ELENA’S POV:
“Stay with me. Hey, look at me.” I said as I patted his cheeks.
No response. His eyes were closed halfway but he still gripped my wrist anyway.
His pulse. It’s fast and hot. It was unusual.
“How’s this possible?” I muttered.
“Elena! Do we call it?” another of the nurses asked.
“No, not yet.”
His eyes opened slowly then fully. Amber eyes. It wasn’t dull, it didn’t show any sign of
someone that had just been wounded or in pain.
They also fixed on me like she was the only thing around.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
I wasn’t sure if that question was for me or him.
He didn’t answer.
Six hours earlier.
It was a regular Thursday.
There were less new patients than usual which meant less work and more check ins with
our routine patients.
“The patient in ward 5 needs your attention.” I said to Yasmine while dropping off the things
I used for one of my patients.
“Today’s slow don’t you think?” I added.
“Yes, and it’s tiring” she replied with this confirmation look.
“We’ll get through it.” I smiled.
She left to attend to her patient and I focused on inputting data in the system.
It was part of my routine. Some days were slow like today, others, busy as hell.
I took a short break to have lunch and catch up with Yasmine.
“How’s your patient.” I asked
“Which of them?”
“You know which one.” I said cheesily.
“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes
It was one patient that liked her. She said she doesn’t like him back but I don’t believe her
so teasing her is the way to go.
I loved the look on her face when I brought it up.
Then another round of check ins.
Vitals, charts, same reassurance I gave every nervous patient.
“How do you feel now?” I asked one of my favorite patients.
“You take care of me, I’m good.” He said.
I smiled. One of the many reasons I love what I do.
“You’re doing well too, you should be discharged in a few days if the doctor allows it.”
Down the hall, a monitor starts beeping a little fast. It sounded far from where I stood for
me to actually hear it but I could.
I paused and looked around but there was nothing.
I shook it off. I was probably hearing things. Long, tiring shift.
I went back to my charts.
Just as I sat, the front doors of the hospital sprung open.
It was a man. He was bleeding and limping. Just as I rushed to help him, he collapsed.
“I need help over here!” I screamed.
Yasmine and one other nurse hurriedly pulled a carrier towards where I was.
I looked outside to check who had brought him but whoever it was just drove off.
“Did you see who brought him?” Yasmine asked.
“No, that’s strange.”
There was no time to think of it, he needed help and that was what mattered.
We raised him on the carrier and I tried to keep him stable as we pushed the carrier.
We got him onto the bed.
“Stethoscope please.” Yasmine said to the other nurse.
His pulse was still hot and his eyes, he hadn’t looked away from me since they opened.
“Can you hear me sir?” I asked again.
Still no response.
“We need to assess the wound.” The third nurse said.
“Yes.”
He tightened his grip on the bed.
“BP’s dropping.” Yasmine called out.
“Elena we don’t have much time.” The other nurse said.
I carefully tore off the remaining part of his shirt, close to his chest.
That’s when my hand met his blood. It was warm.
Then something happened but it wasn’t visible and I couldn’t tell what it was.
He felt it too, I knew because he immediately pulled back like it burned.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He starts to sit up like someone that wasn’t just unconscious a minute ago.
He was trying to create distance like he could retract what has just happened.
“You need to lay down sir.” Yasmine said.
“No, I need to leave, I’m fine.” He finally spoke.
“You’re not fine and you can’t go now sir.” I said looking at the cotton wool I had placed on
the wound.
It should have been soaked by now but it wasn’t.
“It doesn’t look as bad as it looked.”
“That’s not possible.” Yasmine said quietly.
“We need you to stay still so we can properly treat it.” The third nurse said.
“Thank you for your help but I really need to go.” He said standing to leave.
“You can’t leave like this sir.” I said.
“Watch me.” He said like he was done arguing.
“At least give us your information. Your name, insurance or something.” Yasmine said.
He hesitated.
“James. James Carter.”
“Who sounds unsure about their name?” I wondered.
“Take note of the name please.” I said to the third nurse.
He had started walking away before we could ask anything else.
He didn’t look like the same person that came in twenty minutes ago.
We all stood there for a moment, staring as he walked through the doors.
“Okay, that was strange.” Yasmine broke the silence.
“I have never seen such.” The other nurse added.
I didn’t speak.
I just walked past them to clean up.
My hand still felt warm, at the exact place his blood had touched it even after I scrubbed it off