The girl in the bed just looks at her, trying to get her breathing under control. "I’m going to take your vitals." Shirley walks over to her, putting the blood pressure machine on her small, frail arm. She puts her stethoscope in her ears. The girl in the bed looks down to see what she’s doing. When she sees, she looks back up at me for just a second before her eyes roam around the room again to every single corner.
"It’s a little high,” Shirley says as she unclips the Velcro strap from her arm. “But that is normal."
The woman just nods at her, and I stand here trying to take her in. Fuck, maybe I have been looking at this in the wrong way. Maybe she’s so jumpy because she’s guilty.
The door opens again, and this time, it’s the doctor. But the woman just sees a man, and she turns to get out of the bed. My feet work faster than my head, and I catch her right before she hits the floor.
The arm with the cast grips my arm, her nails digging into my skin. “I got you,” I whisper, my face so close to hers I can feel her breathing all over me. My heart speeds up a touch with her hands on me, and I want to smile at her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. I want to tell her that I’m not going to let anyone hurt her. I want to hold her in my arms and make her feel safe.
"Oh my God!" Shirley shrieks, making the girl jump even more.
"I have to get out of here." She looks around as I pick her up and put her back into the bed.
She winces out in pain as she looks down at my arms as I place her back in the bed. "She’s in pain," I tell the doctor, who just looks on in shock at what happened.
"I’m fine," she hisses, moving away from me and my touch as if I was poison.
"Well then," Dr. Benson says, coming closer to her. Her eyes open, and she tries to get out of the bed again.
I put my hand up to stop him from moving forward. “Back up a second. She’s scared shitless,” I say. My voice comes out louder than I want it to be, and she tries to move away from me again. "I’m not going to hurt you,” I say between clenched teeth.
Shirley slaps her hands together, getting everyone to look at her. "Okay, one." She looks at me. "Move away from her and go stand over there." She points at the chair I’ve been sitting in for the past four days.
I slept maybe a total of an hour. My whole body was tense as we waited for this stranger to open her eyes and give us some answers. The nurses tried to get me to leave, tried to get me to just step outside and feel the air, but I stuck to my guns about not moving. There was no way I was going to leave her alone. Imagine if she woke up without anyone here. From the look that she gave me before, she would have hightailed it out of here. "Fine," I say, lifting my hands up so she can see them as I step back from her.
"I’d ask him to leave,” Shirley says to the woman, “but he won’t listen to that one." Shirley tries to get a smile out of the woman, but nothing comes out. She just looks at her like a bird looking to get away from its captor. "Now this man here …" She looks at the woman. “His name is Dr. Benson, and he’s been taking care of you since you got here." Her eyes go from Shirley to Dr. Benson, who stands there in his white lab coat with his hands in his pockets. His chest pocket is full of pens, and his stethoscope hangs around his neck.
"I’m Dr. Benson," he says. “Do you know where you are?"
"Hospital,” she says, her eyes closing and then slowly opening.
"Your body needs to recuperate," he says. “But that you are even talking is …"
"Can you cut to the chase and tell her what is wrong with her?” I snap. “Can’t you see she’s tired?"
"Then I suggest she rest," Dr. Benson says. “I’m going to guess that you will be awake again soon."
"I,” she says, licking her lips. “He’s …" She fights with everything she has. “Coming.”
I walk to the bed as her eyes open wide when she sees me, but then shuts again. “He’s not coming,” I say softly. “He can’t hurt you.” Her eyes don’t open again, and I look at the machine, seeing that her heart is beating normally.
"What the fuck was that?" I look over at Dr. Benson and Shirley.