Together

Paisley

"Paisley? Paisley, wake up dear."

I groaned at the sickly sweet voice I had grown so used to. Cracking my eyes open, I looked up into the pinched face of Dr. Mason. She had been a mother figure to me throughout my time at the hospital. At least, when my mom wasn't here.

You see, I had been a resident of the hospital for as long as I could remember. I had a type of disease. The only problem was, I couldn't get treatment because nobody knew what the disease was. So I pretty much lived here and helped out as much as I could.

I tried to be optimistic, though I had my down days. I tried my best not to think about the years of friends, birthday parties, boyfriends, and honestly just childhood that I missed out on.

It seemed to be better that way.

"Hi, Dr. Mason. How's your morning been?" I asked her the same question every morning like clockwork. Always right after my alarm went off.

"It's been really good today. Mondays tend to be slow. You, it seems, have had a good morning too," Dr. Mason said with a twinkle in her eye. I raised an eyebrow at her expression.

"And by that you mean..." I questioned, beginning to climb out of the hospital bed.

Dr. Mason laughed and replied, "Paisley, it's nearly eleven! You slept through your alarm."

I froze, half off the bed. "I didn't. I did not. No, I couldn't have. I have storytime in the children's wing at eleven. And I set my alarm for seven. Nope. There is absolutely no way it's almost eleven."

Dr. Mason had turned from the bed and was in the process of raising the window blind when she answered. "Paisley, as much as I love you, you have got to be the most forgetful person I know. First of all, look at the clock, Love. You need to get going if you're going to make it to that storytelling on time. Well," she paused and turned, setting her hands on her hips before continuing. "At least, close to being on time. And on top of that, you're meeting your new doctor today. Remember?"

I realized my mouth had opened at some point while Dr. Mason had been talking. I quickly closed it and stuttered out a reply. "Um, I mean, yeah. Yeah. I knew that. I'm looking forward to it." I put on my best smile in a sorry attempt to fool Dr. Mason.

She only sighed and shook her head.

"Oh, Paisley. One of these days you're going to be the death of me. Hurry and get changed, I'll phone and let the children's ward staff know you'll be a bit late." Dr. Mason walked out chuckling, and closed the door behind her.

As soon as the door clicked, I jumped out of bed and ran across the small room to the dresser. I fumbled through the stacks of clothes and pulled on the first things that I grabbed.

I pulled on some shoes and the the door open, running out of my room. I ran through the hospital halls, avoiding both patients and staff while similtaniously pulling my thick brown hair into a high ponytail.

As I was running, I heard someone calling my name. I mentally groaned and stopped my sprint, turning to address the voice.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Miss Lawson?" It was Dr. Hager, one of my less favorable doctors. But, what drew my attention was the tall handsome man standing next to the doctor.

"Um..."

Dr. Hager didn't wait for my reply. "You know never mind. I would like to introduce you to someone." At this, he turned to the mystery man. "This, Miss Lawon, is Dr.-"

He was cut off by the shrill voice of one of the assistant nurses. "Paisley Lawson, where in the world have you been? You are fifteen minutes late for story time, and the children are all waiting." The stocky lady grabbed my wrist and started pulling me behind her in the direction of the children's wing. I turned, getting one last glimpse of what I now assumed to be a new doctor, before my veiw was blocked by a wall. I sighed and turned back to face forward, my wrist still clasped in the nurse's clammy palm. But still, even as my mind went to the excitement of seeing the smaller children, questions continued to bounce around my head.

Who is that doctor? And why did Dr. Hager want to introduce him to me?

-------------------------------------

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed and will continue to read as I update. I would love feedback!
Rock on!!