Compass North

by Cathleen Ellis

  They hugged.

  “Your flights?”

  “Good, it’ll be so wonderful to be home. I got kinda homesick for the States, but I had responsibilities.”

  They stood at baggage and claimed her three bags.

  “My gosh, this all?”

  “Yup, I brought home less than I went with, but these are still the same bags. I shipped a picture of a beach painting. It’s my memory of Punta Cana. The best gift I got, my Spanish. I know it’ll help me with my nursing here.”

  “We got the painting; very glad it didn’t have glass. You mentioned that.

  We didn’t open it.”

  Tyann rested on the trip from the airport to Porttown. When they arrived home, Tyann saw her trusty wheels sitting in the spot where she’d always parked it.

  “My car, uh, I thought Mandy took it over.”

  Her dad helped her take her bags to her room.

  “Mandy bought a car; she wanted you to have your car back. We’ll go in and get the title transferred back to you. I’m paying your first six months of car insurance and your new license plates, course you’ll have to make all the changes once you get settled.”

  “Gosh, Dad, that’s wonderful, for you and mom to help me like that.”

  “Gotta help you get transferred back. I know you’ll have to get private health insurance ‘cause your nurse position is temp, and doesn’t cover health.”

  “I’ll be home until Sunday morning. Then I gotta make the trek to Auburn. I start my position on the next Saturday.”

  They sat together at the kitchen island.

  “Lemonade and chocolate chip bars, oh Dad, you all remembered.”

  “Actually, Mandy made the bars, and I’ve learned how to fix up the lemonade.”

  Tyann looked around at the family kitchen.

  “Gosh, this kitchen, luxurious, a nice-sized stove, compared to the living situation I had. To have clean water, air conditioning, those are things I so took for granted before Punta Cana, but not anymore. We Americans possess so much,” she paused, “Dad?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Mandy, sheesh, bought a car, how can she afford?” she paused.

  “Yeah, she left IU after last semester; not happy, not satisfied with her major, or with her surroundings.”

  She shook her head to her dad.

  “She’s assistant manager at a grocery store in town, and she got her own place. She’s got some debt from school, no scholarship, like you had.”

  “Happy?”

  “Yeah, she seems to be; she has a gift for handling people, the employees and also the customers. She’s been allowed to make some changes and fire a couple of less than satisfactory employees. The store’s appearance is much improved. She’s got PR and marketing skills.”

  Tyann smiled to her dad, “Hey, she gets that from you, just listening to dinner conversations over the years, she’s picked up a ton of info. She’s always been our listener.”

  They settled in and each had a second chipper.

  “So you guys are empty nesters, how’s it feel?”

  “Very hard for us, we love you and your sister so much. But we gave you roots.”

  “And wings, Dad, and wings to fly away as we needed to.”

  “You’ll be proud of your mom; she’s a supervisor at her nursing facility. She got some online and practical training. One of the medical people there saw the promise she has. Now she doesn’t have to work all the time with patients, and the facility runs on eight hour shifts, like some hospitals, 7-3, 3-11, and 11-7. She’s making better money than before.”

  “Dad, tell me about you, after two years.”

  “My second in command’s doing well; I think you may have been a 9th grader when he graduated. Anyway, he’s trained up like I trained you, straight out of high school and he’s gotten married and has a baby. He’ll be a fine man to take over in six years or so. He’s smart, committed to stay, wants Porttown to be his home for a long time now.”

  “Retire then?”

  “Probably never retire, but I’ll maybe drive tractor, or some other piece of equipment I always worked on. I’ll want to do volunteer work, like you’ve always done. Did you volunteer in Punta Cana?”

  “Yeah, at a free clinic for the many with nothing, in the community and surrounding clinic, usually on Wednesdays. There were several of us from our hospital who gave their time.”

  “Conner?”

  “Into his first of 20 some units of special study he’ll have to do between now and graduation next May. Plus, he’s like me, there’ll be an exam he’s gonna study for, to get his accreditation.”

