b'being used as ICU rooms. ICU stands for intensive care units. These rooms are for the sickest patients. The ER was also busy. People dont usually stay overnight in the ER where I work, she said. But at one point, with no more room upstairs, a two- or three-day stay became common.The isolation caused by the pandemic made ER nurses work even harder than usual for their pa-tients. Theyre having the worst day of their life, Ms. Brown said, and theyre sick and alone and their family members arent there. She would hold hands with patients, talk to them, and use her own phone to help them do FaceTime with family. Ms. Brown works the ERs night shifttwelve hours, thats half a day. I work when most people are asleep. We drink coffee. But taking care of pa-tients is a big deal, so we dont get sleep, because theres a lot going on.By the time 2020 ended, she said, she might have seen as many as 1,000 COVID patients. So did the pandemic make her fearful at work? Its a fear that a lot of health caregivers have, she said. What I try to do is focus on the patient and my job. My gift is my ability to care for patients. So I try not to let my fear be bigger than my goal. By Healthy Comet staffIllustration by Kaeley Cazares, fourth grade, Cole Manor Elementary School Cole Manor Healthy Comet19'