Chapter 1

The intern nurse suddenly looked up and asked me, "Summer, is the hospital stiffing you on your night shift pay? "

"Why would you say that? "

"I just saw the shift stipend sheet. My intern night shift bonus is 800, but yours is only 600... This must be a typo, right? "

She blinked her innocent eyes, her cotton swab nearly dropping to the floor.

At that moment, the smell of disinfectant felt especially sharp in my nose.

From that night on, my phone started lighting up at two in the morning.

A month later, a collective transfer request from eighteen senior nurses in the ER landed on the Director's desk.

That man, who always said "nurses are the foundation of this hospital, " finally learned who was actually holding up the sky.

1

"Gosh, a whole month of hard work and finally, payday! "

Kayla Young's complaining voice drifted into the office area.

"Wait, Summer, was your night shift bonus calculated wrong? I worked ten days and got 800. You worked fifteen days, so how is yours only 600? "

My hand, which was organizing patient files, froze. I quickly grabbed the two pay stubs to compare them.

I watched Kayla as she blinked those clueless eyes, a half-eaten piece of cupcake still in her mouth.

800 for ten days?

I had worked at this hospital for five years. My graveyard shifts ran from midnight to 8 AM. That was eight hours a day for a forty-dollar stipend.

She was an intern working the swing shift from 9 PM to 3 AM. That was six hours for an eighty-dollar stipend.

I couldn't believe it. I struggled to keep the tremor out of my voice.

"How much did you say the bonus was? "

"Eighty for the swing shift, and a hundred and twenty for the graveyard shift, " Kayla replied, oblivious to my shock, as she took another bite of her cake.

"The Director said that's the standard rate for those of us coming from top-tier universities. Isn't it low? Being a nurse is the hardest job ever. "

Kayla sighed a few more times, lamenting how difficult her life was.

"Thank god the hospital provides a dorm, or I couldn't even afford to live. I wish the meal allowance would go up by five hundred. Even buying a cupcake feels like a splurge. "

I stopped listening to Kayla's rambling. Walking down the hospital corridor, I suddenly felt a wave of pathetic sadness.

Five years ago, I fought through competitions and worked like a slave for my professors just to get a recommendation to this hospital.

I spent ten months as an intern without a single cent in pay.

I worked the most grueling ER shifts, fifteen hours a day, thirty days a month without a break. My longest streak was twenty-eight consecutive night shifts.

It wasn't until last year that I was finally promoted to a Level 3 Core Nurse, responsible for training the newbies.

In this hospital, I was the one even the ICU nurses came to for advice.

In five years, my base pay went from zero to four thousand, with only that measly night shift bonus.

But now, these newcomers not only have double the bonus, they even get a meal allowance.

Seeing me walking fast with a dazed look in my eyes, Kayla rushed to pull me back.

"Summer, what's wrong? Are you just exhausted from too many night shifts? Let me buy you a coffee. "

I turned and gave her a forced smile. "I'm fine. Just tired. I'll just drink some glucose and I'll be okay. "

"Patient Mr. Thompson in Room 3 needs special care today. The doctor gave specific orders, I need to go check on him. "

"Ugh, Summer, glucose tastes like trash. "

"Why is being a nurse so complicated? There's always so much to do. But you shouldn't push yourself so hard. Even someone like me with only three months of experience is in high demand. A veteran like you definitely doesn't need to worry. "

She didn't mean anything by it, but her words cut deep.

Kayla's so-called "three months of experience" was mostly spent playing around.

In those three months, she couldn't even set an IV drip without making a mistake.

I had five years of experience. So many patients came to this private hospital specifically for me. Eight out of the ten nurses in my group were trained by me.

And now I'm being told that the night shift bonuses have an "AB system, " where the newcomers get priority?

"But then again, I was an exchange student at Harvard. If I weren't getting a permanent contract next month, I wouldn't stay here anyway, " Kayla talked to herself.

My footsteps stopped again involuntarily.

Three months, and she's getting a permanent contract?

"Summer, I heard the base pay for a permanent contract is six thousand. Is that true? But six thousand still isn't enough to support my lifestyle. "

Six thousand?

It took me ten months to get a permanent contract. My base pay in the first year was only two thousand. It took five years to reach four thousand.

And the girl in front of me―the clumsy, white-bread intern who caused trouble every day and left me to clean up her messes―was getting a permanent spot in three months with a base pay two thousand higher than mine.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned and walked toward Room 3 without looking back.