I couldn't wait any longer.
I typed back to Viola：「My mom's appointment can't be moved.」
Viola shot back with a cold laugh.
「Everybody's got elderly parents.」
「My mother-in-law has a herniated disc and she still watches my kid every single day.」
「Katherine, I'm not trying to be harsh, but you can't be this selfish.」
That was when Director Abbott chimed in.「All right, enough from both of you.」
I'd barely exhaled when he followed up：
「Katherine, you're covering tomorrow.」
「Your mom's follow-up? She can go on her own.」
「You're young. The extra work won't kill you.」
I stared at my phone and almost laughed.
So it wasn't that they didn't know I had plans.
They just didn't think mine counted.
That night I called my mom. Her end was noisy, the crinkle of plastic bags being moved around.
「Mom, tomorrow I might not be able to……」
I hadn't finished the sentence before she cut in.
「Katie, if you're busy, you're busy.」
「Mom can go by herself.」
My throat tightened. 「How did you know?」
She gave a quiet laugh：「Every time your voice drops like that, it means work's making you cover a shift again.」
I held the phone and couldn't say a word.
She was the one comforting me.
「It's fine. Mom knows the hospital.」
「When you were little and had a fever, I carried you there by myself more times than I can count.」
「I can handle going on my own.」
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Outside the window, someone rode past on an electric scooter, the headlight sweeping a quick arc across the wall.
I felt exhausted, and it wasn't the kind that came from night shifts.
It was the kind that came from knowing every time I tried to hold on to one small thing for myself, someone would step forward and remind me：
You're young.
You're single, so you have no real family obligations.
You should be the one to give in.
My phone buzzed again.
Viola, in the group chat：
「Katherine's not saying anything, so I'll take that as a yes.」
「Thanks. Tomorrow's night shift is all yours.」
Director Abbott replied with one line：
「Settled, then.」
The next day, I showed up for the night shift.
Not because I was willing. Because the schedule had already been changed.
Director Abbott had posted the screenshot in the shift group chat. Where Viola's name used to be, mine had been swapped in.
She even dropped a smiley underneath.
「Thanks, Katherine. Young people really can handle it.」
I stared at that line for a long time. I didn't reply.
At seven that evening, I arrived at the billing window for handoff.
Viola was already heading out, purse in hand.
She'd done her makeup, her hair curled neatly, a new gold bangle on her wrist.
She spotted me and patted my shoulder with a bright little smile.
「Katherine, thanks so much.」
「After my son's parent-teacher conference I'm taking him out for a nice dinner.」
I looked at her. ：「Didn't you say your husband was working late too?」
Her expression stiffened for a second, then the smile came back.
「A guy working late still has to eat, right?」
「It's so rare we all get to sit down together as a family.」
I held her gaze. 「My mom went to her follow-up alone today.」
Viola clicked her tongue.
「Older folks need to learn to be independent.」
「You can't do everything for her.」
She said it and walked off in her heels, like she was afraid I'd say something else.
I sat down behind the billing window. On the other side of the glass, the line stretched long.
Someone needed ER registration, someone else was paying an outstanding inpatient balance, someone kept holding up their insurance card and asking how reimbursement worked.
The computer screen glowed a sharp, headache-bright blue.
I didn't get a break until ten. That was when I finally checked my phone and saw three messages from my mom.
The first was sent at eight-thirty in the morning.
「Katie, I'm at the hospital. Lots of people here.」
The second at eleven.
「I missed my number. The nurse said maybe they can squeeze me in this afternoon.」
The third at two-forty in the afternoon.
「My legs hurt a little. I'm going to sit for a bit.」
