Spanish Stories

    B1Moderate · 9 min read · 971 words

    El turno de noche

    The Night Shift

    A pharmacy technician working alone on the night shift in Mexico City has to decide whether to question a doctor's prescription that could put a regular customer at risk.

    Topics

    • ethics
    • work
    • medicine
    • trust

    Tap or hover any underlined word for its English meaning.

    Listen to the story

    Learner-paced · Spanish

    What you'll encounter

    Grammar
    Preterite and imperfect narration, Subjunctive after doubt and emotion (le preocupa que pueda, si algo le pasara), Reported speech with conditional (prometió que se encargaría), Relative clauses (cuyo número, la última persona en tener la oportunidad)
    Vocabulary
    Pharmacy and medicine (receta, dosis, surtir, coágulos), Workplace decision-making under pressure, Mexican Spanish regionalisms (chamarra, cuadras)
    Language skills
    Narrating a moral dilemma under time pressure, Following a tense professional phone conversation, Understanding cause and consequence across a delayed resolution

    Valeria lleva casi dos años trabajando el turno de noche en la farmacia San Rafael, en la colonia Doctores, y ya conoce el silencio de esas horas casi de memoria. Desde las once de la noche hasta las seis de la mañana, la ciudad se calma y solo entran, de vez en cuando, taxistas con dolor de cabeza, estudiantes con fiebre o vecinos que no pueden dormir. La soledad del turno no le molesta; al contrario, le gusta el silencio y la responsabilidad de estar sola frente al mostrador, aunque sabe que, si algo sale mal, no hay nadie más a quien preguntar.

    Show English
    Valeria has been working the night shift at the San Rafael pharmacy, in the Doctores neighborhood, for almost two years, and by now she knows the silence of those hours almost by heart. From eleven at night until six in the morning, the city calms down, and only the occasional taxi driver with a headache, student with a fever, or neighbor who can't sleep comes in. The solitude of the shift doesn't bother her; on the contrary, she likes the quiet and the responsibility of being alone behind the counter, even though she knows that if something goes wrong, there's no one else to ask.

    Poco después de la medianoche, la puerta se abre y entra don Refugio, un hombre de unos setenta y cinco años que vive a dos de la farmacia. Valeria lo conoce bien: viene casi cada mes a recoger sus medicamentos, siempre con una receta nueva y una historia sobre su jardín o sobre Chayo, su esposa, que ya duerme a esas horas. Don Refugio tiene el corazón delicado desde hace años y toma warfarina, un medicamento que evita que la sangre forme , pero que hay que dosificar con mucho cuidado.

    Show English
    A little after midnight, the door opens and don Refugio walks in, a man of about seventy-five who lives two blocks from the pharmacy. Valeria knows him well: he comes in almost every month to pick up his medications, always with a new prescription and a story about his garden or about Chayo, his wife, who's already asleep at this hour. Don Refugio's heart has been fragile for years, and he takes warfarin, a medication that keeps the blood from forming clots, but one that has to be dosed very carefully.

    «Buenas noches, Valeria. Aquí traigo la receta nueva, me la cambió el doctor Salgado esta tarde», dice don Refugio, sacando un papel doblado del bolsillo de su .

    Show English
    "Good evening, Valeria. Here's the new prescription, Dr. Salgado changed it this afternoon," says don Refugio, pulling a folded paper out of his jacket pocket.

    Valeria toma la receta y la lee dos veces, porque algo : la dosis que aparece escrita es el doble de la que don Refugio ha tomado durante los últimos tres años. Podría tratarse de un cambio real, ordenado por una razón médica que ella desconoce, pero también podría ser un simple error, una cifra mal copiada entre un papel y otro. Y con la warfarina, un error así : una dosis demasiado alta puede provocar una grave.

    Show English
    Valeria takes the prescription and reads it twice, because something doesn't add up: the dose written on it is double what don Refugio has been taking for the last three years. It could be a real change, ordered for some medical reason she doesn't know about, but it could also be a simple error, a number miscopied from one paper to another. And with warfarin, a mistake like that is no small thing: too high a dose can cause serious internal bleeding.

