“99, 100. I’m coming to find you.” shouts a ittle girl. Her voice is rough and sounds like sand paper scratching along a wall. The yellow butterfly clips in her hair flutter their wings like they’ve been counting with her.

“That wasn’t all the way to 100.” a boy yells out from his side of the room. His voice is high and rings out in the room. The toy dinosaur he holds in his hand nods his head in agreement with what he yelled.

“You’re cheating.” comes another small voice belonging to a girl. Her voice is low and quiet but somehow echos in the room. Her long white braided hair shines as if it’s a living thing detecting whether or not she cheated.

Before I can stop any of the small voices shouting over the top of each other, a nurse walks into the room. She leans her hand on my shoulder and her eyes laugh as she looks over the small beds set out in a line.

“Welcome to the ward.” she smiles at me, almost sadly. “Pretty sure you’re one of the only temp nurses who haven’t begged to switch wards yet.”