Episode #37: Overcoming Trauma #37: Meeting Hanna

Feb,14 2026

<-#36: Overcoming Trauma #36: In Charge

My second day as the charge nurse went better in every way than my first did. First, no incident; second, I had a much better idea of what I was doing. Third, and this is probably the biggest thing, Anya was awake in her bed and kept intervening.

She gave me tips, she got me to send her nurses to get additional information, and in the end, we put her in a chair by her station as she was well enough to just sit in place and help coordinate.

I guess we could take the charge nurse away from the responsibilities, but we couldn't remove the responsibilities from the charge nurse!

She didn't even care she wasn't actually being paid to work. She was there; she wanted to help, and no one could make her stop.

So, we let her pitch in, and to my surprise, as the day went on, she trusted me more and more.

When I was replaced, we proposed to push her back into her room, but she reminded us that we put someone else in her room and that since she isn't actually working, she can keep helping from there.

The worst is, I am not sure that Ingrid minded the help. It can be lonely at the top, and my second day with Anya was fun. I tended to see her as this dictatorial motherly figure who cared but who decided alone. On that day, I could see more humanity in her.

I came home, my kids joined me, and while I began starting to prepare the tacos, I got a text. It is Tuesday, after all.

I checked, and it's from Hanna. I had given her my phone number, and she was intelligent enough to text me her contact card before saying, "Hi Elena".

I texted her back.

"Happy to get your number! How are you doing?"

"Good, can I call you?"

"Sure"

And a second later, the phone rang.

We again said hello, which is weird; we did it by text, and we have to say it once more.

"Ok, listen, I was talking to Martina and Luis about their finances, and I heard about John's non-compete clause"

"Yeah, but it's okay he isn't paid in money"

"No, I get that, but we are planning to open that long-term care facility, and, well, the plan is getting in motion, and we need an architect"

"We? You are involved with it with Wendy?"

"Yeah. It's a partnership. I handle the finances; she handles the medical side"

"Nice. She said nothing, so..."

"Well, that's Wendy for you. Anyway, I have an idea of how to pay John without his employer complaining"

"Interesting. And can you manage that?"

"Easy, you register an LLC, a corporation, in your name, and we pay you, not him. He doesn't violate his non-compete as he works for free, and we still get to pay money that, eventually, helps his family. Everybody wins"

I laugh. "Accountants... As if it were that easy"

"It is. If you text me your address, I can come over tonight and make you sign the forms. Technically, you would need to pay the registration fees, but don't worry, we'll send you a deposit for the work in a few weeks, which will cover more than that. I can even help you open a bank account"

"Wait, you would get dressed to come see me?"

"Oh yeah. I do visit clients", she says, laughing. "I am not Kara or Kelly"

"Good to know"

"Ok, John should be here in about 20 minutes. I can text you the address, and we can meet after supper"

"I look forward to it"

We hung up, and soon enough, John was home and briefed in.

He had to review his employment contract in case a spouse was mentioned. After all, being a nurse, there was no way I could help him breach his non-compete. Well, until now!

Hanna arrived soon after supper. She was actually wearing a business suit, but it was promptly removed once inside.

She had a ton of documents for us to review, including proposing a company name for us after researching the online database. Fine, it felt like a bunch of random letters, but it wasn't! EKASe-FANaR felt like it was totally random, but it actually meant "Elena Kinsey Architectural Services for a Naturist Resort".

I laughed. Such a weird name, but effective. Of course, it wouldn't have a website or a public-facing presence. It was simply a legal entity to isolate John.

What surprised me was that it was being registered in Wyoming under Statute W.S. 17-29-209 which allows registering an anonymous LLC for a relatively low cost.

"Don't worry, I'll pay everything for now. You can repay me when the work on the design of the care facility starts"

"Shouldn't we wait until then?" says John.

"Absolutely not. It could allow them to show the registration occurred days before you began working. "

"Oh, I see. And they can't trace this back to me?" he says.

"It's not 100% airtight. Like, if you speak to anyone about the project and your employers suspect something is happening, they could hire a private investigator to dig into it. Once they know enough, they could get a warrant for your finances. Which is why I strongly suggest that the money you made from the contract stay in the LLC. You keep it there, perhaps invest it, and once the dust settles and you know you are clear, have it pay a part of your mortgage or whatever", she says.

"It makes sense", I say.

"Good. I can help you file annually. I'll just charge you what I charge for doing taxes, if you trust me with that"

"Sure, I use HR Block", John says.