  “It’ll be a surefire way to practice what he’s learned from the books.”

  “That’s right, hey, thanks for driving me; I got so much to do.”

  “Go to it; I’ll head for the shop. Your mom and I’re gonna take you out to dinner, welcome home, and wishing you good luck in your next assignment. Mandy’ll try to join us; depends on close up.”

  

  Tyann met Sadie, her property management person, at the appointed time to get her keys to her apartment. She waited for Tyann to check out the small place, and sign off on changes that needed to be corrected. The central air conditioning unit for her place did not work. So Sadie would take care of that.

  “Yeah, please have the repairman your management firm uses come in and fix it. I’ll deal with phone and internet situation. He’s got a key, right?”

  “Correct.”

  The apartment didn’t meet her strict cleanliness standards. Tyann worked a couple hours on the bathroom and tiny kitchen. Her new mattress and new carpeting met with her satisfaction. She thought back on the crude living situation.

  “If I have guests, I want this to be nice.”

  She remembered the two years of living in a different country.

  “I’m really, really glad to be back,” she remembered saying that to Sadie when she got the keys.

  A day later her phone got installed.

  “Marvelous and quick technology,” she told her phone man. She mentioned to him what service was like in the country she had been in.

  

  “Oh wow, Conner, you’re home.”

  “So good to hear your voice, Tyann; you got your phone, that’s good.”

  “Yup, I’m all settled in, except for internet setup. Glad I’m minimalist, ‘cause this place is tiny. And the air conditioning got fixed. Actually it’s really cold for me, after all those months of heat and humidity. I often just keep windows open, until late in the day.”

  “Tyann,” she heard him stop talking and a sob came from his throat.

  “Conner, tell me.”

  “I gotta step back, from you, from our relationship for a little while. I got so anxious to see you, well, I was at the end of my first unit; I almost botched a simple surgery. I gotta repeat the unit before they let me go on. I’m sorry, I’m not thinking straight, can’t keep messing up. I won’t graduate with my class if I don’t get it together.”

  He tried to clear his throat, but she heard his tears through his voice.

  “Concentrate on what you’re doing, Conner. I understand that as a medical person myself. We can wait to see each other. We have our whole lives ahead.”

  “When’s your assignment start?”

  “Saturday.”

  “Think it’ll be interesting?”

  “Yeah, I’ll help improve lives here. Some cases where I was, the folks, beyond hope when they arrived at our door.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I gained a real appreciation for health care in our country. But we still have a ways to go, especially in rural areas, in the South and in big cities.”

  “Thanks for your call; let me get through this do-over unit, and the next one I’m assigned to. I’ll call you. And to let you know, ‘cause I know you’ll ask, yes, I’m studying for my accreditation, besides everything else going on. I love you, Tyann.”

  “And I love you, Co
nner, as you’ve always been, you’re in my thoughts and prayers.”

  At 2 a.m. Tyann still couldn’t sleep. She got up and fixed coffee.

  “It’s kinda nice, I don’t have to be so quiet, now that I live alone,” she spoke out. She stepped out to her small first floor patio. It faced out on a greenbelt area. Her tears began, “So disappointed, but I had to come back to some place, and I guess this is a good place. I have a job and a home. Stop the pity party, Tyann. God blesses me, beyond measure.”

  She came back in and lay in bed.

  “Have a little gratitude, my goodness.”

  She slept then.

  

  Tyann accomplished the training she needed to do for beginning her visiting nurse duties. She worked Monday-Thursday, and alternated Saturdays and Sundays. She serviced a number of patients, all in the same Auburn area.

  After a month she and her supervisor spoke about her progress with patients.

  “Tyann, I want to thank you, for your special service to three of your patients.”

  They sat together in a corner booth of a small café, in the same area of town where she had patients. They drank iced coffee.

  “How’s that, Mrs. Martin?”

