I just finished admitting a new patient, sitting down at my desk with a huff.
It was so much work getting everything ready and she was the third patient today.
I have to set up their schedules with their assigned doctor, make sure their room are set up and correlate all of the details with the hospital.
I have to make sure there's an ample amount of guards on duty in case of resistance and make sure they settle in okay.
I closed my eyes for a second, stretching out my legs, happy to finally be sitting.
"Hey Opal!" I heard a familiar voice in front of me.
I sighed. So much for a moment of peace.
I opened my eyes, slipping on my signature smile.
"Hey Dylan, what's up?"
"Long day?" He asked.
"Very long, and I was just about to head out unless you need something."
He shook his head, "Nope, let me walk you out."
He walked me to the door, chatting my ear off.
I felt bad for being less than enthusiastic but I was just completely exhausted.
"You seem really quiet today."
There it is.
I smiled reassuringly, trying to summon as much energy as possible.
"I'm fine, sorry Dyl, just tired."
He nodded.
I gave him a hug before saying goodbye and heading to my car.
I drove home, trying to stifle my yawns as I pulled up into the driveway.
I checked the time,
10:30pm...
I have got to stop working so late.
I entered my apartment, sighing at how empty it was before making myself a quick PB&J before heading to bed.
I live with my boyfriend, Jake but he's a cop and always seems to be stuck on the night shift so I don't see him very often.
I woke up to my alarm blaring hakuna matata and sat up with a smile. I always tried to wake up in the best way possible because I find it really shapes how my days go. If I wake up cheerful I'll have a cheerful day.
I stretched feeling much better, back to my peppy self.
I got up, changing into my workout clothes and went out for a jog as I watched the sun rise.
I got home, showered, grabbed a banana and headed off to work.
Jake still hadn't come home, so I decided to call him on my drive down.
"Hey Siri, call Jake." I told my car.
It rung a bunch of times and right when I was about to give up he picked up.
"Hello?" His voice boomed over the speakers.
"Hey Jakey, its Opal."
"Hey hun, I'm sorry I got stuck on the night shift again last night."
"Don't worry about it, its not your fault. Are you home tonight? I was thinking date night, its been forever."
"I'm sorry babe but I'm working again tonight."
I sighed, rubbing my face.
"When will you be free? Maybe I can get off work for a bit."
"No, don't do that, we need the money. I'm sure we'll be able to plan something soon. I've gotta go, bye." He said, hanging up before I could even answer.
"Love you too." I mumbled to myself.
I shook off the sadness threatening to fill me and fought a smile to my face.
I'm sure I'll see him soon, we'll figure everything out one day.
I parked my adorable little charcoal grey jeep in it's spot before happily walking through the doors to my work.
I was expecting it to be empty since I was almost always the first one in but it was surprisingly bustling with people.
"OPAL! THERE YOU ARE!" I heard my boss calling out.
I turned around to see his panicked form storming towards me.
"Thank God you're here." He said, taking a big breath.
"What's going on?!" I asked, looking around in confusion.
"New patient, big deal, can't say much pretty confidential but I need you to help. We need 3 times the amount of guards as usual I need you to speak with the doctor, he's been informed of the patient's situation and you will both need to set up his schedule around his time. I need you to make sure the padded room is set up, the one with the mirror window. He'll be here in an hour and everything has to be perfect, this is crucial."
I nodded my head when he finished and we both went rushing to prepare everything.
I started with preparing the padded rooms. I don't remember the last time we used these things so it needed a good cleaning. I made sure the little attached bathroom was working properly and set up a little bed with new sheets and pillows to make him comfortable.
It sounds like this guy is going to be here for a while so I want to make it as good as possible.
I added a couple stress balls on the table that is drilled to the ground to the side and made sure there was nothing he could potentially hurt himself or others with.
I had to personally call all the guards begging them to come in on their day off to help with this patient for a few hours. Luckily the situation was intriguing enough that their curiosity lead them to agree.
I finally found time to meet up with the doctor who was expecting me.
"Hey, Dr. Shawl." I chirped out, bouncing over to him.
"Opal, thank god. I need you to schedule in 5 hours of therapy a day around my other patients please."
I widened my eyes but nodded, entering it into the system by the little iPad they gave me.
"What's the patient's name?"
"We don't know, we just call him Patient 32. We better go, he should be getting here soon and they need as much help as possible."
