Chapter 3 Orientation

It felt like I had just closed my eyes when my phone was playing my motivational song, “Rise,” by Katie Perry, began to play to wake me up. Begrudgingly I threw back the covers after shutting off my alarm and headed into the bathroom to do my normal morning routine. Thirty minutes later I grabbed my backpack and laptop and headed downstairs to turn on the coffee machine. As I started down the steps, Gwyn was heading up the steps with coffee already in hand. I inhaled a big breath and couldn’t help but say, “Mmmm.” Gwyn laughed, took a drink teasingly, and headed into the bathroom I had just vacated. We had developed a pretty good routine on clinical mornings and today was like most clinical mornings from previous years since we had to meet at the hospital and had to be dressed in clinical attire. I grabbed a nice big cup of coffee, compliments of Gwyn, and sat down to have a nice big bowl of high fiber cereal to help me stay full until lunch. Orientation generally only went through the morning unlike actual clinicals which run from 6:00AM-2:00PM. As I was rinsing my bowl and coffee cup and placing them in the dishwasher, Gwyn was coming back down in her scrubs and we were almost ready to go. I grabbed a granola bar and threw one to Gwyn before filling two travel cups full of coffee for the road. She caught the granola bar, put it in her scrub jacket, put her backpack on her shoulder, and grabbed her keys as we headed for the door. Backpack on my own shoulder and one coffee travel mug in each hand, I handed one to Gwyn as she went through the door, and I then locked the door before pulling it shut behind me. Our other three roommates didn’t have class until at least 8am, so were just getting up or would be soon. We pulled out of the driveway in Gwyn’s little electric car at exactly 6:15AM. Twenty minutes later we were placing the hospital “student,” placard on the rearview mirror, and heading into the education center. Today would be the day we would receive our clinical schedules. Gwyn and I had both requested we be on the same clinical rotation so we could continue to travel, work, and study together. There would of course be certain clinicals like Capstone that were done on an individual basis and not in a team setting. As we entered the lecture hall, we chose seats in the front row to keep us close to the instructors and decrease any distractions that may be present in the room if we sat further back. Both Gwyn and I had better than a 3.75 average at this point, so why change our strategies now if it had been working all along? I felt blessed that I had met Gwyn the first week I started college. We had helped

each other so much in the last three years. When Gwyn had Influenza B, I took notes and grabbed handouts from our classes and helped her to stay caught up. When my mother had a cholecystectomy and I had to go home for a few days and help out with my siblings last year, Gwyn helped me get caught up when I returned. Having people you could count on in a competitive environment like nursing school was helpful. I’m the kind of person that will help others as long as they are willing to return the favor. I’ll help until others give me a reason not to anymore. One former coworker asked me to switch shifts, which I did. When the time came to work my shift, she called in sick and was seen partying at a local bar. I say former because she was fired when the Administrator caught wind of the situation. Those are the kind of people that perturb me and cause me to no longer go out of my way to accommodate them. After a welcome and informational session, clinical schedules were handed out. After a ten minute break, I removed my scrub jacket, and we left to tour the units we would be doing clinicals at this semester. Both Gwyn and I were starting our rotation in ICU. In fact next Monday was our first day on the floor. Walking down the hallway, Gwyn was obvious about gawking at a group of young medical students in long white coats at the end of the hallway. I heard Gwyn saying my name quietly, and repeatedly, “Elise, Elise, Eliiiisssse…” I intentionally ignored her prodding, hoping she would assume I didn’t hear her and let it go. Evidently I wasn’t paying close enough attention and she was afraid I’d miss all the hotness. In typical Gwyn fashion, just as we reached the corner of the hallway turning left, she pushed my right shoulder, pushing me into the left wall. I stopped, glared at Gwyn, and in a loud whisper said, “whaaaat?!?” As I finished my response but continued my dirty look, a group of people in color coordinated scrubs came around the corner. As I was looking at Gwyn, I was splashed with lukewarm coffee from my chest in a very asymmetrical pattern, to my knees. I took a huge jump backwards, slightly bent at the waist, gasping, as the liquid soaked clothing hit me. My arms were held out straight, much like The Walking Dead, at shoulder height. This of course was a reflexive action in an attempt to get away from the cold, wet clothing now against my skin. As if I can get away from it. I am going to kill Gwyn later. Slowly I put my arms down, stood up straight, brought my eyes from Gwyn to my clothing, and finally to the woman standing in front of me. A petite brunette with blond highlights, sky blue eyes, and thick full lips in the shape of an oval, that is now holding an empty coffee cup, stands before me. In the next breath, she puts her hand up with her palm in a vertical fashion, perfectly manicured nails pointing toward the ceiling, and says unevenly, “I am so….sorry.” Laughing can be heard from the end of the hallway where the young student doctors had been standing as they no doubt took in the commotion that was our collision. Realizing the employee in front of me has a very worried look on her face, I cannot help but smile. I bring my eyes down to her name tag that is clipped to the bottom of the “V,” on the neck of her scrub top and in a happy go lucky tone I was certainly not feeling at that point, I joked, “No worries, Kameron. Now when they tour the linens, I’ll check out the soiled linen closet instead.” I stepped to the right side of the hall, scooted around the corner to the left, and caught up with my group of nursing students that hadn’t even slowed down. I just had to run into, literally, the cutest woman I have seen in several years. Now I look like a drowned rat. Ugh! The only student that was there was Gwyn with huge eyes and her hand over her mouth. As I jogged