    No es la primera vez que Valeria duda de una receta, pero normalmente puede resolverlo sin problema. Esta vez, sin embargo, algo la más de lo normal: es tarde, está sola, y don Refugio confía ciegamente en su médico. Decide llamar al consultorio del doctor Salgado, cuyo número aparece impreso en la receta.

    Show English
    It's not the first time Valeria has had doubts about a prescription, but she can usually resolve it without any trouble. This time, though, something unsettles her more than usual: it's late, she's alone, and don Refugio trusts his doctor blindly. She decides to call Dr. Salgado's office, whose number is printed on the prescription.

    El doctor contesta después de varios tonos, con la voz de alguien a quien acaban de despertar. Valeria se disculpa por la hora y le explica, con cuidado, la diferencia entre la dosis anterior y la nueva. «Si la receta dice eso, es porque eso es lo que necesita el paciente», responde él, . « explicarle mis decisiones a la farmacia.» Y cuelga antes de que ella pueda preguntar nada más.

    Show English
    The doctor answers after several rings, in the voice of someone who's just been woken up. Valeria apologizes for the hour and carefully explains the difference between the old dose and the new one. "If that's what the prescription says, that's what the patient needs," he replies curtly. "I don't owe the pharmacy an explanation for my decisions." And he hangs up before she can ask anything else.

    Valeria se queda con el teléfono en la mano, sin saber muy bien qué hacer. Don Refugio, del otro lado del mostrador, empieza a impacientarse; quiere llegar a casa antes de que Chayo se despierte y lo encuentre fuera. Valeria sabe que no es farmacéutica y que, técnicamente, su trabajo es lo que dice la receta. Pero también sabe que, si algo le pasara a don Refugio esa noche, ella habría sido la última persona en tener la oportunidad de evitarlo.

    Show English
    Valeria is left standing there with the phone in her hand, not quite sure what to do. Don Refugio, on the other side of the counter, is starting to grow impatient; he wants to get home before Chayo wakes up and finds him gone. Valeria knows she isn't a pharmacist and that, technically, her job is to fill whatever the prescription says. But she also knows that if something happened to don Refugio tonight, she would have been the last person who had the chance to prevent it.

    Con el corazón acelerado, marca el número de la doctora Ibarra, la farmacéutica responsable de la sucursal, y le pide disculpas por llamarla tan tarde. Le describe la situación completa: la dosis anterior, la nueva, la respuesta del doctor Salgado. La doctora Ibarra la escucha sin interrumpir y luego dice algo que Valeria no olvidará: «Hiciste bien en llamarme. Ante la duda, nunca se surte. Dale a don Refugio lo necesario para dos días con su dosis anterior y dile que mañana hablamos directamente con el consultorio.»

    Show English
    With her heart racing, she dials the number of Dr. Ibarra, the pharmacist responsible for the branch, and apologizes for calling so late. She lays out the whole situation: the old dose, the new one, Dr. Salgado's response. Dr. Ibarra listens without interrupting and then says something Valeria won't forget: "You did the right thing calling me. When in doubt, never dispense. Give don Refugio enough of his old dose for two days and tell him we'll speak directly with the clinic tomorrow."

    Valeria respira, agradecida de no tener que decidir sola, y se acerca de nuevo al mostrador. Le explica a don Refugio, con la mayor calma posible, que prefiere confirmar la nueva dosis antes de dársela, porque le preocupa que pueda tratarse de un error. Don Refugio , un poco desconcertado; para él, cuestionar al doctor Salgado es casi impensable. Pero Valeria insiste, con respeto, y al final él acepta llevarse solo lo necesario para dos días, con la promesa de que ella misma se encargaría de aclarar todo por la mañana.

    Show English
    Valeria breathes, grateful not to have to decide alone, and goes back to the counter. As calmly as she can, she explains to don Refugio that she'd rather confirm the new dose before giving it to him, because she's worried it might be a mistake. Don Refugio frowns, a little thrown off; to him, questioning Dr. Salgado is almost unthinkable. But Valeria insists, respectfully, and in the end he agrees to take only enough for two days, with the promise that she herself will take care of clearing everything up in the morning.