I nodded, finishing entering in the information before hurrying after the doctor, almost running to keep up with his long legs.
I'm not even that short! I'm 5'6, but the doctor is 6'2 and has a VERY long stride.
He looks pretty intimidating but has one of the most gentle personalities I have ever seen, he is easily the best doctor here, no wonder they assigned him to him.
We walked down the halls lined with anxious looking guards as I took my seat at my desk, the doctor Shawl standing by me, eager to see his new patient.
Everyone went quiet when an ambulance pulled up. They pulled a gurney out of the back, on it laid a man who was knocked out as well as strapped down.
The medics moved quickly towards the building towards the path everyone cleared.
There was a sheet over the man's body so that only his face could be seen.
I watched carefully as they wheeled him by.
He had dark, black floppy hair and tanned skin. I could see some black tattoos creeping up his neck and disappearing down beneath the sheet.
As they rolled him past me he rolled his head over to my direction and opened his eyes, staring directly at me.
Everything around me seemed to stop as I stared into his bright green eyes that seemed to glow lightly.
I could feel everyone around me tense up as they quickly rolled him through but I was lost in his gorgeous eyes which stayed locked on mine until he was completely out of sight.
I just stood there, I could hear the blood pumping through my ears and I felt like I had forgotten to breathe all I could think about were those eyes.
"OPAL!" I heard someone say loudly, shaking me lightly.
"Wh-what?" I said, still in a bit of a daze, turning to a concerned looking Dr Shaw.
"I asked if you were okay?"
"Ya, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
He rolled his eyes at me, shaking his head.
"I should go check in on my patient." He said, heading back off to work.
I nodded, finishing up the work I had fallen behind on while setting up for patient 32.
I got a call from Jake and happily picked it up, hoping it was him saying he had reconsidered our date night or at the very least make plans for the weekend.
"Hello?" I chirped hopefully.
"Hey Opal, I was thinking we could go out for dinner tomorrow. Its been a while and I managed to get us reservations at La Neige, the new fancy French restaurant down-town."
I smiled huge, relief washing over me that I hadn't gotten my hopes up.
"Yes, that sounds amazing."
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Love you!" I chirped and he hung up.
"Opal!" Dylan excalimed, leaning on my desk with a smile.
"Hey Dill"
"Can you believe this situation? Crazy!"
"I know right!"
"You got plans with your boyfriend tonight?"
I shook my head no. "No, he's busy again."
He frowned nodding, "I wanted to invite you to this adorable carnival that's opening this Sunday. I figured it would be fun, maybe we could go for a few hours? I know how much you love those little events."
I nodded happily, "I'd love to!" I squealed.
The cute little events with food trucks were my favorite. I wasn't big on fancy prestigious restaurants where you had to just sit quietly and eat your overpriced, under-spiced small portions, I only really did that for Jack because he loved it.
Dylan was easily my best friend and knew pretty much everything about me at this point. He didn't like the fact that I always went to those fancy restaurants with Jake but it really didn't bother me that much and it made Jake so happy.
"You got a hot date tonight?" I decided to change the subject.
I loved talking about his love life, it was so interesting honestly and sometimes I liked to live vicariously through him.
He shook his head at me with a small smile he tried to hide. "Maybe..."
I squealed, jumping around in my seat a little.
"Spill, and leave out any details you die!"
"Her name is Charlotte, I met her at the grocery store yesterday. She was standing there looking all confused so I went to help her. Turns out she couldn't find the parsley so we scavenged the store just to find out that they had somehow run out. We had fun, I asked for her number and texted her an hour later."
He explained smiling widely.
At first he was really hesitant on sharing all the details like that but after all the times I've forced him to do it he's gotten used to it.
"That is so adorable!" I said, putting my hands on my cheeks happily. I checked the time, my eyes widening.
"Scram, I have to work." I told him with a shooing motion of my hand.
He raised his hands in defeat before heading back to his post by the front door.
I stood up, grabbing my iPad in case I needed to make notes and bounced off to check on all of our patients.
I started by making sure they all had enough food and their rooms were in okay shape. I talked to the more stable ones a little, asking them if they needed anything before finishing for the day.
I had one more stop to go.
Patient 32.
I don't know why but as I approached his room my heart rate picked up and I became slightly breathless. I shook it off, continuing on my path.