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Waking up this morning had been tough. Rubbing her eyes, Emma rolled to her side as she read the numbers on her white, electronic clock. 6:02. Shit. Her shift starts in less than an hour, and she hasn’t even gotten up yet.
Scrambling to her feet, she hissed as the cold floor stung her bare feet. Once she reached the bathroom, she sighed as bloodshot, dark-circled eyes and what can only be described as a bird’s nest of hair stared back in the mirror. Guess it’s a ponytail day.
…
Once her hair was properly tamed, leftovers from the night before were shoved into a pink lunchbox, and her scrubs for the day were properly fitted, she fumbled into her sneakers and sprinted to the bus stop.
As if the day couldn’t get any worse, thunder shook the ground. Fuck. Though the rain started as a drizzle, the bus didn’t arrive until her scrubs were damp with rainwater. Just my luck. At least her shoes were semi-dry.
Ping!
Brendon🦈
Good morning. I’ll see you later today. Date night after your shift?
Emma🩷
yes pls <3 see u later!
Brendon🦈 liked this message.
At least her shoes were semi-dry, and she had something to look forward to today.
…
As she walked through the ER front entrance, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something wrong was going to happen.
“Emma! What’s stomping on your mood today?” Dana’s voice rang through the somewhat quiet nurse’s station as she wrapped Emma in a loose side hug.
With a practiced smile, she replied, “Oh, nothing. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Looking at the screen displaying every patient’s vital signs, she asked, “Anything new today?”
Squeezing her shoulder once, Dana sighed, “A few unruly patients. Some bar fight happened last night, and they’re still intoxicated. Actually, could you assist Whitaker in suturing a head laceration? Guy in room 12 got cut with a broken beer bottle.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she saluted with two fingers, grabbing a cart with the needed materials on her way.
Immediately, as she stepped into the room, she could smell the stink of alcohol reek from the patient. Taking a deep breath through her mouth, she smiled, “Hello! I’m your nurse for today, and I’ll be preparing you for the stitches you’ll receive on your head.” Moving towards the man, she pulled the cart closer to get ahead and disinfect the slightly bloodied cut on his head.
“Hello beautiful,” the man slurred, focusing his eyes on Emma. Well, as much as he could in his state. She chose to ignore the sad attempt of a pickup line.
“This might sting a little, sir,” she said, as she began irrigating the injury.
With a hiss, he groaned, “God! Stop it, that hurts,” before he started weakly flailing his limbs. Just at that moment, the door opened, and Dennis walked in. Thank god.
“Sir, please calm down; we’re trying to patch up that cut on your head,” Dennis said as he walked over to briefly hold down the man’s movements.
“I’ve cleaned and draped the wound, so he’s ready for the anesthetic,” Emma reported, handing him the anesthetic syringe. With a curt smile and a small thank you, he took the syringe and began the procedure.
Eyeing the injury, she tried to anticipate Dennis’s next steps. That was before an unwelcome hand groped her ass. “Hey!” she yelped, quickly stepping away from the man’s field of movement. “Please keep your hands to yourself, sir.”
And, just her luck, again, the sudden movement startled Dennis, prompting him to elbow the tray of materials and send sharps scattering across the floor with sharp clanks. And of course, the singular scalpel was dropped onto her foot, stabbing the poor limb and causing a strangled yell to escape her throat.
As pain sprouted from her foot, her ears began ringing. And why was she seeing black spots in her vision? “Some help in here!” A distant voice yelled out. Frozen in shock, she watched as her previously baby-pink shoes took on a deep crimson red.
Oh, I can’t really breathe. Maybe that’s why I have spots in my vision. As if it couldn’t get any worse, pain bloomed from the side of her head, forcing her off balance. The hard, cold floor was the last thing she felt before her vision turned completely black.
…
The first thing she felt was a stiff structure around her neck that made it difficult to move her head. Next came the intermittent beeping of a machine next to her, which weirdly sounded like a vital signs monitor. And why was she lying down? She was supposed to be at work.
She winced as she opened her sore eyes and was met with the concerned face of Dana.
“Emma! How’re you feeling?”
“Okay. Why am I here?” Slowly twisting her neck as best as she could with, what was it called? Not a necklace…, she noticed that Princess and Dennis were standing around her.
“You took a nasty fall. Do you remember what happened before that?” Princess asked in a soft voice.
“Uh, not really?” Any memory she tried to conjure up only resulted in more head pain.
