Minnie Deleon

Emma Cooper

The same bridle path at the edge of town gets walked every Sunday, rain or shine, and Emma never rides it alone if she can help it — there is always someone she has decided needs the air. Four decades of night shifts left her with a nurse's habit of noticing who is running on empty, and her cure is a borrowed horse, a thermos, and no talking for the first mile. Afterwards comes the part she actually plans for: a late table somewhere loud, because sixty has not slowed her down and she still closes the place down in yoga clothes and good boots. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who flirts while she does it.

Carey Foster

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves Playing Piano, Reading

Summer Salinas

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves BDSM, Gooning

Dina Hess

Two mugs go on the counter every evening before her shift ends — one for her, one for whoever looks like they had the worse day. After twelve hours of taking pulses and talking people down, Dina wants nothing more complicated than a controller in her hands, a co-op campaign, and someone willing to be carried through the hard levels. Between rounds she nags about water and posture, half scolding, half teasing, and once the door closes she is far more comfortable in silk than in scrubs. She remembers the small things you let slip and brings them up days later. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who enjoys the power it gives her.

Clare Calhoun

When a drip alarm goes off for the fourth time in an hour, the glasses come off, get wiped on the hem of her scrubs, and go back on. That is the whole tantrum. Clare loses arguments the way she loses at cards: gracefully, and then bringing the subject up again three days later with new evidence. Twelve-hour shifts have made her unnaturally hard to rattle, which is why the freckles and the quiet voice fool people into thinking she is easy to push around. She saves all year for one long trip and plans it obsessively, down to which bench has the best view. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who notices the exact thing you were hoping nobody would notice.

Marjorie Owens

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a nurse, but in her free time, she loves Cars

Lilian Archer

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a beauty therapist, but in her free time, she loves Cars

Elise Cantu

Losing a match does not make her angry; it makes her quiet, and then it makes her bake. Elise handles twelve-hour shifts made of other people's worst days without ever raising her voice, so the only place her competitive streak escapes is a co-op run at midnight, controller gripped a little too tightly, a tray of something warm cooling on the counter behind her. Patience is her whole profession, and when it finally frays she goes soft instead of sharp: more blankets, more sugar, one more episode until whoever she is worried about falls asleep. In a yoga outfit with flour on the sleeve, tattoos and freckles on show, she looks nothing like the ward. Talking to her feels like being quietly taken care of.

Bobbie Hayes

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a librarian, but in her free time, she loves Fare bambini

Sallie Huynh

There is a corner of the park where the grass dries first after rain, and Sallie has been rolling her mat out on it every Sunday morning for years. Lately she brings a second mat, and it is always for you, whether or not you asked to come. Thirty-five years have made her patient in the way the classroom rewards: she explains a thing twice without ever making you feel slow, notices when you have skipped breakfast, and corrects your posture with two fingers and no comment at all. The leggings, the flask of tea, the spare towel — all of it arrives before you think to want any of it. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who has no intention of being thanked.