2
POV Edward
Surprised, I watch the little nurse storm out of my room, and although I am still annoyed about my cigarette, I feel a little guilty. I shouldn’t have just blurted that out. Apparently she has, or had, the bloody disease herself, but judging by the little hair she was hiding under that scarf, she’s still in the throes of it.
I shake my head. Three weeks ago everything was fine, at least not as far as I knew, and now look at where I am. What a dirty trick life can play on you.... First Bella and now this...
A soft noise catches my attention and I see the screen of my mobile light up. Who is it now? I’m in no mood for well-meaning messages. But it’s Robbie, sending me a stupid video.
I open the message and watch it with growing amazement. It’s an Instagram video of a man who made a recording before he died and had it played at his funeral. Everyone is standing around the coffin and you can hear him shouting that he wants to get out and that it is quite dark in the coffin....
I start to chuckle quietly, Robbie really is an incredible prick. He looks more like me than his mother, I think to myself, just as stupid and loutish.
I scroll through my messages, but there is nothing new. Before I turn my phone off, I send Rob another message, asking him to bring me some clean clothes in the morning. I thought I would only have to stay one day, but apparently the tumour is so big that it needs to be removed urgently. The doctor even mentioned post-operative rehabilitation! It can’t get any more fucking crazy.
My thoughts are interrupted by the loud sound of footsteps on the blue linoleum in the corridors, the evening shift is apparently going home.
I let out a deep sigh. That’ll be fun tonight when the night nurse makes her rounds. I have always been a light sleeper and I doubt I will get any sleep.
I grab my tracksuit bottoms and toothbrush to change into something more comfortable in the bathroom. Despite the shitty situation I’m in, I’m lucky enough to have a room to myself, which means I don’t have to share the bathroom with anyone.
Since I have nothing better to do, I take a long shower. When I came back into the room, I see the little nurse standing by my bed.
“I’ve come to take your vital signs... and the doctor has prescribed you a sleeping pill, so if you can’t get to sleep, just call and I’ll bring it to you...”
She deliberately averts her eyes and I wonder if she is still angry with me.
“And... I want to apologise...” Her eyes slide up and a blush creeps across her pale cheeks.
Surprised, I look at her. Apologise?
“I shouldn’t have come at you like that, but I...” She looks away and clears her throat. “...never mind... I just shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.” Her eyes find mine again and she looks at me with an unflinching gaze.
I start to chuckle softly and cross my arms. “I have to say, you’ve got guts, lady! There are few people who dare to stand up to me like that... and even less that would come away unscathed, I have to admit.”
Her eyes widen as my words sink in, but then a smile appears around her mouth. For a moment I am flabbergasted. Her smile is so... so beautiful and spontaneous. The defeated and tired look on her face is pushed aside for a moment and I see a glimpse of the woman she probably was before her illness.
“You’re quite a cockerel, aren’t you?” And her smile turns into a soft, infectious chuckle.
She takes my vitals and makes some notes, then looks at me again, her face serious again. “But I was serious before..., you really can’t smoke in here. Apart from the fact that it’s forbidden in the whole hospital, it’s not very decent towards the other patients who are also here.”
My eyes sweep over her face and I hesitate for a moment. Should I tease her for a moment and tell her that I have a whole pack with me, but seeing the tired look on her face and in her eyes, I refrain and give her a nod. “I promise not to smoke in the room again, okay?”
After reading for another hour or so, I cut out the light above my bed. I wonder if I can get some sleep tonight.
I wake up to someone gently shaking my arm. “Good morning Edward. I have a tablet here for you to take before surgery...”
Surprised, I sit up and look at the window where the curtains are still closed and see a watery sun peeping through a crack. I look at the little night nurse. There is a warm smile around her mouth.
“From the looks of it, you’re surprised you slept...”
A smile forms around my lips when I see the twinkle in her eyes. “You are used to working night shifts, aren’t you? I’m a very light sleeper but somehow you manage to move around so stealthy that I didn’t hear you.”
Her smile widens. “True. I’m one of the regular night shifts and I must say it’s nice to hear that I do it as soundlessly as possible. I wouldn’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night myself!”
She holds out her hand containing a small cup in which there is a tablet. “The OR just called, you’re up first thing this morning. When you have taken this tablet, you can freshen up, put on this shirt and lie down on the bed. I’ll come back in ten minutes to take you downstairs...”
I nod. For a moment, I am too stunned to answer. This is all happening really fast now!
At the door, she stops and turns around again. “Are you worried?”
Defeated, I shrug my shoulders and look at her. “Honestly... I don’t know... I don’t know what I’m feeling...”
She looks at me in silence. “Do you want me to go with you and wait untill they come and bring you into the OR? I know from experience that it sucks having to wait alone in the preoperative room especially with such a serious operation.”
My eyes slide over her face again and then give her a nod. ’’Yeah... I think I would like that...”
I’m no wimp and certainly not easil scared, but the idea of having someone with me who has been in the same situation is somehow reassuring.
