Caring: A Short Story

Thirty minutes later, however, Jackie’s silver Mustang convertible swung into our driveway, and Jackie was leaning on the horn before the car came to a full stop. Grabbing my coat from the couch, I walk out my front door with all the enthusiasm of a man going to stand before a firing squad.

A “survivor car” is what the newspapers called it, did not stop such notice; gathering from the darkness a moment of miracle, and then disappear for the next bend. Michaelist wasn’t even sure of the facts – he told the press about the incident. The yellow car the one going toward new york, approximating beyond, hurried back to myrtle’s location, and abruptly change target to the nearest obstacle in the road, colliding in a big speed and intensity, surrounding the road with metallic parts of a wrecked car.

The vehicle forced Darlene’s car off of the road and into the parking lot of the Blue Rock Springs Golf course. Once the pursuer had sufficiently blocked them from any further movement in the car, he stepped out of his vehicle with a lantern in his hand, and his headlights shining blindingly into Darlene and Michael’s faces. "Mike could feel intense heat throughout his body. He had been shot. The bullets were still being fired as Darlene slumped over the steering wheel. She had been hit several times.

Starting out, I was walking slowly down the freshly snow covered dirt lane in front of my cabin. As I was walking I could hear the crisp

Cameron stood front of the car and became angry at his father for loving the car. He proceeded to kick the car repeatedly which dented the bumper, broke the grille and hooded headlight, and broke a bone in his foot. Afterward, Cameron was daydreaming about his father’s expression when he discovered the damaged car and leaned on the bumper of the car. This caused the jack to tip over and the car to crash through the back window of the garage which totaled the car.

‘Call the ambulance’ I said to myself. The red car disappeared from the view as I looked for help. As I tried unlocking the seat belt, I realized I was bleeding and my head was hurting really badly. Helplessly, I bent forward and checked Trevor’s pulse. My immobile left hand lay dead on the side as I reached for my phone, Speed dialling the number as I called the ambulance to the location.

On December 20th, 2017 Grace, Fari and I were victims of a crash that had effectively totaled Grace’s car.

There was also a small truck and a small bus that hit each other. They didn’t catch fire, but there was a body on the ground beside them. As soon as I saw it, there was a cold wave of recognition crashing through my body, making my vision sway as I realized, it was dead. No questions like why, how he died. Nothing. Just a frozen state of mind. My throat ached as I used every breath. There was less, and less oxygen remaining in the car. I dared to open the window. Warm fresh air mixed with a smell of burnt grass hit me in my face.

The brass frame felt cold in his hands. He looked at the picture, no remorse, no longing for missed goodbyes, no resentment, cold was the right feeling. The photograph of the two of them working on the ’69 dodge pickup seemed distant as if the boy and man were strangers. They were. At one time they were close, but after Rainey, everything changed. He thought back to the night he found his father drunk in his recliner playing Russian Roulette with an old .32 caliber Police Special; he hesitated for a brief moment before intervening. A loving son did not hesitate.

Maslow’s (1970) order of needs was applied to ensure that Joy’s identified needs, principles and values were highlighted. This is to promote a holistic approach to ensure the patient’s basic needs are met first to enable advance point of self-actualisation. Joy was supported through this process as it indicated that if her care was not managed effectively it would affect her advancement through the dependence/independence continuum, therefore, hampering the existence of a holistic plan of care. Failure to recognise patient needs or to address the identified needs can result in detrimental consequences for the patient. It is therefore vital to ensure the whole care planning process is comprehensive (Barrett, Wilson and Woollands, 2012).

Ruined. The pieces of glistening glass marked the area of the incident. It had all happened so quickly, too quickly for them to engage and avoid what had happened. Tim and Gina were only on the road for ten minutes when the crash occurred. Silence took over as soon as it happened. The bricks of the wall that they hit had collapsed. Both were still, not a muscle moved. The foot wells now held the wedding hat that had fallen off from the impact of the haul and John’s tie that he had spent forever perfecting had become scruffy. It was their son’s big day, his wedding day, why did it have to happen to them?

Before the incident, the last individuals who spoke to the pair were the people at a Racine Toyota car dealership. The people at the dealership said that they did not realize the two planned to cross the intersection. They said that if they had known of these of plans, the company would have given them a lift because they had known that the intersection was dangerous. Linda Salinas, an employee at Toyota, stated that everyone felt upset about the accident. It was terrible that it happened. Because the accident occurred, the lanes of Sunnyslope Drive had been closed. At the scene, you could find some shoes and a jacket left laying on the highway. In addition, a car with a smashed windshield sat around ominously.

Running over a child during the first week of deployment had an immense impact on Mike and his behavior. Mike calls his father and says “you gotta get me out of here,” “something happened, Dad.” Hank asks his son if there “is anybody there with [him]?” because he does not want his son to be seen as weak while crying on the phone. This scene continues to add to the stress that Mike faces in Iraq. Mike is trying to reach out for help from his father about an incident that traumatized Mike but Hank did not want to hear or discuss any of Mike’s issues. This phone call and loss of connection with Hank further contributes to Mike’s downward spiral in Post Traumatic Stress

I screamed in astonishment that I had just robbed someone of their life, I could hear my heart beating in my chest like a drum. Mr. Dance took a sharp turn down the road and the men kept pursuing us. Another shot rent the night and it blew right through Mr. Dance’s shoulder. He cried out but kept going.

To care is to feel compassion towards someone or something. Are human beings generally good and trustworthy or are they selfish and greedy? If humanity is the latter, than compassion towards others is not for their greater good, but for self-gratitude. It is hard to accept this thought process if you are a nurse or even know one. Compassion means to care and without either of these, nursing would flounder. Nurses seem to have an innate caring disposition about them. Think about how nurses are generally portrayed, tired, overworked, underpaid, but still going that extra mile with a smile on their face. Is this because nurses have compassion that the rest of the world is lacking, if humanity is selfish and greedy, or is it because nurses have the intrinsic ability to care? If nurses have an innate characteristic for compassion, then one can speculate nurses are born not created. However, if humanity is generally good, then nursing is a chosen field, not for self-gratitude but of genuine compassion for others. The philosophy of caring has been questioned and studied for years, and yet we are still learning.