patiently outside the office watching her. He was waiting for her, as he always did every evening. Ralph was a kind, soft-spoken man who was always polite to everyone and exceptionally kind to her.

The nurse signed her report, placed it in a Manila envelope and prepared to drop it off at the matron's office before she left. For her, it was going to be a busy evening because it was her parent's fiftieth anniversary. She had a lot of things to do before the party which was scheduled to start late and would last for hours.

She spotted Ralph waiting for her and smiled at him. 

The matron had left early and so she just slid the envelope under her office door. Most evenings, the nurse also had to give the matron a verbal report about the residents, as well as submit a written one. She was aware that the matron already knew about Amos, so that situation was no problem.

"Hi Ralph, are here to walk me to the front door again?" she asked him.

He actually looked worried, but she decided he was probably concerned about Amos. Most of the patients had already heard that he was missing.

Ralph had been secretly in love with the nurse for a long time and always made a point of escorting her to the front door when she left. He smiled at her, shyly.

"Good night, my dear," he said.

"You are so sweet."

Ralph held the front door open for her and waited patiently, while she got into her car.

"She is safe. My work is done." he said. To Ralph, it was a self-appointed task and one that he enjoyed. "She did not mention Amos, so he must be alright."

Usually, the office door was kept locked when the nurse left, but unfortunately, that was not the case this time. Preoccupied, she had not noticed that the lock did not click in place properly.

No one else noticed it either, not even the security guards. It was still open when she arrived and discovered it, the next morning.

"Oh my God!"

Nothing seemed to be out of place. The canary was singing at the top of its voice and so she breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I could get fired for that. It is a good thing that the matron is late again."