Odd Night

This whole month I've been scheduled on night shifts with almost the same people-- Enock, Hortance, and the third person changes from night to night. Last night I was working the night shift, and Hortance came up to me and asked, "Kristin, where are you going to sleep tonight." I was a little confused, but I told her, that I would sleep where I always sleep-- on the floor in the first partitioned area in Urgence.

"Ok, we'll sleep together tonight; after the midnight care, we'll put down the blanket and sleep some," she informed me.

Now, there's something that I should explain about Chadian culture; in their eyes, it's not good to be alone. Period. It's considered one of the most awful things if you eat alone, and heaven forbid that anyone should have to sleep alone either.

Midnight came, I did the meds and vital signs, and then Hortance and I went to put down the blanket and pillow that I had brought. As we walked to the partitioned area that I usually sleep in, I noticed that Felix, one of our janitors, was sleeping on the table/bed with IV fluids running.

"Hortance, we can't sleep here. Felix is here," I protested.

"No, it's nothing. We'll sleep here."

So, we did. We laid down on the floor and shared a blanket and pillow while Felix slept next to us on top of the table/bed. As I laid there, I felt like I was in a strange dream, and it didn't help things that Felix had some odd, battery-operated flashlight that was blinking different colors through the night. Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of sleep, especially because it was super hot inside. So when I woke up to check on the patients, I decided to go sleep outside on the cement benches in front of Urgence.

At one point, a patient's family member came outside and woke me up to ask me a question. I woke up so dazed; it was pitch black (there were no stars, no moon), my glasses were off, so I was blind anyway, and I couldn't figure out where I was or what direction I should go to get back in to the hospital. I asked him to repeat his question as I put on my glasses and looked at the time. 3 AM. He repeated his question, but I still didn't understand, so I thought it just better to put on my shoes and find the door. I stood up and nearly fell over. Right, Quinine, still dizzy. I zig-zagged through the hallway, despite my efforts to walk a straight line, and when I got to the patient's bed, I asked what the problem was again. I'm sure I was doing much to boost the confidence of the locals in the hospital staff's competency.

I fixed the problem and went back outside to sleep until the morning medications. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, and I was glad to see the light of day again. But what an odd night.