A person of Neshiyah
Itai Gilad, nurse
Nurse
Itai Gilad
Nurse, about 103 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Itai Gilad moves through the clinic like a sparrow with somewhere to be, thin wrists poking from rolled sleeves, a white coat perpetually half-buttoned. At ninety-five, they still take the stairs two at a time, and their hands, when they dress a wound, are steady as a post. Their habit is to hum a single flat note while they work, stopping only to squint at a chart or a visitor's face, ready to believe any story told with confidence, then flare up if it proves false. They want the new well dug before the first frost. The town says Itai has outlived two wars and one useless doctor, and that's enough.
Temperament
Curious when something is in front of them; quick to believe what they are told; hot-tempered; friendly enough; never still.
What people say
Itai Gilad believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.