"Oh, God. No, it's okay if you have simple enough finances, but you'll have to juggle an out-of-state corporation and perhaps business expenses. I won't cost you much more than that cookie-cutter company for a much more personalized service."

We went a little longer on the documents, but I ended up signing everything, including a sort of power of attorney document for her to set up the corporation.

"But you are involved in the care facility, right?"

"Yeah. I am partly financing it. My aunt left me some money, and my mother, while still alive, decided to leave me a living stipend to buy a house, you know? And, well, we didn't have to buy the land, so I have some left over and no mortgage. And Darren has a great job; he has some money and, well, shares and stuff, so we do alright"

"That's a cool deal from your monther"

"Yeah. She doesn't approve of the naturism and all, but she loves her grandkids. And yeah, I never imagined that my conservative white mom would accept my African American husband or that I am not the biological mother of Anton, but hey, she calls him her grandson."

"Does she visit you?"

"Oh God, no. Even if she was in shape for it, she would never step foot in a naturist resort."

"So you visit her?"

"Yeah, in her retirement home. We are dressed when we see her"

"So you aren't as rigid as Kara or Kelly?"

"Nope. I didn't even grow up as a naturist! This originally felt so weird to me, but, well, Darren was important to me, and he wanted to honor his legacy, and, well, it made sense for Anton to be raised at a naturist, so any hesitations I had, well, I put them aside for my man and my son"

"Right. So Darren's ex was a naturist too?"

"Oh, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"She's a Mercer. Well, from more distant branches, one of Myram's brothers married an African American woman from the town, and well, their kids were stuck with anti-interracial marriage laws and such"

"That sucks, but I didn't realize there are African Americans in Christopher's town"

Kyle needs help with a video game, so John goes to help him for a few minutes.

"Yeah. Quite a few. Christopher integrated them like many didn't."

"But... there is no mention of that in the books", I say, confused.

"No, there aren't. Not in the official version", says Hanna.

"Wait, there is an unofficial version with remarks about African Americans?"

"Well, that's the rumor. I don't know more. You could ask Darren; his mother searched for it and still is"

"So she is a naturist too?" I ask as John gets back to the table.

"Her family is from the same town. She co-founded our resort with her now-late husband and with Myriam and with Clark"

"Wait, slow down, isn't Myriam Kara's mother?" I say.

"She is! And Clark is Phil's father. You've met him at the barbecue. She still has her shares, but Clark and Myriam each gave or sold theirs to their respective son."

"I don't remember meeting Clark, sorry", I say.

John reacts. "Wait, so Darren is a shareholder of the resort? So when Phil was negotiating the house deal, was he negotiating with your husband?"

"No, he was negotiating with me. I take his place on the board with Myriam, but she is mostly silent now. So Phil is director of operations, and I am director of finance, with Myriam as official CEO who basically lets us run the show", she answers.

I look at her.

"So that architecture project, it's not for you; it's for the resort?" I ask.

"Hell no. That one is all mine. I don't own any part of the resort. If we get divorced, I get nothing. I want my own passive income, you know? Not that I plan to get divorced" she says, in a good mood.

"I do."

She seems happy, but I can't shake the feeling that, well, I am still shaking inside. This is too much. I thought I was making friends, independent ones who just happened to visit or live at a nearby naturist resort.

But now, Kara's mother founded the resort with Hanna's parents-in-law and the random guy at the counter's father, whom I am supposed to know from a barbecue where two of my work colleagues go and where two of my husband's work colleagues go, including one of them married to a custodian I work with.

My new best friend grew up at that resort with Kara and Kelly.

This doesn't feel random at all. It almost... feels like fate or something.

Or the world really is small!

One of the rare friends I could make in high school, Sasha, married Kevin, who is John's cousin. And they didn't meet through us.

These things happen, but when they do, they always blow my mind!

We talked more with Hanna, but soon enough, she had to leave, as Darren had an exceptional night shift to replace a sick co-worker.

She left copies of some of the documents, but she needed to scan most of them.

John had time to play with Kyle, so I took a long bubble bath until the water got cold. I can do wellness exercises too. I certainly needed it.

In the bath, I kept thinking about that town, where Christopher was.

A town with a lesbian wedding, with at least one interracial wedding, where people lived nude, and where science ruled in an area of superstition.

It was easy, even trivial, to see these writings as fables. But when confronted with actual living descendants of these people...

<-#36: Overcoming Trauma #36: In Charge