    Cuando don Refugio sale, la calle está completamente vacía. Valeria lo ve alejarse bajo las farolas, un poco , y se pregunta si hizo lo correcto o si solo consiguió preocuparlo sin necesidad.

    Show English
    When don Refugio leaves, the street is completely empty. Valeria watches him walk away under the streetlights, a little hunched, and wonders whether she did the right thing or whether she only managed to worry him for nothing.

    Pasan cuatro días antes de que la doctora Ibarra le cuente el final de la historia: el consultorio del doctor Salgado confirmó que la nueva dosis había sido, en efecto, un error de la asistente al transcribir la receta. Nadie del consultorio llamó a Valeria para agradecerle ni para reconocer el error; fue la doctora Ibarra quien se encargó de todo el con ellos.

    Show English
    Four days pass before Dr. Ibarra tells her how the story ends: Dr. Salgado's office confirmed that the new dose had, in fact, been an error made by the assistant when transcribing the prescription. No one from the office called Valeria to thank her or acknowledge the mistake; it was Dr. Ibarra who handled the whole matter with them.

    Una semana después, mientras Valeria acomoda las cajas de medicamentos en el turno de la tarde, entra una mujer que se presenta como la hija de don Refugio. Le cuenta que su padre le contó lo sucedido y que ella, después de investigar un poco, entendió lo cerca que había estado de un problema serio. «No sé si él ha entendido del todo lo que hiciste», le dice, «pero yo sí, y he querido venir a decírtelo en persona.»

    Show English
    A week later, while Valeria is stocking boxes of medication during the afternoon shift, a woman walks in who introduces herself as don Refugio's daughter. She tells Valeria that her father told her what happened and that, after looking into it a little, she understood how close he'd come to a serious problem. "I don't know if he's fully understood what you did," she says, "but I have, and I wanted to come tell you in person."

    Esa noche, de vuelta en su turno, Valeria revisa cada receta con el mismo cuidado de siempre, quizás un poco más despacio que antes. Apaga las luces del mostrador, deja encendida solo la que ilumina la entrada, y se sienta a esperar al próximo cliente, sabiendo que, tarde o temprano, alguien más volverá a cruzar esa puerta con un papel doblado en la mano.

    Show English
    That night, back on her shift, Valeria checks each prescription with the same care as always, maybe a little more slowly than before. She turns off the lights over the counter, leaves only the one over the entrance on, and sits down to wait for the next customer, knowing that sooner or later, someone else will walk through that door with a folded piece of paper in hand.
    Show English translation

    Valeria has been working the night shift at the San Rafael pharmacy, in the Doctores neighborhood, for almost two years, and by now she knows the silence of those hours almost by heart. From eleven at night until six in the morning, the city calms down, and only the occasional taxi driver with a headache, student with a fever, or neighbor who can't sleep comes in. The solitude of the shift doesn't bother her; on the contrary, she likes the quiet and the responsibility of being alone behind the counter, even though she knows that if something goes wrong, there's no one else to ask.

    A little after midnight, the door opens and don Refugio walks in, a man of about seventy-five who lives two blocks from the pharmacy. Valeria knows him well: he comes in almost every month to pick up his medications, always with a new prescription and a story about his garden or about Chayo, his wife, who's already asleep at this hour. Don Refugio's heart has been fragile for years, and he takes warfarin, a medication that keeps the blood from forming clots, but one that has to be dosed very carefully.

    "Good evening, Valeria. Here's the new prescription, Dr. Salgado changed it this afternoon," says don Refugio, pulling a folded paper out of his jacket pocket.

    Valeria takes the prescription and reads it twice, because something doesn't add up: the dose written on it is double what don Refugio has been taking for the last three years. It could be a real change, ordered for some medical reason she doesn't know about, but it could also be a simple error, a number miscopied from one paper to another. And with warfarin, a mistake like that is no small thing: too high a dose can cause serious internal bleeding.

