“Brian Beattie, Arlene Neil…” Ellen whispered the names as she scrolled on her phone.
“What are you doing?” Barry asked his daughter, handing her the puffers she still needed, months after surviving COVID-19.
“Gathering the health workers who died from it to my heart. They’ll always be my heroes.”
I wrote this story in response to this week’s Friday Fix prompt: use the word gather, or write a story about gathering. I’m not sure this is what Justin had in mind, but it’s what came to me. I had read an article recently about how health workers during the second wave no longer feel like heroes as they receive abuse from patients and deal with those who deny COVID, even with their last breaths.
The names at the beginning of this story are Canadian health workers who died from COVID-19. They come from a list compiled by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. I am gathering their names to my heart.
There are so many giving so much of themselves to help and protect us. This is a beautiful tribute ❤