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The Sick Man
The nurse works with the narrator to lead tour groups filled with wealthy, dying adventurers; her job is to provide the medications, treated air, and immunized water that allow the tourists to survive their trip. The narrator is often frustrated with the nurse for siding with the tourists against him.
The Nurse Quotes in Things We Didn’t See Coming
The Things We Didn’t See Coming quotes below are all either spoken by The Nurse or refer to The Nurse . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Best Medicine Quotes
The nurse is forcing cups of antiviral water on everyone. I'm freezing all of a sudden and I motioned for her to turn up the air. Down the aisle, the group is all plugged into their viewers, watching trade data come in from all over the waking planet. I lower my voice, as if it will do any good. I'm sure at least one of them has a monitor on.
“I'm still doing tours, Dad.”
“That's a surprise.”
[…] “I work with the dying, dad. I’m helping people.”
“No explanation needed. Just glad to hear your voice. My surprise is only conceptual, that there are still tours, still sites to see. Still people to pay. But someone always has the money, right? You worked that out a long time ago, didn't you?”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Nurse Character Timeline in Things We Didn’t See Coming
The timeline below shows where the character The Nurse appears in Things We Didn’t See Coming. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Best Medicine
...serious ailments who want a last adventure before they die. The narrator travels with a nurse, who gives these people the necessary medicines so that they can climb stairs and brave...
(full context)
The clients complain about the change in itinerary, but the nurse persuades them to come with promises of treated plane air and antiviral water. From the...
(full context)
The nurse comes over to the narrator, relaying the group’s lack of enthusiasm about the shaman. One...
(full context)
The nurse tells everyone on the plane that the shaman is the narrator’s father, and the crowd...
(full context)
As the narrator drifts in and out of consciousness, he hears the nurse explain that he’s been struggling for a while, that his medication finally failed in the...
(full context)
