• It wouldn’t be fair to be in a rush
    To miss the Christmas Eve sunset’s last blush
    But there’s things to be done, the world doesn’t wait
    On a nurse’s Christmas, and I’m working late.
    A car crashed on I40, they were drunk on good cheer
    Now in the ICU they are all lying here
    Though it looks like they’ll make it, they’re tempting fate
    On a nurse’s Christmas, and I’m working late.
    One more before I can take a breather
    Though it pains me there to see her
    Bald, so young, shaking hands, a sorry state
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    I know she won’t last much longer, I know
    That she got no help from the chemo
    But put an encouraging smile on my face
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    Her little eyes shine with hope in the gloom
    Like the flashing lights that fill her room
    I tidy up her covers and teddy, pick up her plate
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    “You should be asleep, ma’am,” says she,
    “I’m ok, don’t you worry yourself over me.”
    “Santa’s coming soon, so don’t make a peep
    Ms. Nurse, you need to pretend you’re asleep!”
    At first I don’t know how to say to her
    That Santa Claus can’t bring with him a cure
    Which is all she needs, especially of late,
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    But I play along, and we close both our eyes
    As the clock clicks to midnight, and then she cries,
    “He won’t come till he knows we’re not doing it fake!”
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    I can’t help but have to dry a stray tear
    She sees, and says, “I know he’ll be here!
    Ms. Nurse, you’ve been nice this year, I can tell
    And if I know it, then Santa does as well!
    What will you ask for, from Santa this holiday?”
    “For a certain little girl to go to sleep,” I say.
    She giggles, clutching her teddy, her bare pate
    Shining like a star
    On a nurse’s Christmas, and I’m working late.
    As I sit in the break room, I start to pray
    For that brave little girl, for her to stay
    Alive for many years, for her to cheat fate
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    There’s an alarm, I spring up from my seat
    And rush toward the room, the doctor to meet
    A fear clutches me, that just won’t abate
    On a nurse’s Christmas, when I’m working late.
    I know the number, and pray that I’m wrong
    That it was just a false alarm all along.
    But I know by the time I arrive it’s too late
    On a nurse’s Christmas
    On her last Christmas
    Like an angel she left us, a smile on her face
    No more pretending for Santa, in a better place
    On that small stone in the churchyard, it bears the date
    Of a nurse’s Christmas, when I was working late.