The Room of Silence By: Anushka Bhatt

 The Room of Silence

By: Anushka Bhatt

Eliana unzipped her P.P.E with trembling hands. Her shift had ended two hours ago, but she couldn’t leave. Not yet. Not after holding the hand of a man who had just passed from COVID, his final breath echoing in her ears like a haunting song.

She walked down the empty hallway toward the staff breakroom—a place unofficially known as The Room of Silence. No one spoke in there. No one needed to.

Inside, dim lights buzzed softly above a table stacked with stress balls, cooling lavender towels, and folded prayer cards. She sank into a chair and stared at the wall, eyes dry but heavy. The silence wrapped around her like a blanket, ttoo thin to comfort, but just thick enough to make the moment feel sacred.

Nurse after nurse drifted in and out, sitting in quiet solidarity. No words exchanged, just exhausted eyes that said, “I know.”

This story isn't just fiction- it was inspired by the real, heavy toll COVID-19 took on healthcare workers. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 60% of frontline workers reported mental health struggles like anxiety and burnout during the pandemic. I wrote this because I kept thinking: Who's taking care of the people taking care of us?

The Room of Silence may not exist in every hospital, but maybe it should.

Source:
KFF. “Mental Health and Substance Use Considerations Among Health Care Workers.” 2021.
https://www.kff.org