The Night Nurse

Elena is a nurse. She is from Quito, in Ecuador, and she lives in Chicago. She works in a big hospital downtown, but she doesn't work during the day. She works at night.

Elena's day is upside down. She gets up at five o'clock in the evening, takes a shower and eats breakfast at six. Breakfast is usually eggs, toast and a big cup of coffee. Her neighbors eat dinner at that time!

She starts work at seven. The hospital is quiet at night, but Elena is always busy. She checks the patients, gives them their medicine and talks to the doctors. Sometimes a patient doesn't sleep, and Elena sits with him and listens.

At three in the morning, she has "lunch" with the other nurses. They often eat soup from the hospital cafe and tell funny stories.

Elena finishes work at seven in the morning. She takes the train home and goes to bed at eight. In summer, she never sleeps well, because the city is noisy and the sun is strong. Her curtains are black.

In winter, it is dark at five in the evening and dark at seven in the morning. Elena never sees the sun! On her days off, she always goes to the lake. She sits by the water and closes her eyes.

Does she like her job? "Yes, I love it," she says. "My patients need me, at night too. But I miss the sun in Quito!"