  “Fans, you’re brought each of the three a fan.”

  “Oh, that,” she eyed her supervisor and shook her head, “No central air conditioning, so they needed a fan for their bedrooms, for sleeping.”

  “Also, you have a way, with the families of patients. You’ve pointed out quite a few hazards that other nurses either didn’t notice, or didn’t report. And the families are grateful, things they didn’t pay attention to either. It’s that you always put it in terms of yourself and your family, like ‘if this was my grandma, I would remove those small rugs, ‘cause sometime she might trip and fall over one.’

  And night lights, the patients themselves, and their families, just didn’t realize what a difference having a small light on, can help, in the middle of the night.”

  “That’s from childhood; my parents had night lights in the hall and in the bathrooms, for if we got up in the night.”

  They shared several other aspects of her training and then Tyann left for her next patient. It surprised Tyann at how she enjoyed moving about, not enclosed in a particular area or hospital, but free to be out and about, enjoying the weather of the day.

  Ben D. became one of her favorite visits. He lived in a lovely home, kept up by a housekeeper who came in several times a week. He had two hover-children, who called him daily to see how he was getting along since his wife died of cancer the year before. His phone calls to his children became more positive.

  “My Tyann, that’s what I call my lovely visiting nurse, oh she’s beautiful. She’s got me up and about, instead of sitting all day. We even go for walks outside with my walker. If I do real good and my doc approves, I’ll be able to walk outside by myself. Won’t that be something?”

  His son and daughter approved, and told him to keep up the good work. They also let the visiting nurse supervisor for their dad know of his improvement. They felt Tyann should get the credit for helping their dad. They mentioned that Tyann did little niceties for their dad, while nurse and patient were together. He began dictating letters to her which she wrote out and mailed. He got reconnected with several old friends with whom he’d been out of touch. Before long his doc indicated he got on well enough to just have the housekeeper come. His medical situation had improved enough to stop having the visiting nurse.

  “That’s always my goal, to make you stronger, to go on, by yourself,” she spoke to Ben D. on her last visit.

  “I will miss you, my beautiful angel.”

  She saw tears stand in his eyes after he said that.

  “You take good care of yourself. You’re in God’s hands.”

  He nodded to her, “I must always remember God.”

  They hugged and she turned and waved to him before she walked out of his front door.

  Tyann couldn’t help herself as she walked to her car. Her tears came, “What a nice man,” she nodded to herself.

  

  Communication stopped between Conner and Tyann, no e-mails or phone calls. That occurred in July. The only situation Tyann could envision was difficulties with some of the units he had to pass. She remembered that they saw each other twice, once for dinner at his place, and steaks she cooked out on the small grill at her apartment patio.

  She tried to hike several trails in the area at least once a week. Now she wasn’t on her feet all day long hiking became pleasurable, and she met someone on a weekend hike. They seemed to start the trail at about the same time on the Sundays when Tyann didn’t do nursing.

  She hiked fast, and once passed him, then slowed down and hiked next to him.

  “You hike this trail a lot?” she asked.

  “I do, Sundays, after mass.”

  “I knew I’d seen you somewhere before. You go to early mass.”

  “I do, and I’ve certainly noticed you at church; you’re a beauty. You just look so different with your ponytail pulled through your IU hat. It’s so different from church.”

  “Yup, hey, I’m Tyann.

  “Lucas.”

  They shook hands as they hiked along together on the widening trail.

  “Say your name again.”

  “Tyann, yeah, my dad’s Tyrone and mom’s Annie, so my name.”

  “Nice name, never heard it before.”

  For a few weeks, until nearly Thanksgiving, they met and hiked that same trail together.

  “Never talked much with anyone in the medical area, you’re fascinating; all the technology coming on board in the field, ultrasounds, the MRI situation, CAT scans, wow.”

  “But your field, exploding, with something called the Internet.”

