Like Walking Into a Dream

I made my rounds of the day and stopped into each of the hospital rooms I was assigned to. The last one I came to was new; he was brought in last night because of a car accident. I walked in with my clipboard and took note of all his vitals. Checking his IV bag, I saw that he needed a new bag of water. I left to get one, but when I returned, I saw that the man was now sitting up slightly and rubbing his face.

“Good to see you awake, Mr. Haner. I’m Peyton and I’ll be tending to you,” I said kindly and hooked on the new bag of water. The man groaned softly and laid back down, facing me.

“What happened? Why am I here?” he asked groggily. I frowned.

“I was told that you totaled your truck by swerving off the road and into a patch of trees. You were brought here a little after one in the morning and it’s now almost noon,” I told him.

“Shit,” he muttered and closed his eyes.

“I just need to ask you a few questions now that you're conscious,” I began to ask him mandatory questions that the hospital had all the nurses ask.

“Were you drinking last night?” I asked writing down everything on my clipboard.

“Yeah,” I already knew he was though because there was so much alcohol in his blood earlier that morning. By now, it was slowly returning to normal.

“Would you like me to call anyone for you?” I asked setting the clipboard aside.

“My cell phone was in my pants, wherever they are,” he said finally noticing that he was practically naked except for the hospital dress. I opened another cabinet and pulled out his folded clothes. His cell phone was there just like he said.

“Here you go, Mr. Haner,” I said giving him the phone.

“Brian is fine. Mr. Haner is my father,” I nodded.

“Push this button on your bed if you need anything. I’ll come as quickly as possible,” he nodded and I left the room. I returned to the nurses’ station and sat down in front of my computer with a sigh.

“Why so down? Don’t you have that really hot guy in your section?” Casey asked. Casey had gone to medical school with me and we were lucky enough to get jobs at the same hospital together.

“Haner?” I asked.

“Yeah that one. He’s in a band I think,” Casey said trying to think.

“Avenged Sevenfold. I know who he is and I’m a fan of his music, but now’s not the best time to be asking for an autograph,” I smiled softly and Casey chuckled.

“You wouldn’t need an autograph, you are best friends with—“

“Peyton,” I looked up and saw Dr. Williams standing in front of the long desk.

“Yes?”

“Have you finished checking on the man brought in last night?” he asked, running his hand through his blonde hair, pushing it back and out of his eyes. Dr. Williams worked the night shift last night and got suckered into working the morning one too.

“Yes, he just woke up and is calling his family or friends,” I told him.

“Thank you, I’ll go pay him a visit,” Dr. Williams walked into Brian’s room and all was silent again.

“You two are so professional together. If my fiancé was here, I would be trying to shag him up in the break room or supply closet,” Casey mumbled propping her head up on her hands.

“That stuff only happens in TV shows and we’ve been together so long that we’re relaxed around each other,” I replied.

“Where’s the fun in that? After you two get married, you have to do all the newlywed stuff and have sex in every room in the house,” Casey told her. I laughed and shook my head.

“Only you would say it so bluntly,” a red light flashed next to my computer and saw it was from Brian’s room. I stood up and walked inside. Dr. Williams, or Eric, was standing next to Brian talking to him about when he could be released.

“I saw that I was being called. Do you need anything?” I asked. Eric beckoned me over.

“I need you to get Mr. Haner a cortisone shot. His elbow joints are starting to inflame,” I nodded and left the room to go get the shot. On my way back I saw a group of men walking over to the front desk. Casey glanced at me nervously.

The men were tattooed and had piercings; not usually the people Casey and I saw in the hospital, but I knew right away who they were.

“Jimmy!” I called and set the shot tray down next to Casey. One of the men turned around and smiled widely when he saw me.

“Peyton, I haven’t seen you in awhile. You work here?” Jimmy walked over and gave me a hug before pulling away.

“Yeah, I’m assuming you’re looking for Brian,” I said knowing they were in the band together.

“Yeah, the dumbass told me he totaled his car last night and was here. I called the rest of the guys,” I smiled and picked up the tray again before leading all 4 of the guys into Brian’s room.

When we got inside I saw that Eric had already left and Brian was the only one inside.

“You scared me you son of a bitch,” the man with the buzz cut walked over to Brian and smacked his head.

“Hey, no hurting to patients,” he groaned. I shook my head and got the shot ready for Brian.

“Wait, Peyton, you’re in charge of taking care of Brian?” Jimmy asked me. I nodded.

“Yup, I get off at 1, but then I’m coming back for the night shift,” I made sure there was no air left in the shot before walking over to Brian.

“Do you really have to stick that needle in me?” he asked messing with his hair.

“Yes, unless you want to be in more pain,” I gave him a sympathetic smile and cleaned the skin on his arm.

“At least she’s nicer than some of the other nurses you’ve had before,” Zacky said.

“She is a nice girl!” Jimmy patted me on the back and caused me to almost stick the needle into Brian’s chest. I looked up at Jimmy who was standing beside me and glared at him. He slowly inched away with his hands up.

“Well most of the time,” he grumbled. I stuck out my tongue and turned back to Brian.

“So you know Jimmy?” he asked.

“We were childhood friends even though he’s 4 years older than me,” I smiled and lined up with shot with his vein.

“How come we haven’t met you before?” he asked trying to distract himself from the shot.

“Because I didn’t want any of you horn dogs to try to hook up with her!” Jimmy shouted. I just smiled and focused on the shot.

“Just relax and don’t try to look,” I whispered, but before I could give him the shot, I was interrupted once more, but not because of the guys. A girl decided to slam open the door and come in screaming. All the band members groaned and looked unhappy, especially Brian.

“What now?” I groaned.

“Brian Haner Jr.! What the hell were you thinking?! I get a fucking call from Short Shit saying that you were in the hospital! You totaled your truck?! What the fuck was going through your head?!” the woman screamed. She was giving me a headache.

“Ma’am, can you please leave the room for a minute so I can give Brian his shot. Then you can come back in and talk to him,” the woman glared at me before stomping out of the room.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“That bitch was just Michelle, Brian’s girlfriend.” Jimmy mumbled.