Margaret and Lauren knocked on their neighbor's door grinning from ear to ear. Aaron opened the door and Margaret handed him another of her mother's jars of jam. As a tall young man, skinny as a string bean, no one could feed him enough, though his wife and even Margret's mother tried. 

"They canceled classes and clinical rotations for all students for the rest of the week!" shouted Margaret, her breath curling in the cold. "We're getting snow days!"

Aaron's wife Deb, a short and fierce Australian woman, ushered them in and closed the door. She had cooked a large lasagne for dinner and the house felt warm and cozy given the chill outside.

Aaron moped. "Interns don't get snow days," he said. He'd graduated the year before and had just begun his medical residency training at the hospital. His night shift would start soon.  

It was hard for Aaron to leave his wife and jolly neighbors after dinner, but he drove his old pick-up truck to Durham Regional Hospital. Large heavy flakes began to fall and he tried to catch some on his tongue before entering the building. Having grown up in the south, snow was a rarity. Most kids never saw more than a dusting. 

Aaron and the nurses on night duty glanced out the window throughout the night. Each time they looked, the snow seemed to be falling harder and faster. 

Dawn broke and they gathered around the TV in the breakroom. Two feet had fallen on Durham, North Carolina which didn't even own any snow plows. The nearest ones were enroute from Washington, DC four hours away. 

"The hospital is instituting its disaster protocol," announced the charge nurse. "Large SUVs have been deployed to pick up the next shift of nurses and doctors." Only on call would be required 'in house,' similar to weekend shifts. As an intern, Aaron was told he could sleep at the hospital if he couldn't get home, but his shift was over and he would not be required to return for three days. 

"No thanks," said Aaron, eager to get home. He tramped through the parking lot and dug his truck out of the snow with his hands. He drove his truck about a half mile before it slid into a snowbank. Unable to free the vehicle, he abandoned it and resumed his journey home on foot, his long legs sinking into the snow drifts. 

Despite crashing his car and a treacherous walk home, he was delighted to pass by children frolicking in the snow, many of them having never seen it before. Snowmen stood guard throughout the city. Snow angels lined front lawns and sleds were crafted out of garbage can lids, trays, and other household items.  

Four hours later, exhausted and starving, Aaron climbed up the front steps of his home. Inside his wife, Margaret and Lauren had already baked several batches of cookies. Deb wrapped her arms around Aaron's cold, wet neck while he took a bite of a hot chocolate chip cookie. 

"It looks like interns will have a snow day after all!" he laughed.

Afterword:

North Carolinians thoroughly enjoyed The Carolina Crusher which Margaret dubbed 'a natural semi-disaster.' It took almost a week before the Washington, DC snow plows could clear the streets. Nine months later Aaron drove Deb to the hospital for the birth of their son. The labor and delivery ward was abuzz with activity, and required double staffing to deliver all of the 'snow babies'.