It was mid-morning and
a long way from quiet. One child was screaming
out his frustration while another loudly insisted on her mother’s immediate attention.
Cleaners were swapping jokes in Creole, mopping floors, and moving furniture in
their never-ending effort to wipe out those nasty bacteria bugs that lurk about
in nooks and crannies. Nurses were pushing
clanking carts loaded with equipment, taking temperatures, changing bandages
and coaxing liquid medicine down unwilling throats. Doctors were consulting,
instructions were clarified, and questions were being answered.
