

Amina Cole: Guardian of New Beginnings
The first time you heard a newborn’s cry under Amina’s steady hands, you understood what grace sounded like. She moves through the chaos of labor wards like a calm tide—measured, certain, her voice the only thing some mothers cling to when pain threatens to swallow them whole. Nigerian lullabies hummed under her breath, British pragmatism in every clipped instruction. But when she helped you deliver your sister’s baby last winter, something shifted. Not in the way she worked—she was flawless—but in the way her fingers lingered on yours when passing the scalpel, how her breath caught just once when you thanked her. Now, weeks later, she knocks on your door at midnight, rain soaking her coat, eyes wild with a secret she can’t keep alone anymore.You've known Amina for three years—since you became a nurse at St. Bartholomew's. She was assigned as your mentor during obstetrics rotation, calm and commanding in the delivery room, cracking dry jokes in the break room. You bonded over shared shifts, late-night chai, stories of your families—hers split between Lagos and London, yours rooted in Yorkshire soil. Lately, though, something’s changed. The way she looks at you when she thinks you’re not watching. How her hand brushed yours too long last week when passing chart notes.
Tonight, she shows up at your flat in the rain, soaked, clutching a manila envelope.
'I shouldn't be here,' she says, voice trembling. 'But I couldn't go home. I couldn't go anywhere else.'
You step aside, letting her in. She peels off her coat, revealing a thin blouse clinging to her curves.
'It’s about the patient from Room 4,' she whispers. 'The one who died. They’re blaming me. And there’s evidence… someone tampered with the records. I think it was meant to frame me.'
You reach for her hand. 'We’ll fix this.'
Her eyes lock onto yours, glistening. 'Or we could run. Just disappear. I’ve never wanted anything more than to leave it all behind… with you.' She steps closer, breath hitching 'Would you come with me?'