A sigh. “I’m really sorry, Emma. We were suturing a patient, and I accidentally dropped a scalpel on your foot.” Ah, that explains the bandaged foot. “Then the patient somehow kicked your head, and you fell and hit your head again.” Well, that explains the headache. She could feel the pitying glances around her.
“I’ve called your emergency contact. He said he’d be here in a minute,” Princess said. “I didn’t know your boyfriend worked here?” She asked with a slight smirk.
Feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, she fumbled with the IV in her arm to avoid the gazes. Hearing the door slam open, she could see the familiar, large figure in her peripheral vision.
“We didn’t call an ortho consult-?” Dennis asked, confused, before he was cut off by a low voice.
“What the hell happened?” Emma looked up into her boyfriend’s concerned eyes and let out a small giggle.
“Oh, nothing horrible-”
“Nothing horrible, my ass. You’re in a hospital bed with bandages around your foot, a neck brace, and an IV in you.” Oh yeah! It’s called a neck brace. You could practically hear the gears shift in everyone’s minds.
“Well, Dr. Park, Emma here got into a bit of a workplace accident involving a drunk patient, a scalpel, and the floor,” Dana replied for her.
Dennis added, “She seems to have a minor concussion, along with a laceration on her foot and some bruises throughout her body.”
Looking up at him, she asked, “Aren’t you busy with surgeries? I’ll be fine.”
“My shift ended an hour ago. I just finished a surgery that was going long. That’s not the point, you’re hurt,” he said as he began looking over her injuries.
“I’m okay, Brendon. I’m not majorly hurt,” she reassured again.
“Let the doctors decide that, Emma,” he countered. Despite his snappy words, his tone softened for her as she went to grab his hands, her small ones engulfed in his.
Someone clearing their throat broke their moment. “We’d like for you to stay here for the night for observation. A head CT was done already, and there’s no bleeding or significant injury regarding your head, but you still have a concussion, as well as other injuries we’d like to monitor for the next few hours,” a deep voice explained. Huh. When did Robby enter the room?
Suddenly being washed over by exhaustion, she felt too tired to argue and just nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m assuming Shark here will be staying the night?”
Without taking his eyes off Emma, he replied, “Yeah. Are you done now? Could we have some privacy?” Finally, he looked over to the older attending, giving the rest of the staff his usual cold stare.
“Alright then. Emma, sweetheart, let me know if you need anything,” Dana reassured as she gave her a shoulder pat.
“Thank you,” she replied, donning as strong a smile as she could muster. With the soft click of the door closing behind everyone, she finally let out the sigh she was holding in, filling the silent room.
After a few seconds of silence, most of which consisted of her staring off into space, he asked, “You okay?”
Slightly being jolted from her disassociation, she replied, “Yeah, yeah.” And before she could muster any other word, she felt her throat beginning to close up as her vision became blurry. She tried to erase the evidence by quickly wiping at her eyes, but it was too late.
“Hey, you can let it out,” he said as he pushed the bed railing down and wrapped his arms around her. And that was the moment it all crashed down. She began fully sobbing, finally realizing the full weight of the entire day.
Between sobs, she hiccupped, “God- I just hate- t-today.” She was handled with soothing pats along her hair and small circles down her back, careful not to touch any of the lines coming from her body.
…
The next time she came to, she felt an arm around her torso. Blinking through bleariness, her eyes focused on the familiar man as he dozed off in an awkward position, half off the chair and holding onto the side of the bed. She could truly stare at his face all day—it was a rare moment of peace.
Moving her arm to trace his face, she smiled her first genuine smile of the day, realizing how truly grateful she was for a man like him.
“Feeling better?” He mumbled as he sat up to stretch. She just nodded in response. “Good. Want some water?” Another nod.
She waited as he left her side for the first time that day, fidgeting with the thin sheet of her hospital blanket. Feeling the absence of his touch, she realized how cold the room was, a shiver passing through her sore body.
When he came back, he held in his hand a thick blanket, and the other, her pink Stanley cup. Seeing one of her prized possessions again, her face lit up, “How’d you know to bring a blanket? And my Stanley?”
Letting out a small chuckle, he explained, “You always get cold easily. And you can’t go a day without that damn Stanley.”
Feeling warmth pool in her chest, she felt tears sting her eyes as she opened her arms. “You’re so clingy today,” he teased, but he still obliged, sitting down on the bed, into her embrace.
She pressed her forehead onto his chest, muttering, “Have I told you I love you?”
With a gentle kiss to the top of her head, he answered, “Many times. And I love you too, Emma.”