Katie, a stoic young Native American, faces family pressures, a developing distant romantic relationship, and stress from nursing school clinicals during her junior year at Crestmont University in Dallas.

Her dream of becoming a nurse is challenged when her mother suffers an injury that could force her to stay on the farm, assume her mother's duties, and postpone her education, perhaps permanently. Compounding her stress, Katie's childhood friend and soulmate's demand for a greater level of commitment drives her into an emotional spiral as she tries to balance her dream of becoming a nurse and her love for John.

The academically sound Katie finds that book learning is not sufficient for success in the clinical setting. Her frustration grows as she encounters difficulty in implementing her carefully crafted patient care plans. Her relationship with the Nurseketeers, her best friends and support system, deteriorates as she tries unsuccessfully to cope. She struggles in silence, turning in secret to alcohol to quell the chaos of clinical practice and putting herself in jeopardy of failing out of nursing school.

About the Author
Don Baker, Joy: - Joy Don Baker and Terri Goodman, nursing students in the '70s like the fictional characters in their Nurseketeers Series, are both writers in professional nursing literature. They met in the '80s and have remained friends for years. As co-authors, their mission is to share enjoyment, writing, and learning through meaningful stories about diverse nursing characters. Both are well-established leaders in perioperative nursing. Dr. Baker teaches at the University of Texas at Arlington and served as the editor-in-chief of AORN Journal. Dr. Goodman is an entrepreneur and an approved provider of continuing education as the principal at Terri Goodman & Associates. Baker & Goodman have produced the award-winning book, A, B, and Cs of Author Partnering: The Definitive How to Guide, that leads readers through creating a partnership, establishing a productive work environment, and producing a work of fiction, non-fiction, or journal article.