Lissa Aires: Nurse Exclusive

Around 3:30 a.m., Lissa paused at the window outside the nurse’s station. Rain threaded the streetlamps like beads. She allowed herself the briefest breath, thinking of her mother, who’d once told her that caring for others meant remembering to care for herself. Lissa had learned to steal small moments—an apple between rounds, a five-minute stretch in supply closet doorway—little anchors through the long nights.