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Show Nocturne/ 6 patient pronounced dead. Marianne did not cry, not even went she went home. Instead, she washed her hair and swept her kitchen floor. Some of them wondered if Anika really planned to collect. After technicians wheeled the gurney into the elevator, after the CNA changed the sheets and the housekeeper emptied the garbage, Anika ran her collection. Jenna Marsden bet on Frank Paulsen. They handed her bills before the day shift came on, and Jenna pocketed them quietly. She bought a Kitchenaid mixer and a pair of flats at the outlet mall. For the next shift, she brought cookies to celebrate her win. Even Marianne ate one. Anika waited a week before passing the ledger around again, and the moon outside became a sliver from one Monday to the next. By then, everyone had thought carefully about which patient to choose. They had considered what to do with the money. They wrote their wagers down quickly, confident in their strategy. Their checkmarks made a constellation on the white lined paper. Extra money particularly enticed Carolyn, who had been working on the unit for seventeen years. Carolyn did not like doing things that did not make sense to her, and she did not like dealing with people that did things that did not make sense to her. Every night, she brought glazed donuts or cupcakes with mint butter cream frosting or packages of fun-sized candy bars to share, which was the only thing she did to prevent most everyone from disliking her. Each treat became a tiny analeptic. The donuts and candy bars showed. She felt self-conscious riding roller coasters, and she avoided flying due to the extra fee to accommodate her thighs and her forearms, |