August:
I open my eyes to the searing sunlight shining through the blinds "ouch" I try to bring my hand to my face but I've got restraints on. Of course. I look down, I'm wearing a really itchy green hospital gown and the sheets have an awful bumpy texture. It smells like cleaning supplies. I'm still hooked up to an IV. I can't even reach the button to call the nurse if I need help. Shit. I have to pee.
It's been an hour and a half, I've been counting the minutes and I haven't even heard a nurse. What is this? The apocalypse? Where the hell is everyone. I can see my phone on the bedside table, I just want to zone out and play some stupid games on my phone if I'm gonna have to sit here trying not to piss myself. "Hey honey, how are you feeling?" A lanky older woman wearing pink scrubs with teddy bears on them comes in. "Oh thank god, I need to use the bathroom, please remove the restraints," I whine. She laughs "okay, okay, but you have to leave the bathroom door open." "what? Why?" she turns to look at me with an 'oh honey, you might off yourself with toilet paper' look "whatever, please just take these things off me." she takes the straps off and I slowly get out of bed, my hip really fucking hurts and it's hard to walk. But there are handrails everywhere and I can use my IV cart for a small bit of support. How often do those get cleaned? Probably a lot right? I hope so.
The nurse occasionally shouts "how are you doing?" while I'm in the bathroom. I'm not a toddler and I really hate being treated like one but I guess I earned it. I start washing my hands while propping myself up on the counter with my elbow. "I'm fine" "well, I'm gonna leave the wrist straps off since you'll be spending the day with an angel" wait what? "A what??" is she gonna kill me herself? That's not how I saw this playing out but I'm not against it. "An angel is someone who will keep you company till you recover" that's weird, are they paying someone to be my 'friend'? that's really weird. "I don't need any visitors today" "would you rather be restrained the whole day" I can see the smug look on her face. Ugh. This is humiliating.
YOU ARE READING
Learning to Cope
RomanceA promising nursing student volunteers for the "golden angels program" at his local hospital where he meets a man struggling with his mental health and the cards life has dealt him. How will he recover? (This story is the product of disassociating)