    It's not the first time Valeria has had doubts about a prescription, but she can usually resolve it without any trouble. This time, though, something unsettles her more than usual: it's late, she's alone, and don Refugio trusts his doctor blindly. She decides to call Dr. Salgado's office, whose number is printed on the prescription.

    The doctor answers after several rings, in the voice of someone who's just been woken up. Valeria apologizes for the hour and carefully explains the difference between the old dose and the new one. "If that's what the prescription says, that's what the patient needs," he replies curtly. "I don't owe the pharmacy an explanation for my decisions." And he hangs up before she can ask anything else.

    Valeria is left standing there with the phone in her hand, not quite sure what to do. Don Refugio, on the other side of the counter, is starting to grow impatient; he wants to get home before Chayo wakes up and finds him gone. Valeria knows she isn't a pharmacist and that, technically, her job is to fill whatever the prescription says. But she also knows that if something happened to don Refugio tonight, she would have been the last person who had the chance to prevent it.

    With her heart racing, she dials the number of Dr. Ibarra, the pharmacist responsible for the branch, and apologizes for calling so late. She lays out the whole situation: the old dose, the new one, Dr. Salgado's response. Dr. Ibarra listens without interrupting and then says something Valeria won't forget: "You did the right thing calling me. When in doubt, never dispense. Give don Refugio enough of his old dose for two days and tell him we'll speak directly with the clinic tomorrow."

    Valeria breathes, grateful not to have to decide alone, and goes back to the counter. As calmly as she can, she explains to don Refugio that she'd rather confirm the new dose before giving it to him, because she's worried it might be a mistake. Don Refugio frowns, a little thrown off; to him, questioning Dr. Salgado is almost unthinkable. But Valeria insists, respectfully, and in the end he agrees to take only enough for two days, with the promise that she herself will take care of clearing everything up in the morning.

    When don Refugio leaves, the street is completely empty. Valeria watches him walk away under the streetlights, a little hunched, and wonders whether she did the right thing or whether she only managed to worry him for nothing.

    Four days pass before Dr. Ibarra tells her how the story ends: Dr. Salgado's office confirmed that the new dose had, in fact, been an error made by the assistant when transcribing the prescription. No one from the office called Valeria to thank her or acknowledge the mistake; it was Dr. Ibarra who handled the whole matter with them.

    A week later, while Valeria is stocking boxes of medication during the afternoon shift, a woman walks in who introduces herself as don Refugio's daughter. She tells Valeria that her father told her what happened and that, after looking into it a little, she understood how close he'd come to a serious problem. "I don't know if he's fully understood what you did," she says, "but I have, and I wanted to come tell you in person."

    That night, back on her shift, Valeria checks each prescription with the same care as always, maybe a little more slowly than before. She turns off the lights over the counter, leaves only the one over the entrance on, and sits down to wait for the next customer, knowing that sooner or later, someone else will walk through that door with a folded piece of paper in hand.

    Vocabulary in this story

    cuadras
    blocks (Latin American Spanish)
    coágulos
    clots
    chamarra
    jacket (Mexican Spanish)
    no le cuadra
    doesn't add up, doesn't seem right
    no es cosa menor
    is no small thing
    hemorragia interna
    internal bleeding
    inquieta
    unsettles her
    cortante
    curtly, sharply
    No tengo por qué
    I don't have to, there's no reason for me to
    surtir
    to fill (a prescription)
    frunce el ceño
    frowns, furrows his brow
    encorvado
    hunched, stooped
    trámite
    procedure, paperwork process
    Comprensión(check what you understood)

    Answer a few quick questions about the story. This is just for you: there's no account or score saved.

    1. ¿Qué le pareció extraño a Valeria en la nueva receta de don Refugio?
    2. ¿Cómo reaccionó el doctor Salgado cuando Valeria lo llamó de madrugada?
    3. ¿Por qué llamó Valeria a la doctora Ibarra en lugar de simplemente surtir la receta?
    4. ¿Cómo se sintió Valeria mientras veía a don Refugio alejarse por la calle?
    5. Según lo que Valeria descubrió días después, ¿cuál fue el origen real del error en la dosis?