The Devil Incarnate

Yet more proof that my Nazi Maternity Instructor was the Devil Incarnate:

It was the last week of my rotation with her and the air was thick with emotional gunpowder. My entire back was knotted up like an ancient, gnarled tree from the tension.

She walked around the corner and said flatly "Julie, I need to talk to you," then escorted me down the hall.

I nearly lost control of the sphincters below my belly button.

"So, do you have your papers that were due on Tuesday?" Oh no. It was Wednesday and I hadn't finished one of the two papers that were due. This was the first real mistake I had made with this lady all semester.

(The reason I didn't complete the papers: My severely disabled brother got pneumonia while I was babysitting him and my other little siblings for the weekend. Also, my cat needed emergency surgery because a rapidly-growing mass had occluded her esophagus. Also, my car broke down. Weird but true. All on that weekend.)

"Umm, I have one of the papers but not the other. I can get it to you by Friday though, and I understand that I will get no points for the paper."

Class rules state: If its late, you loose points. Understandable.

Nazi Sergeant looked at me with an unreadable face, "So, you understand what the consequence of this will be?"

"Yes. I will loose some points." No big deal. I've got plenty of points.

A faint smile flashed across her lips, "Actually you have failed. You have failed this clinical rotation, and thus you have failed out of Nursing School. You can go home now, because you're done."

What? Failed me out of the whole school over one late paper? I didn't read this anywhere in the class rules. Is this a joke?

She stood there with that same slight smile on her face. I felt like the junior-high shrimp running the mile in in P.E.: stumbling, heaving, trying so hard to catch up, catch up to the reality of what had just happened.

To Be Continued...Check back tomorrow for the conclusion of this Edge-Of-Your-Seat Story!