Mistake by Brigitta Moon Page A

would allow her sister to visit to bring her something she needed desperately. My goodness, what could she need at four in the morning?”
         “Well,” Beth prodded. “Did you let her come?”
         “Of course I did. I told her Midtown University Hospital has open visiting hours. She could come anytime she wanted. Well at five A.M. an odd woman showed up.”
        “Odd?” Beth said inquisitively.
        “Yes, you have to see her to understand. Beth, her skin was black, shining, beautiful. I’ve never seen someone that dark skinned. Her hair was a flaming red, so thick and full and curly, it looked like the weight would topple her. She was so beautiful but her eyes, they were a steel blue and they didn’t look at you; it felt as if she was looking into my soul. I had to avert my eyes from her glare.”
         Did you see what Mrs. Greene needed that was so important at five in the morning,” Beth asked.
         “The only thing she had was a damned book in her hand. She didn’t even have a purse,” Lil answered.
         “Did she stay long?”
         “Nope, she blew out as fast as she blew in. I checked on Mrs. Greene a little while after the woman left and she was fast asleep.”
        “No reading?” asked Beth.
        “No book in sight.”
        “Lil I have to get started with my patient rounds,” Beth said standing and gathering her report papers and her pen.
        “Alright, I have to finish my night’s work so I can go to bed and get up and do this all over again.”
        Lil stood, smiled at her friend and gave her a long, tight hug.
        “Everything will be alright. God doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” Lil whispered in Beth’s ear.
        Lil loosened her embrace as Beth stepped out of it and turned to leave.
        “Hurry up and get out of here Lil. Drive safely. I’ll see you in the morning.”
         Beth began her patient rounds checking on her favorite patient, Mrs. Greene first.
         “Good morning Mrs. Greene,” Beth said. “How are you? I hear you didn’t sleep well last night.”
         “I’m feeling good. My doctor said I can go home today. What about you nurse Beth? You don’t seem your happy self today? You seem to be weighted down by something.”
         “Oh, Mrs. Greene, I’m fine. I didn’t get as much sleep as I usually do but it’s okay.”
         “Nurse Beth, sit down, spend a little time with me. I want to share something with you.”
         “Alright, I always have time for my favorite patient,” she said taking a seat next to the bed.”
         “Last night,” Mrs. Greene began, “I wasn’t able to sleep. Two nurses were outside my door having an argument.”
         “Really,” Beth said. “That’s unfortunate. They disturbed your sleep?”
         “They disturbed much more than that. You’re my favorite nurse. Not only that, I really like you. You have a good heart.”
         Beth sat quietly and listened intently as Mrs. Greene continued.
         “They were arguing about keeping a secret about a well respected doctor.”
         Beth’s eyes widened and she sat up straighter as she began to see where the conversation was headed.
         “Nurse Beth. I’m an old woman. But I am a wise woman. I see the hurt you’re hiding. It’s in your eyes. Your eyes reveal everything. You saw him and it almost destroyed you. You have a strength you don’t know about.”
         Beth clasped her hands in her lap and began to rub them together as if they were freezing. Her eyes focused on Mrs. Greene as the reality of what she was saying took over her.
         “Sometimes men are like animals. They hunt, they conquer, they devour, never believing they will be caught. Nurse Beth, it’s just a fact of life that all men cheat.”
         “No, no,” the words strangled from Beth’s mouth as tears began to