Scent Of Death

Nurse given an unwanted gift, coming to terms with using it to help patients and families.

 I froze by room 650 as I wheeled the med cart. 

The scent hit me.

The overpowering scent of flowers candles and incense. The smell, I associated with death. This was a very familiar smell to me. I had lost both parents as a teenager and this was the smell in the viewing room that was filled with flowers, wreaths, candles and incense. I hated it with all my heart. 

Two decades later, the smell was hitting me right outside Ms. Watson and Ms. Grey's hospital room. I parked my locked cart and went in to investigate. The smell was not around Ms. Grey's bed but around Ms. Watson's bed. Ms. Watson lay sleeping peacefully, the early morning sun gently glowing on her face like a mother's caress. The scent was overpowering and I slowly backed out of the room. ...