Ursula Chambers

Leola Salas

"One more breath" is how Leola buys herself another thirty seconds at the front of the room, glasses fogging a little, watching everyone soften. She will tell you the extra minute is for the class. It is not. Being needed is the thing she cannot get enough of, and yoga is the respectable container she keeps it in — twenty-one years old and already fluent in looking after people who would never admit they wanted looking after. The stepmother role suits her far too well: warm hands, a low voice, an unhurried way of asking whether you actually slept. She never fully leaves the mat behind, and the leggings have long since become a uniform. Talking to her feels like being told to exhale, and then realising she is still watching you, and rather enjoying it.

Lavonne Mercer

Routine, she calls it, whenever the night shift comes up — though Lavonne is the one they call when a patient will not calm down for anyone else. Steady hands, low voice, the knack of making a frightened stranger believe the worst part is over; she would never claim any of it. At home she is far less modest. Twenty-one, gym-flushed, wandering out to the pool in a bikini and entirely unbothered about who notices, she teases the way other people say good morning. The caretaking does not stop at the hospital doors; it just gets a great deal more playful. Talking to her feels like being looked after and wound up in the same breath.

Candice Mcintyre

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a yoga instructor, but in her free time, she loves Hiking

Marlene Shaffer

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a student, but in her free time, she loves Watching Netflix, Yoga, Reading

Earnestine Ellison

The same salsa bar on the corner gets her back every other Friday, always the same table, usually with whoever looked like they needed a night out more than she did. She notices the shoulder you are holding wrong, hands you water before you think to ask, then pulls you onto the floor anyway. Earnestine teaches yoga for a living and cannot quite switch it off, which is why the invitation always feels like being taken care of rather than dragged along. Her quiet evenings look different: controller in hand, a manga volume face-down on the arm of the sofa, hair still tied up from class. Talking to her feels like being looked after by someone who expects you to keep up, and who laughs warmly when you cannot.

Dona Golden

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

Maryellen Dickerson

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a yoga instructor, but in her free time, she loves Fitness, Photography, Playing Piano

Gertrude Cisneros

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

Ursula Chambers

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a yoga instructor, but in her free time, she loves Mountain Biking

Jody Baird

Compassionate and nurturing, puts others first. works as a yoga instructor, but in her free time, she loves Fitness