  “Uh huh, it’s been around for a while, government kinda got it going. At Auburn, we can’t keep up with the computer upgrades, the storage systems. I’m an IT guy, but it’s kinda overwhelming. I graduated in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, but whoah, it’s a whole new world of connecting people, e-mail, that’s just the beginning, who knows, one day, oh I can’t even imagine.”

  They continued up the last few minutes to the top of the ridge.

  “Here’s where I connect best, out with nature, breathing the air, the smell of the pines, and it’s sure nice to be with you.”

  “I like being with you,” she turned to him and smiled, “and I’m getting used to the mountains, actually tall hills. From Iowa cornfields, I went to Dominican Republic beaches. So I have a beachy feel for everything. What I like most right here is the clear, sweet air, still a tiny humid, but nice.”

  “Just gonna ask, are you dating anyone?”

  They sat down beside each other on a long rock and pulled out their water and trail mix.

  “Sure, had a long term, long distance relationship with a man who was in my life since childhood. Right now, we’re not seeing each other. We’re giving ourselves more space. But I haven’t dated anyone since I moved here in late May from Punta Cana. She paused, “Wanta share?”

  “Kinda same, long distance, but did say our goodbyes nearly a year ago.

  It’s a bitch to break up during the holidays.”

  “Yuk, that’s for sure.”

  “I’ll always love her, Tyann, but it wasn’t gonna be a relationship that would work. There’s gotta be love, but also liking the person as a friend.”

  “Wow, that’s for sure; I really gotta examine that, the friendship part.”

  “Your guy?”

  “Yeah, seriously pressured, senior in the DVM program at Auburn, and he’s got so much training, called units, to do, a year, from last May through this coming May, until graduation.”

  “Sounds like you two’ve made the correct decision, to step away. Hey, you’ve got your career to carry on.”

  “Uh huh, the visiting nurse situation is temporary, no benefits, I gotta decide where I really want to be. I thought I’d be a fol
low on to him. I’ll need to take the lead. I’m kinda looking at Huntsville, all the space stuff, that sounds pretty exciting. I had a friend in school back home in Iowa who went to Space Camp. It’s about the most exciting thing she’s ever done. Hey, and she’s part of NASA now.”

  “That’s totally cool, run with your passion, your dream.”

  “That’s what I’ve done, Lucas, my motto, save those I can. ‘Course, God has a say in all that.”

  “Right, I’ve had to turn all my hopes and dreams over to Him. I’m kinda amazed how things’ve turned out.”

  “I take it you like what you do, at Auburn.”

  “Love it.”

  “I understand almost nothing about the whole technology deal, except when it comes to helping my patients get well.”

  “More and more’ll help your sick ones, as time goes on, uh, the technology’ll do that.”

  They descended the trail mostly in silence. Tyann enjoyed being outside with hearing the birds chirping and watching the wind beginning to shake the few leaves remaining on the trees.

  They hugged after he walked her to her car at the trail head.

  “We’re so comfortable together; may I call you, to spend an evening with you?”

  “I’d really like that.”

  

  “What’s happening for Thanksgiving?”

  “Mom, the nicest family asked me to join them for the holiday and to bring a friend. I’m taking Lucas, my hiking buddy. Ben D., that’s what he wants to be called, was a patient of mine during my first months as a visiting nurse. He lost his wife a year before that. What he needed was someone to lift him out of his funk. I did that. He could hardly walk with his walker. I encouraged him. He got better about walking in his home, switched to a cane of correct length, and we went for walks outside with his walker. He’s so proud of his walks around the block, taking his cane, but only needing to use it occasionally. His daughter and son live away, but are coming for Thanksgiving. His housekeeper, Ben D. and I keep in touch; she’s super and has the family’s whole stay with Ben D. planned out. I’m really excited to meet them. They’ve heaped praise on me for helping their dad. Mom, all he needed was someone to encourage him to get up and continue to live his life. He goes to work out at a gym for older folks a couple times a week. And he’s returned to church.”