A Tough Moment

Chapter Thirty

Emma's POV

Eventually I returned from escorting Amanda to CT and sat at the nurse's station. I could see Ethan hovering out the corner of my eye. Wherever I went he seemed to be there, like a silent shadow that constantly lingered in my presence. There was a time when I would have given anything to be in his presence but right now it felt awkward. Neither of us knew what to say to the other...it felt like there was an everlasting wall of silence between the two of us. Even as he walked away to check on his patients, he seemed reluctant.

I sighed and returned to filling out the forms. My eyes darted upwards as someone approached the desk. I gazed at his scruffy, dishevelled appearance and sighed slightly.

"I'm in pain." he stated shortly.

"Okay, what hurts?" I asked him, my nose twitching as I smelt stale alcohol on his breath.

"Ermm...my shoulder." he replied, slurring slightly.

"If you just take a seat, the doctor will be with you soon." I told him.

"I want to be seen now!" he demanded.

"That's not going to be possible, but if you fill out these forms while you wait that should speed up the process a little." I explained, handing him a clipboard with the forms attached.

"Can't you just give me some damn Morphine?!" he exclaimed.

"Unfortunately I can't do that, you'll need to be seen by a Doctor first." I explained.

"Can't you make an exception?" he insisted, his tone sounding slightly menacing. He kept eye contact with me as he leaned over the desk, clearly trying to intimidate me.

"No, I'm afraid I can't." I insisted. I wasn't going to let this man intimidate me. As he continued glaring at me, I couldn't help but notice how dilated his pupils were. It was clear that he wasn't injured, he was demanding the morphine because he wanted a fix.

"You need to take a seat please sir." I told him.

He scoffed and quickly walked away, disappearing down the hallway. I eventually released the breath I didn't realise that I was holding. My head snapped up as the drunk guy reappeared, a wine bottle in his hand.

"Last chance, give me the damn morphine!" he exclaimed menacingly.

"I've already explained to you that you need to be examined by a doctor first." I repeated.

I watched in horror as he smashed the wine bottle against the reception counter. My heart pounded against my chest as he leaned over the desk and held the broken fragment against my neck.

"I asked you to get me some morphine!" he spat, his tone full of menace.

I swallowed slowly, as he applied more pressure to my neck. A steady flow of warm blood trickled down my neck, as he glared at me, waiting for me to give in to his demands.

"Okay just calm down." I said quietly, slightly afraid of what he was capable of. The cold look present in his eyes as he cut into my neck, sent a spasm of fear down my spine. I watched him closely as he kept eye contact with me, trying to intimidate me. Unbeknown to him, I quickly felt around the desk, desperately trying to find the security button. My legs almost buckled with relief as I finally found it and quickly pressed it. All I had do now was stall him for a few moments, before security arrived.

"If you'll just allow me to get the keys to the dangerous drug cupboard." I said quietly, taking my time to form the sentence, desperately hoping to see security coming around the corner.

I breathed a sigh of relief as two security guards walked up behind him and quickly pulled him away from me. As I perched on the seat, I could feel the people waiting in triage watching me. Even though I was shaking all over, I quickly stood up and made my way to the bathroom to clean myself up.

"What happened to you?" Ethan asked, when I passed him in the hallway.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I stated, quickly walking past him.

AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had a lot going on, but I'll try and start updating more regularly :)