TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXCERPT

Chapter 1 – The Last Day

“Ok, Shugga, keep your legs back. That’s nice. Wide apart. Let me get a good feel. Yes, that feels exactly right. No, not too tight. Remember what we talked about. There, that’s it! Get ready. One’s coming now. It’s coming. It’s coming. Can’t you feel the rhythm? Ohhh!”

“This place never closes, just like Wal-Mart,” Taylor grumbled as she slid her employee badge through the check-in slot by the time clock. 06:42.

“Push … Pushh … Pushhh … Push, Push, Push, Push, Push … Pushhhhh … Pushhhhh … Wait now! Don’t push, DON’T PUSH. I see the head crowning. Lots of dark hair. Great job! I'll get the techs to set up for delivery, and we need to call the doctor. STAT.”

These vehement coaching efforts of a fellow labor and delivery nurse easily penetrated the wall from the adjacent room. Despite the huffing and puffing of the parturient patient, there was no way to miss the cheerleading augmented by the bedside family members. Hearing the nurse’s urgent call for the obstetrician, Taylor could envision the sweat forming on her comrade’s brow, adding to that already pouring from the patient.

The day was Friday, and unlike most professional work situations, the week was not over for this registered nurse, nor for others like her. As Taylor re-clipped her employee badge to her scrub suit, she tried to look past the monotony she felt. Pulling a hospital-nursing shift on any day had grown almost unbearable for Taylor Richards. Having more combined practical experience than most of newer hospital nurses, the thirty-three year old was nearing burnout. Besides, her volunteer time spent taking blood pressures and treating colds at the homeless shelter had almost become more rewarding to her.

“Why do I stay here? Stay in this? I ought to just walk back out the front door,” she groaned loudly and carelessly enough to be heard by the young physician approaching from behind. Knox Chamblee was not purposefully following Taylor but was enjoying the walk nonetheless.

“Hey, I heard that,” he retorted playfully. “A bad attitude like that won’t win many Brownie points with the nursing supervisor, you know.”

Despite the fact that the route to the nurses’ locker room led across the hall directly in front of the doctors’ lounge, Taylor had failed to notice the door opening as Dr. Knox Chamblee exited from his complimentary breakfast. Conversely, as the nurse stomped down the corridor, Chamblee could not miss the blonde hair tossed side-to-side almost in rhythm with her steps.