"Ok, I'll have my team talk to her."
"Hondo."
I see Chris pointing at me, and Hondo turns around to look at me. I turn around and walk back over to the bed.
After a few seconds, Hondo walks in.
"I'm back."
I sit on the bed as he walks over and sits on the chair.
"Do you have any family?"
I stand up and walk back over to the window. The sun is going down, painting the sky with pinks, oranges, and purples.
"Do you like sunsets?"
I jump. He's standing behind me. I thought he was still over in the chair.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"How are you out of bed?"
I turn around and see a woman in scrubs in the doorway.
"You need to get back in bed."
I don't move. She's mad.
"Wait. Why does she need to be in bed?"
"Her injuries are severe. She should not be out of bed at all."
"She's been out of bed since she woke up."
"How did she get out of bed? She was restrained."
"One of my guys took them off of her because she panicked. I didn't see a reason to put them back on."
"Hondo, everything good in here?"
A man pokes his head into the room, and he looks concerned.
"Everything's fine, Deac." He turns to the lady. "What did you come in here for?"
"I need to get her blood pressure, then check the rest of her vitals and lastly see if her bandages need to be changed."
He looks at me, then back at the guy in the doorway.
"Deac, can you get Chris?"
He nods and walks away.
"Go sit on the bed. Chris will be here in a second."
I grab my IV pole and walk over to the bed. I don't want to sit. Chris walks in and looks confused.
"Deac told me to come and it was urgent."
"The nurse wants to check things, but I know she won't stay calm for me. Do you want me to stay or leave?"
"That's up to her, not me."
"Can we hurry this up? I have other patients to see."
"Can we have a new nurse?"
"Chris."
"No Hondo, if she's not going to respect her, then she's not going to stay calm."
"Ok, new nurse it is."
She scoffs and walks out of the room.
After a few minutes, another woman walks in.
"You requested a new nurse?"
Hondo nods and she makes her way over to the bed.
"I'm going to start with blood pressure. Please sit down and give me your arm."
I sit and look at Chris. She nods. The nurse puts the thing around my arm and it starts to tighten. My leg starts bouncing and I start feeling panicky.
"Just breathe."
The thing releases and she takes it off.
"I need to put this back on your finger."
I hold my hand out. I know that thing reads O² or something like that. She clips it on my finger and then looks at my IV bag.
"I'll be back in a minute."
She walks out of the room and Hondo speaks up once she's gone.
"I think the kid likes her."
"I think she can feel the respect the nurse is giving her."
The nurse walks back in with a clear bag. She hooks it to the IV pole and sets it up. Then she turns back to me.
"I need to look at your bandages and I might need to change a few."
I look at Chris and she gives me her hand.
"I need to ask you to step out."
"Got it. Chris, yell if you need anything."
Hondo walks out and Chris gently squeezes my hand.
"I'm going to look at your back first."
I feel the gown move. I squeeze Chris' hand. The nurse pulls the bandage off my shoulder blade.
"I need to replace this one but before I can put the new one on, I need to put cream on it. This will hurt, but only for a second."
The coldness of the cream feels like ice on my burnt skin. I hiss and squeeze Chris' hand harder.
"All done."
I ease up on Chris' hand. Just like she said, the cream only hurt for a second, but it hurt badly.
The nurse puts a fresh bandage on the burn.
"Your ribs are next."
She moves the gown and looks at the bandage. I start bouncing my leg. Chris puts her hand on my knee, and I swat it off. Not bouncing my knee will make it worse.
"Ok, done with that."
She takes a step back.
"Next is the cut on your arm, then lastly, the cut on your thigh. I have to replace both of them."
She takes the bandage off my arm and I see 8 stitches in my arm. She puts on a clean, not bloody, bandage and then wraps it back up.
The cut on my thigh was deeper and I counted 11 stitches. She fixed the bandage and then wrapped it.
"Ok, I'm done."
She walks out the door and I let go of Chris. That wasn't too bad. Hondo walks back into the room.
"I got more jello."
He hands me an orange one and Chris grabs the green one. He's left with the red one. He passes out the spoons, and we sit in the tiny room just eating jello.
After a few minutes, Tan and another guy walk into the room.
"You guys had a jello party without me?"
"Street you're old enough to get your own jello." (Chris)
"Luca wants to know who's on night duty? Both him and Deac can't tonight." (Tan)
"Not it. I have plans." (Chris)
"Do you have a date Chris?" (Street)
"No, I'm having a girls' night with my cousins." (Chris)
"I have to get home to Nichelle." (Hondo)
"Well, Tan that leaves you or me, and I think it's going to be you because she knows you better and she's just meeting me." (Street)
"I guess I have night duty then." (Tan)
I stand up and walk back over to the window. It's not like I can add anything to the conversation.
"Where's she going?" (Tan)
"She likes looking out the window." (Hondo)
The moon and stars are out high in the sky. All the street lights are on, and people are still down there. Ambulance sirens sound off in the distance. Some people are calm, and some are panicked. I find it weird that the hospital can be the place where you can have the best day of your life or the worst day of your life. They can bring a new life into the world, or they can lose a life.
"Kid."
I turn around and everyone is gone except Tan.
"It's getting late. You should probably go to bed soon."
I walk back over to the bed and lay down. He sits down in the chair next to me.
I roll over on my side and look out the window. I don't like hospitals. There's always things moving and it smells so sterile. After what feels like years, my eyelids get heavy and I eventually fall asleep.