Everyone's asleep, the machines are beeping their steady beep, and I'm the one awake keeping watch. Night shifts teach you that the whole world is quietly held together by people nobody ever claps for.

Rare day off, so I took the ferry across Bada Talab and just watched the city drift by from the water. Bhopal is at its prettiest when you're too tired to rush through it. The lakes, thankfully, don't keep office hours.

People thank the doctor and completely forget the nurse who sat awake with them the whole night. I'm not bitter, just a little tired of being invisible in my own scrubs. Honestly, one 'shukriya, sister' rebuilds me more than any bonus.

Nurses aren't made of steel

We're trained to check everyone's vitals except our own. After a rough shift I cried quietly in the hospital stairwell, wiped my face, and went back out to smile at the next patient. We're not made of steel — just a lot of practice.

Noor, staff nurse in Bhopal, mostly on night shifts. I've held a lot of strangers' hands at 3am and learned that most people just don't want to be alone in the dark. Here to talk softly, and maybe hold a few more hands, digitally this time.