fix you // liam payne

chapter one // hospital beds.

ellie's pov

I flop on to my side, letting out a quiet sigh as I fail to fall asleep yet again this evening. I can hear Peter's soft snore below me on the bunk bed, having absolutely no trouble at all. Letting out a frustrated huff of air, I bury myself beneath the warmth of the hospital's provided blanket.

Though my body is begging for some recuperation time in the form of slumber, my mind has other plans. Instead of drifting off to sleep, my mind races with the several patients I've been assigned to this evening, my mind going through my mental textbook, trying to think of other solutions. 

This is exactly why I shouldn't allow myself to agree to 24 hour shifts. I'm going to end up dying of sleep deprivation; perhaps then my brain will get a rest. 

I flop on to my other side, grumbling under my breath. The one time I actually get some time to sleep - something I haven't been able to do in a good 17 hours - I can't. It's ridiculous if you ask me. 

Perhaps I should have accepted the sleeping medication Chelsea had been trying to offer me the last time this happened to me. Though knowing me, I'll get knocked out on that stuff and not wake up for another 24 hours.

Forcing myself to resort to anything, I begin counting sheep in my mind. 

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -  - 5 -  -  - 

Just as I'm about to slip into unconsciousness, the worst noise in the entire world echoes loudly in the on-call room.

beep - beep - beep - beep

I let out a loud, angry groan as I whip the blankets off of me. I can hear Peter waking up with a startle below me, his snores cutting off abruptly.

As quickly as possible, I shimmy myself down off of the top bunk. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Peter lets out a lazy yawn, stretching his limbs out, letting them crack loudly. We both race to shove our feet in our bright white keds, knowing we don't really have a moment to spare.

"Get some sleep?" Peter asks me, knowing very well of my unfortunate tendency of depriving myself of sleep.

We both rush out of the on-call room, jogging quickly down the halls, reading off of our pagers to where we're supposed to be headed.

"Eh, who needs sleep?" I shrug it off, not wanting to dwell on the matter much longer. But Peter frowns deeply as the two of us continue rushing in the same direction.

I've known Peter for quite some time, the two of us being in the same med school and happen to be doing our internship at the same hospital. He's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, but also the most humble. I have no doubt he has miraculous ideas in his brain, but is too reserved to let them be heard.

We bonded over our quietness. While our med class was decreasing in size, the weakest being forced to drop out, we stayed in our usual seats in the middle of the class, not speaking a word.

I briskly run my fingers through my long, tangled blonde hair as we hurry down the hall, seeing a crowd of other med students already starting to form.

The two of us quickly join the group, gravitating towards the back, allowing all the other high-strung interns stand in the front, practically kissing the feet of the doctors around here. My eyes land on Dr. Frenette standing before the entire crowd of med students, his eyes on us dark and critical.

"Hey," Chelsea wriggles her way through the tight crowd to join me and my side. I greet her with a sleepy smile, trying my best to stay awake - a problem I wish I had been having moments ago.