A Penny's Worth by Nancy DeRosa Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t blame you. Who in their right
mind would want to be doing this? I can’t think of anyone.”
    Nurse Reins looked at Penny in surprise.
Uh-oh; she realized she may have said the wrong thing.
    Charlotte Munsen burst out in laughter.
“That’s the first time anyone has made an honest statement since I was diagnosed.”
She snorted and continued, “The damn cancer has spread and all I hear is don’t
worry, everything will be fine.” She looked over at the chemo machine and said
softly, “I’ve got so much I still want to do. Everything is not fine and I
don’t know what I’m going to do.”
    Walking closer to the woman’s bed, Penny
replied, “You’re going to do just what you’re doing, fight with all you’ve got
to get well again.” Taking the woman’s hand, Penny smiled down at her. “I don’t
see a speck of defeat in those eyes and I’ve seen people face some pretty dim
prospects and come out on top. I’m telling you the truth when I say I’ve got a
really good feeling that you and your husband will be revisiting those baby
plans. “
    With tears in her eyes the woman replied,
“I hope you’re right. My name is Charlotte, what’s yours?”
    “I’m Penny and I’m delighted to make your
acquaintance.”
    “Likewise.”
    Nurse Reins butted in to ask Charlotte if she were comfortable. Reins had a funny expression. It was ambiguous: could
be pleased, could be hateful. It was impossible to tell.
    As they finished with Charlotte, Nurse
Reins said abruptly, “I want to observe you setting up an IV with the next
patient. And just a piece of advice, I wouldn’t get too personal with the
patients from the get-go either.” Penny felt her stomach clench tighter.
    Their next patient was a weary older man
lying listlessly on the bed. His chart revealed that he had been admitted with
acute stomach pain. Then there was the colon cancer: he’d just had half of his
colon taken out three months prior. She smiled at the man but he didn’t smile
back. He looked grumpy, and fed up with life.
    Penny sensed Nurse Reins’ eyes boring
down on her. “Please proceed,” Nurse Reins instructed rather sharply.
    Looking at the patient’s chart, Penny
patted the man’s arm and said brightly, “Hello sir, we’re just going to insert
a little IV in you today to administer pain medication.”
    The man turned to face the wall. “You’re
going to run a little IV? Lady, do you think you’re talking to a two year old?
Since when do they make miniature versions of those horrid things? What you are
doing is dosing me up with morphine.”
    Fearfully, Penny looked at Reins. The old
abatross looked back at Penny with her arms folded across her chest. Great,
Penny thought, this isn’t going well at all.
    She tried to laugh lightly. “You’re right
sir, bad description and I’m sorry. You’re not feeling well and the last thing
you want to hear is me trying to make light of something.”
    The old man didn’t answer. With slightly
trembling hands, Penny began to perform a procedure that she hadn’t attempted
in almost twenty years. The first attempt at inserting the needle in the vein
on the top of the man’s left hand was not successful. Neither was the second
one. The beads of sweat forming across her brow threatened to drip off onto the
man’s arm. Panic began to grip her and she had to stop for a moment to get her
bearings. She found herself pleading silently: Don’t blow this, Penny. Please,
please, please, don’t mess this up.
    The third attempt was successful and she
sighed with relief.
    Stepping back, she tried to appear as if
she were calm and in control. She patted the man’s hand. “There, there. That
wasn’t so bad now was it?”
    He glared at her. “There you go again
talking to me in that baby talk. Stop it.”
    Smiling sheepishly, Penny shrugged. She
knew she had messed up again.
    A nurse poked her head in the room and
asked Nurse Reins to step out in the hallway. To Penny’s enormous relief,