Excerpt
The Christmas hours were posted. Tyne, on her lunch break, hurried
to the classroom to join the crush of students standing in line to
get a look at the roster. When she saw her name, she let out a whoop.
“Well, Milligan, sounds like you hit the jackpot this time.” Karen
Stipley, a third year student, turned away, disappointment clouding
her face.
Tyne felt sorry for her. She knew Karen had her heart set on going
home this year. Like Tyne, she had not been home for Christmas
since they began their training.
“I can’t believe it,” Tyne said as they left the classroom together. “I
have both Christmas and Boxing Day off. Sorry you didn’t make it
again, Karen. Maybe you’ll get home for New Year’s.”
“Yeah, maybe. I’m off on New Year’s Day at least. Have a good
time, Milligan.” Karen turned down the corridor to her ward.
As she hurried back to the Orthopaedic ward on the third floor,
Tyne formulated a plan. She would be off duty at three o’clock on
Christmas Eve and could get a bus to Emblem, arriving home in
time to go to midnight mass with her family. On Christmas morning
she would go to church with Morley, whether it pleased her dad or
not. It was time she accompanied Morley to his church. How could
she know anything about it unless she made an effort to find out?
She had always been afraid of what her parents would say, but not
anymore. She was an adult, and she had to start making her own
decisions. After all, she would soon be a registered nurse. How could
she presume to be responsible for her patients’ lives if she could not
be responsible for her own?
As soon as her shift ended that day, Tyne hurried to the pay phone
in the hospital lobby. She did not often call home although her dad
had told her to reverse the charges whenever she wished. She would
call Morley as well – but later, when he had finished the chores and
was settled in his house for the evening.
Morley’s last letter had expressed the hope that she would be home
for Christmas. “It seems so long since we’ve seen each other, honey,”
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