I’ve been a nurse for six years now. Long shifts, aching feet, barely enough time to eat—but I love it. It’s the one place where I feel like I truly matter. Nobody cares what I look like, just that I do my job well.
But today? Today threw me back to a time I’d rather forget.
Robby Langston.
He was sitting on the bed, wincing as he held his wrist, but when he saw me, his eyes went wide. For a second, I thought maybe he didn’t recognize me. But then he did a quick, awkward glance at my face—at my nose—and I knew.
Middle school, high school… he made my life hell. “Big Becca,” “Toucan Sam,” all the creative ways to make a girl hate her own reflection. I spent years wishing I could shrink, disappear, be anyone else. But here I was, standing in scrubs, holding his chart, and he was the one needing me.
“Becca?” His voice was hesitant, almost nervous. “Wow, uh… it’s been a while.”
I kept my face neutral. “What happened to your wrist?”
Basketball injury,” he muttered. “Just a sprain, I think.”
I nodded, checking his vitals, doing my job like I would with anyone else. But inside, I was battling old ghosts. I had imagined a moment like this before—facing my past, getting some kind of closure. Maybe even some kind of justice. Then, as I wrapped his wrist, he let out a small, almost embarrassed laugh. “Guess karma’s funny, huh? You taking care of me after all that.” I met his eyes. For once, he wasn’t the cocky guy from school. Just another patient, just another human.