Restive Sleep
Hospital
Mum had been anxious to get him out of the house, and visiting a girl he didn’t even know seemed to be the perfect excuse to do so. Visiting Delilah had been Dan’s idea. According to him, the fact Rhun was having dreams with her in them meant something, and that a little investigation was necessary. He wasn’t sure if Dan actually believed him or was just sending him on a wild goose chase in the ICU. Either way, Rhun didn’t exactly feel comfortable with the idea of going to see someone he didn’t even know in a hospital.
He didn’t even feel comfortable with the idea of being in a hospital in general.
Hospitals freaked him out to begin with, and it didn’t help that the memory of having to sleep in one was still fresh in his mind. He couldn’t shake the eerie feeling out of his stomach once he’d entered the building. What he hated most about hospitals was how they could be unnervingly quiet and boisterously noisy at the same time. How some parts of hospitals could be incredibly crowded, but other parts utterly deserted. It was creepy.
“What room is Delilah Thompson in?” Rhun asked the nurse sitting behind the desk at the nurse’s station.
The nurse looked up at him. “Are you a family member?”
“Um, no. I’m one of her classmates.”
“I’m sorry, but her family has requested that no one is to see her except family members.”
“Okay. I understand.” He felt like he was giving up too easily, but he also didn’t want to make a scene and draw attention to himself. He wasn’t anything to her. If he went about yelling that she was the girl in his dreams and that he needed to see her, they would take him to the physic ward for sure.
Rhun backed away from the desk and stood in the hallway, wondering what he should do next. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get to see her. He doubted that he would be able to get any information off of the nurses, confidentiality and all that. He looked down either end of the hall, the notion to check every door for her name stirred in his mind. He shook his head. No, that was a dumb idea. The nurses would escort him out shortly after they discovered what he was doing.
Absentmindedly, he took a few steps backward. Rhun didn’t hear the nurse call out to the person walking down the hall behind him, or the approaching footsteps. In fact, he didn’t realize that another person was even in the hall until their body collided with his.
“Shit.” Rhun turned to find a young man not much older than himself standing in the hallway, looking down at the newly made coffee stain in the middle his shirt.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying atten—“
The man interrupted Rhun’s apology, “No, it’s okay,” he said looking up, “this shirt needed color anyway.” The man looked tired. Like he’d been getting sleep, but the sleep was so light and rough that it didn’t even feel like sleep anymore. There was a scar over his left eyebrow that ran down half of his face. It was a recent scar because it wasn’t white with age yet. It was pink and fresh, similar to the scar that ran across Rhun’s stomach.
“It was a car accident.”
The statement caught Rhun off guard. “What?”
“The scar. I got it in a car accident. I know you were looking at it. Everyone looks at it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s not something you could have changed.” Rhun didn’t know how to respond.
He didn’t think it was appropriate to ask what happened, nor to apologize again. He just plain didn’t know what to say. “I haven’t seen you here before. Are you visiting someone?”
“Well, I was going to try, but I don’t know where she is.”
“Maybe I can help. What’s her name?”
“Delilah Thompson.”
The man’s eyes widened then narrowed. “That’s my sister. Who are you to her?”
Rhun knew that he couldn’t tell him the real reason. “I was one of her classmates. So basically no one. I just wanted to see how she was doing. There was an article about her in the school paper.”
His eyes softened a bit, but he still seemed suspicious of Rhun. “She’s the same as she was a week ago, which was the same as a month ago, still in a coma. But why do you care? All of the students who ‘thought’ they gave a damn about her came and left two months ago, and haven’t tried to come back.”
“You two were close, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, we were.” The man looked away, his eyes seemed to be searching for something down the hall. “We did everything together and now I’m starting to think that she isn’t going to ever wake up.”
He didn’t even feel comfortable with the idea of being in a hospital in general.
Hospitals freaked him out to begin with, and it didn’t help that the memory of having to sleep in one was still fresh in his mind. He couldn’t shake the eerie feeling out of his stomach once he’d entered the building. What he hated most about hospitals was how they could be unnervingly quiet and boisterously noisy at the same time. How some parts of hospitals could be incredibly crowded, but other parts utterly deserted. It was creepy.
“What room is Delilah Thompson in?” Rhun asked the nurse sitting behind the desk at the nurse’s station.
The nurse looked up at him. “Are you a family member?”
“Um, no. I’m one of her classmates.”
“I’m sorry, but her family has requested that no one is to see her except family members.”
“Okay. I understand.” He felt like he was giving up too easily, but he also didn’t want to make a scene and draw attention to himself. He wasn’t anything to her. If he went about yelling that she was the girl in his dreams and that he needed to see her, they would take him to the physic ward for sure.
Rhun backed away from the desk and stood in the hallway, wondering what he should do next. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get to see her. He doubted that he would be able to get any information off of the nurses, confidentiality and all that. He looked down either end of the hall, the notion to check every door for her name stirred in his mind. He shook his head. No, that was a dumb idea. The nurses would escort him out shortly after they discovered what he was doing.
Absentmindedly, he took a few steps backward. Rhun didn’t hear the nurse call out to the person walking down the hall behind him, or the approaching footsteps. In fact, he didn’t realize that another person was even in the hall until their body collided with his.
“Shit.” Rhun turned to find a young man not much older than himself standing in the hallway, looking down at the newly made coffee stain in the middle his shirt.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying atten—“
The man interrupted Rhun’s apology, “No, it’s okay,” he said looking up, “this shirt needed color anyway.” The man looked tired. Like he’d been getting sleep, but the sleep was so light and rough that it didn’t even feel like sleep anymore. There was a scar over his left eyebrow that ran down half of his face. It was a recent scar because it wasn’t white with age yet. It was pink and fresh, similar to the scar that ran across Rhun’s stomach.
“It was a car accident.”
The statement caught Rhun off guard. “What?”
“The scar. I got it in a car accident. I know you were looking at it. Everyone looks at it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s not something you could have changed.” Rhun didn’t know how to respond.
He didn’t think it was appropriate to ask what happened, nor to apologize again. He just plain didn’t know what to say. “I haven’t seen you here before. Are you visiting someone?”
“Well, I was going to try, but I don’t know where she is.”
“Maybe I can help. What’s her name?”
“Delilah Thompson.”
The man’s eyes widened then narrowed. “That’s my sister. Who are you to her?”
Rhun knew that he couldn’t tell him the real reason. “I was one of her classmates. So basically no one. I just wanted to see how she was doing. There was an article about her in the school paper.”
His eyes softened a bit, but he still seemed suspicious of Rhun. “She’s the same as she was a week ago, which was the same as a month ago, still in a coma. But why do you care? All of the students who ‘thought’ they gave a damn about her came and left two months ago, and haven’t tried to come back.”
“You two were close, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, we were.” The man looked away, his eyes seemed to be searching for something down the hall. “We did everything together and now I’m starting to think that she isn’t going to ever wake up.”
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Comments? Concerns? Errors that I missed and I should fix?