I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“What?”
“Up,” she says again, taking the work from his hands and tossing it
aside.
Sam frowns. “No.”
“I’m sorry, did I preface that command with it please your
knighthood?”
“Hag.”
“Up. Now!” She claps her hands. “And you! In here. Sit.”
Once Sam and I are both at the edge of his cot, Nurse Ella plants
her hands on her hips, scanning us like prisoners deserving of a
baton.
“In my entire career, I have never encountered such pains. Since you
were at my knee, you’ve been wreaking havoc together. By god, the
headaches I’ve
suffered taming you beasts of children.” Nurse Ella makes a
masterpiece of her scoldings. She is theatrical, inhaling strength as
she pauses.
“That being said, when you are apart, you are even worse. You.” She
waves her arm at me. “Becoming a mopey babe clinging to my skirt
at all hours. And you.” She flicks Sam’s forehead, I assume, in an
attempt to rid him of the wrinkles he’s forming from that scowl.
“Losing your temper every hour of the day because you got your
feelings hurt. Did I raise you to be so pathetic? I am not a patient
woman. I have better things to attend to than your squabbling. So
make up! And do so promptly.”
Walking out, Nurse Ella continues muttering about our various
crimes against her sanity. The door shuts behind her, and a draft
cuts through the room with heavy, ugly silence.