past her, I grabbed her elbow and took her around the corner with me. As we neared the end of the hall, the students were filing into the elevator so we also stepped inside. I turned around and looked up to find Kameron watching me. The elevator doors begin to close as she continues to smile at me and then waves with her free hand in a “bubbye,” fashion. The doors close and we ride the elevator to our destination. Other than a strange look and a few snickers from a few of my fellow students and my instructor, Mary Mallis, RN, MSN-NE, the rest of the morning went off without any further issues. After we finished touring the units, we took our quiz on the clinical rules and hospital policies and were released for the day. Gwyn and I grabbed our belongings, put our scrub jackets on, and headed toward the exit. On the way out, I stopped at a vending machine and grabbed a bottle of water. As I turned to leave, Kameron was heading my way with a huge smile on her face. She stops about a foot in front of me and says, “I saw you here, I’m on lunch break, and I just wanted to apologize again. I’m so sorry about the coffee.” I laughed softly, cleared my throat and replied, “Really, it's okay. I wasn’t going to wear these clothes all day anyway. Although I would much rather drink my coffee than wear it.” I laughed again and gave her an exaggerated wink with one eye and my mouth open. Kameron mimicked my motions from earlier and looked at my name tag before answering, “You’re funny Elise.” She takes her hands from her scrub jacket pockets and pats them slightly on her thighs as she asks, “Could I please buy you a drink sometime to make it up to you?” My eyebrows go up as soon as I hear her invitation and I look down toward our feet. “Ahh,” I then saw what appeared to be a beautiful Nautical Star on the top of her wrist that was partially hidden by her watch. “Hey, nice tattoo,” I winked, which was so out of character for me, “yeah, here..” I grabbed the arm with the tattoo, pushed her smock sleeve up, and wrote “Eli,” and my cell number in pen, on her inner forearm. I dragged my eyes back up her body seeing her name tag again, “Kameron Thorson, RN, ICU.” I swallowed, realizing I may be seeing her again very soon. “Here’s my digits, give me a call, if...you’re serious.” I squeezed her hand, turned, and walked away. Oh my gosh!! What did I just do? I’ve hung out with classmates and roommates since moving here, but I have not dated anyone. What am I going to tell my roommates? They don’t even know I’m gay. They just know I haven’t dated anyone since I moved to Rochester. So much for laying low. Gwyn was waiting at the curb in her car and immediately started apologizing and chattered the whole way home. I nodded and grunted where appropriate or where I hope it was appropriate, but heard maybe half of what was said. As we were pulling up in the driveway at home, I thanked Gwyn for driving and ran into the house and up to my bedroom. It may have been lunch time, but I had so many butterflies in my stomach, I could not imagine eating right now. Setting down my bag, I changed my outfit into sweats and a t-shirt for a quick nap before I worked on school work. I simply was not a morning person. Pretreated scrubs in the hamper, so the coffee wouldn’t stain, I snuggled down into my bed. My mind began to drift to Kameron and her full lips, beautiful smile, and striking blue eyes.​ As I drifted off, I continued to think about her braided hair that was medium brown with very obvious blond highlights even when braided. My last conscious thought was if Kameron’s highlights were natural from being outdoors or put there by a salon?