TaNkGiRly 的網路日誌

Endymion



Chapter 2

Alright, he was still very nice looking. His eyes were still as blue as the morning sky and as if he could see through your body, to your very soul when he looked at you. However, his behaviour started to change dramatically. He became the most horrible patient everyone had ever imagined.

Anything would set him off. From the order of the plates in his meal tray to whether the curtains were drawn or not, everyday there was at least one doctor or nurse or someone coming out of his room, face bright red, often accompanied by anger or terror. You could hear his roaring/shouting from as far as my nurse station (which was at the other side of the floor). Soon everybody started avoid walking past his room. This was tricky, because thanks to his terrorising behaviour, we had to change his room every couple of weeks. He verbally abused his roommate almost every day, we had to put him in the single room at the end. Checking him became a huge mission, since no one wanted to go into his room, even with bounties. We had no choice to make a draw to decide who was going every time.

He initially refused to do any rehab programme, said there was no point doing it since he wouldn’t be able to walk again anyway. His parents begged him again and again, nearly bend down to their knees to beg him. He was so cold and cruel, asking them to fuck off. You should see the tear in their eyes when they come out of his room.

“But this is for your own goo………………” His father tried to reason with him.

“For my own good? You guys should have let me just DIED as soon as my disease was diagnosed, that’s FOR MY FECKING OWN GOOD!”

Without saying a word, his parents signed and backed off the room.

“Why don’t you do it?” I tried to act casual.

“It’s none of your fecking business!! Feck off!” He shouted.

“ Just making some healthy suggestions.”

“ Do I look healthy to you?! Mind your own business!”

“This is my own business.”

“……..I will make you it’s no longer yours.”

“Go ahead, I will make sure someone else take over my job nicely.”

He looked at me as if he could kill me with his eyes.

“What can you do about me now? You just have a head, and all you can do is shout.” This is one of those makehimangrysohewilldoit tactics, Sun Zhu Military Strategy Guild. Ancient wisdom, if you were with me.

He stared at me for good three minutes.

Then he started his stupid rehab (that was how he called it). Turned up on time (well, if any of the nurse or personal care dared not to do so, the consequences were very horrible), practice very hard, you know, all the good thing an A plus student would have done, he did it with extra effort. It was not as easy as it sounded, because he literally had to start from scratch. First he had to be able to left his arm, which involved lots of acupuncture. (I was actually scared of needle, thought of sticking thousands of them onto me was just too horrible to even imagine. Funny huh? A future nurse was scare of needles) Then he would have to start practice his crab by tried to pick up some wooden sticks from the table. Now this was really painful, I often seen other patients nearly cry their eyes out when they were doing this.

The next stage would be picking up those sticks and put them into holes on a wooden board; the next would be some light weightlifting…the sessions went on and on. Other people practice 3 hours per session, he did it 6 hours. And he still had all these energy to shout at people each day.

Elaine started worrying what he would do once his arm was back in function and coursed me with all the bad language she could think of.

“If he kill me, I swear I will come back as a ghost to haunt you!” She got hysteric.

“Don’t think he’s going to kill you, Elaine. If he wants I think he might want to kill us all. Besides, your boyfriend is equally scary, isn’t he? Last time he almost beat a drunken fella to death outside of the pub, did he? He got 12 months jail plus 230 hours community service for that, did he? He can kill him with just one finger if he’s dear to touch your one single strand of hair.” Joanna teased her. Actually we all knew her boyfriend did that under the effect ion of P, he nearly wet his pants when he went to the court hearing. He was just recently coming out of another rehab and was as obedient as a sheep. Kill a man? He couldn’t even kill an ant!!

“It’s the fury stage, remember?” Another male nurse, Gareth, pointed out. He too was also study at nurse school: “It will be alright, mate.”

“…….Wait until he make a bomb and kill us all!” Christ! Did this woman actually go to the same class as I do? I threw a look heavenwards.

“He will be lucky if he can pick up a cricket ball and throw at you right on target.” I pick up pile of files: “No worry! He’s not capable of making a bomb. You might get a few bruises or stitches, that’s about it. And I wouldn’t worry about that either if I were you. There are plenty of nurses and doctors here.”

She looked at me like Sumara in The Ring.

Her fear came true (no, no one made any bomb). About three weeks later, Alex was able to move his arm. Although he was incapable of moving heavy objects, it was enough for him to throw small one such as glass on the bedside table.

Nearly the entire hospital started to hate me. Now they had to stand at least one metre radius around Alex’s bed and only went near him when absolutely necessary. Even the cleaning lady started to complain she had to spend twice the amount of time and effort to tidy up that room. Actually, I heard she threatened to resign to Doctor McCarthy, our boss, just the other day.

