Angel of Mercy Read Online Free PDF Page B

provided a less crowded latrine and shower condition than a tent. The CHU would give Chelsea a lot more living space than a tent perhaps, but she already felt the claustrophobia start to set in.
    Nevertheless she began to store her gear. Her CHU was a two-person model. Chelsea’s roommate was nowhere to be seen, but Chelsea could already see that her roommate left something to be desired in the category of “neatness.” There was a towel tossed casually over a chair on Chelsea’s side of the CHU, and a discarded pair of pants tossed on the bed that would be Chelsea’s. The roommate had a television hooked up, but the cord snaked throughout the living area and down the middle of the floor.
    Chelsea stifled her instinct to take a dislike to her roommate sight unseen. Chelsea’s training in the nursing program at Keystone had been big on neatness in your personal life. The belief was that neatness would carry over into your professional life. Nursing students at Keystone dreaded the white glove inspections that their instructors occasionally performed without warning.
    Somebody here would flunk one of those. That’s for damn sure. Chelsea said to herself.
    Just then the door of the CHU banged open, and the object of Chelsea’s scorn fell, as much as walked, into the unit. Bleary-eyed, the roommate looked at Chelsea and grunted “H’lo” as she made her way to the couch upon which she threw herself with a groan. Chelsea turned her nose up. Her initial impression of her roommate was apparently correct. She wondered if her roommate was drunk.
    Just then, from under the forearm that she had thrown over her eyes, the roommate spoke.
    “I’m Lisa Glenn. Are you Bannister? If not get the Hell out of my CHU.”
    Chelsea wasn’t used to being spoken to in that manner except by a nursing instructor, but she also didn’t want to make waves within minutes of arriving in Afghanistan. So she answered in as friendly a tone as she could muster.
    “Yes, I’m Chelsea Bannister. It’s nice to meet you.”
    Lisa moved one arm just enough to be able to peer at Chelsea through one half-open eye. Apparently neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with what she saw, Lisa said, “Where ya’ from?”
    “The Philadelphia area, originally. I went to nursing school at Keystone College in upstate Pennsylvania.”
    Lisa nodded and closed the open eye before answering. “Well, Bannister, welcome to our happy little home. You and me, we can chitchat about ourselves later but right now I’m coming off 28 straight hours in a surgery tent with sand blowing in my eyes most of the time. I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m thirsty, but I’m more tired than anything, so I’m gonna sleep. I don’t have to be on until 1200 hours tomorrow. Good night.”
    Chelsea saw that what she had thought was drunken behavior was just utter exhaustion. Lisa Glenn had taken her boots off but left them on the end of the couch.
    Poor thing. She fell asleep before she even put her shoes on the floor , Chelsea thought.
    Chelsea left the CHU and walked through the blinding heat to the Medical Staff Reception tent that she had been told to find as soon as she got on base and processed in. It wasn’t easy to find, though there was a sign. Desert combat signs don’t last long in blowing sand conditions and the sign indicating Chelsea’s destination was badly pitted and in need of replacement.
    Chelsea walked inside and was greeted by the sound of music. Upon further inspection, Chelsea saw that an iPod was connected to two big speakers up against the far wall of the tent. Around a table in the center of the room, Chelsea saw four or five people sitting in chairs that were tipped back. Everyone had his or her feet on the table.
    This place seems a little undisciplined, Chelsea thought as she slowly made her way in. One of the females turned around and waved Chelsea over. “Come on in. You look lost. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re new in this joint, but I