Conditional Love

5. Unexpected

Ajaya glanced down at the watch on her arm showing that it was almost 6:30am which would be when her shift ended . She started working the overnight shift about a month ago . It just worked better with her sleeping schedule, considering that she slept most of her days and was awake most of her nights . She enjoyed working the overnight shift because she didn't see as many patients as she did on the day shift . It was quiet for the most part, except for tonight that is .

A gunshot wound victim had come into the hospital at about 3:50 this morning.  Working on him had kept her busy for the end of her shift. She had worked up and appetite and her stomach seemed to growl to let her know every couple of minutes. She was sitting at the nurse's station completing the chart on her patient. The waiting room continued to fill with relatives of the guy who had been shot earlier that morning.

Ajaya stopped writing on the chart to go in and check on her patient one last time before she left for the morning. She was dying to get out of there and get to the nearest waffle house so that she could get her favorite meal of the day, breakfast.

When she walked in the room, she saw that the patient was still out probably from all of the pain medication. She observed the stillness that enveloped the wounded figure.His eyelids, heavy and laden with exhaustion, remained sealed shut—a testament to the potent cocktail of pain medication coursing through his veins. Ajaya's footsteps, softened by her worn-out sneakers, carried her closer to the patient's bedside. The room was a delicate dance of shadows and silence, interrupted only by the rhythmic beeping of monitoring equipment.

She scrutinized him meticulously, her experienced eyes tracing every rise and fall of his chest. She adjusted the IV line, ensuring a steady infusion of relief for the unconscious man. Her gloved fingers brushed against the cool, sterile sheets, and she couldn't help but wonder about the story behind his gunshot wound—a story that, for now, remained locked behind his closed eyes.

Satisfied that her patient was stable, Ajaya eased herself out of the room, her footsteps as gentle as a whisper. The waiting room beyond the patient's door was now adorned with the anxious faces of family members, their expressions a tapestry of concern and anticipation.

As Ajaya left the room, the relentless hunger gnawing at her stomach refused to relent, serving as a reminder of her own needs. Her mind remained tethered to the aroma of sizzling bacon and freshly brewed coffee that wafted from the nearby Waffle House—a beacon of comfort to her after a night fraught with uncertainty. Breakfast awaited her, not just a meal but a moment of solace, especially now that her body was proving more accommodating to her cravings, a welcome change during her pregnancy.

Exiting the room, she took a moment to adjust her scrub top that had begun riding up over her 15-week pregnant belly, now starting to round out perfectly. Her attire was a constant reminder of the ever-growing life within her, a transformation that had pushed most of her clothes to the brink of unwearability. Despite the challenges, Ajaya had made peace with her pregnancy.

Although Ajaya had made her peace, everyone hadn't. When Ajaya and Alisha told Aleah about the pregnancy, she was not happy at all about it. In fact, she hadn't spoken to Aleah since she had shared the news. At first, Ajaya had expected a supportive sisterly embrace, but instead, Aleah's reaction had been a cold wall of disapproval and judgment.

Ajaya had been left feeling hurt and abandoned, but as the weeks passed, she surprisingly found herself okay with Aleah's silence. She had grown weary of living in her sister's seemingly perfect little world, where expectations were high, and any deviation from the path of perfection was met with harsh criticism. Her pregnancy had made her realize that sometimes, the pursuit of perfection wasn't worth sacrificing her own happiness.