There was once I was in there, busy changing drip and medicine. All of the sudden I felt something dropped on my back. I turned around, found Alex smiled at me evilly

That cheek of him! He threw me with napkin!

I threw it back.

He caught it single handed, which was not easy consider initially he was diagnosed unable to move from neck downward.

To be honest, I was really impressed.

Of course I was not going to say that to him.

“I can sue you for sexually harassing me, you know.” I gave him an evil.

“Go ahead, see if I care.” He smiled.

“You don’t looks like a unhealthy person.” I pointed out.

“I still unable to walk.”

“Like it’s going to stop you.”

“You’re right,” His voice sounded surprise: “It’s not.”

Another week passed, surprisingly and miracly, Alex started to quiet down. The roaring campaign occurred less frequent. He was able move himself with a wheelchair at this stage. Although very rarely, he started smiling, (which caused a major wave throughout the entire hospital when it first happened; they thought he was going mad) chatting with us when he was not in the depression mode, and last but not least, Zoë actually saw him sitting in the sunny conservatory yesterday, playing with some visitors’ girl, all smiling and relaxing.

Zoë said she nearly fainted when she saw that smile.

“The sleeping handsome is back.”

“Well, he’s not sleeping now.”

“Shish! You know what I mean.”

Unfortunately around this time, my life didn’t seem as promising.

My relationship with Carl had finally come to an end.

No, I still didn’t have the guts to do the deed. It was Carl.

Well, actually, it was the brunette woman, whom now I knew her name is Daphne’s idea.

Their relationship had just gone serious after Easter. Daphne was asking who I was. Carl had some difficulties to explain my identities to her.

“She’s just my girlfriend, but I don’t love her anymore. We were just friends.” That was weird.

“She’s my ex.” Now that was lying.

“She is just a friend.” Now that was really lying.

You saw what I mean?

Carl chose a worst time to break this off with me.

Well, I supposed anytime was a worst time for that matter. I was just finished one of my busiest shift. (No, this was not one of Elaine the cow’s shifts, which really annoyed me because I had nobody else to blame) A patient decided to die when there was only me, a medic and Zoë in the early morning shift, while I had about 10 new patients database needed to be urgently set up, and if you thought this was nothing, Doctor Owen had his car broken down and came to work 1 hour late, this resulted in we had no doctor at all for about 30 minutes. (A huge issue if you had people screaming at you for the doctors every 5 seconds. Let me assured you, it would definitely drove you mad) When I managed to drag myself home (without crashed into any poor power poll on my way), I found out Carl was waiting for me. His face didn’t look particularly joyful as usual. It looked all serious and quiet.

“What’s the matter, Carl?” I kicked off my shoes across the hallway: “How come you still up? It’s eleven o’clock at night.”

“……….Isabella, we need to talk,” he seemed struggle in words: “…….it’s about us.”

Oh no you don’t, I thought in horror.

“……..What about us?”

“I think it’s time to call it quit.”

“Oh.” My mind just went blank. All of the sudden I didn’t know what to say.

“I am sorry Isabella, we both kind of know our relationship had changed long time ago. I thought we could be like this for longer. But Daphne and I just got..serious. She was questioning about us. I don’t really want her to have a wrong picture that I am doing this double crossing thingy behind her back.”

“Oh.”

“ Isabella, I think we really have to finish this time. I am really sorry. I still like you a lot. If there is anyway I can make this much easier for you, please let me know.” To be honest, he sounded like he was firing someone at work instead to break off with me.

I looked at Carl for a very, very long time, without saying a word.

What should I said? That I still loved him, as much as before and I didn’t want to break up with him? Don’t be ridiculous! That wouldn’t change a bloody thing. Yes, I still loved him; Yes, I still didn’t want to leave him; and yes, my heart would still shatter into pieces after breaking up with him. (and I knew we were just heading towards this direction right now) But since there was no point to attempt saving anything if his full attention was no longer with me, I might as well let him off.

Although it hurt like hell.

“Alrighty,” I said to him, trying very hard not to cry or acted hysteric: “I think I could sense this coming anyway.” I took another breath: “Okay then.”

“I am really, really sorry!”

“ No, you don’t have to, Carl.” I took another breath. Now this became a bit hard: “You really don’t. We’ve been so good together for the time we are together. There is nothing to be sorry about.”

“I know.” Carl’s face started looking sad.

That was it!

Before I noticed, tears started streaming down on my face. I couldn’t help crying in front of Carl.

Carl seem to hold it for a couple of minutes, to my astonishment, he started to cry as well.