Youth Knows No Pain

"Been alone since you were twenty-one
You haven't laughed since January
You try and make of this as so much fun
But we know it to be quite contrary"


10:52PM

Like cattle, the patients had lined up around the bend of the desk. Each complaining of a different symptom and/or illness. A rash, a cough, a weird mole on their back that may or may not have been caused by over-exposure to UV sun beds. The patients stared blankly at her, The eyes glassy from whatever sickness or STD(usually) they'd contracted, mouths agape as if it were a venus fly trap anticipating prey.  

A clipboard rested on Ruthy's hip, the very round bump peeking through the powder blue polyester mixed scrubs. Her dyed red hair fell in curls over one shoulder, the fading cheap box-colored dye-job getting lighter as it bounced at the ends. No make-up polluted her face, only glasses that continued to slide down the bridge of her nose. Her brown eyes with green bursts scanned over the clipboard; one hand held the board, the other pressing her lip into her mouth as she chewed endlessly on the skin.

"Thomas Sykes?" She called out into the waiting room, her face scrunching up in a juvenile manner as  a group of overly-tattooed large men stood up. Under their colorful arms was a guy closer to her size being dragged towards her. Ruthy's brown orbs nearly exploded when her eyes fell upon the small man. Sykes was such a common name, and it could of been anyone, but it had to be him. She tried to hold back the small amount of hate that began to ignite as his eyes scanned her overly weakly. Crystal blood shot eyes and an open mouth. 

"He had a bit too much to drink." the tallest of the bunch said shrugging. "Fell and hit his head on the coffee table. It was a real laugh till he didn't get up." 

Ruthy rolled her eyes before gesturing the group of gentlemen to follow her through the emergency room corridor. She'd began typing in her eight digit employee number into the pad to open the oversized wooden door. 

"Oi, I know you!" The patient began to mutter. Freeing himself from the grip of his friends to properly stand up and point at the girl who suddenly appeared much shorter than him. 
"You're delirious." She muttered yanking on the handle and pulling the door open. 

"I remember you. We went to Sixth Form together." He began to yell before clutching his stomach. Ruthy turned around to allow the boys to walk through the doorway allowing them access to the epic of the corridor before reaching the room. Thomas Sykes's friends now gripped him by the forearms again, dragging him through the door. He pressed his feet firmly to the linoleum to properly face the woman in charge before vomiting onto her white shoes. 

.....

11:29PM

"Do you know where you are M.r Sykes?" Ruthy asked holding a pen to the familiar blue eyes that followed the utensil as she moved it into his peripheral his eyes meekly following. Her white canvas shoes trashed and grey Toms cordones now accompanied her attire. One of the boys mentioned it being more subtle to the eye, followed by a punch in the arm and a side of "Dude, she's with child." it must of been the Australian. 

Ruthy refused to admit she knew these people but she remembered them. She knew them better than they realized, much to her dismay, they knew her just as well. 

This was strictly business. Nothing personal. 

Tom finally shrugged. Moments after Ruthy asked the significant question. Even with Tom sitting upright on the cot, he was still a head taller than her. His eyes seemed droopy as he struggled to fight back the sleep that wanted to take over. 

Ruthy went through her procedure; blood pressure, heart rate, body tempature, hooked in the IV. She did all this with curious eyes. Half the group of men stared at her, the other half at the bulging stomach under her uniform. Finally, she broke the tension. 

"Seems like a concussion. The doctor will be in shortly to validate." she told them quickly before fleeing out of the room as fast as her swollen feet could carry her. 

Red, shaken and slightly infuriated, Ruthy slammed the clipboard onto the desk in the nurses station. A few of the older ladies jumped and huffed at the new girl before resuming back to their paperwork. Ruthy slid herself down onto the cotton cushioned chair with a sigh. Slipping the grey shoes off her tired feet, she tried to take deep breathes. It wasn't worth getting herself worked up over the past, especially not now. 

Her long fingers stretched over the unborn child's nest. Her finger tips rubbing small circles on the fabric covered flesh. Ruthy had a very satisfying and relaxing feeling pretending the baby could feel her rub the small area where the child now rested. 

"Come on Banister, you got three and half more months, don't die on me now." Dr. Glass told her. The thirty-two year old freckled face oval eyed doctor told her leaning over the desk. The other nurses in the station eyed her bitterly as Dr. Hottie continued to tease the twenty-three year old endlessly before she shoved him the chart for the patient she refused to name. 

The five minute break Ruthy got to enjoy ended abruptly as Glass turned around as he continued his saunter down the hall to the forbidden room.  

"Come along Banister, I know old ladies who can walk faster than you! Maybe we can get one of those electric wheel chairs when you hit your third trimester and you can't walk anymore." His laugh echoed as Ruthy reluctantly followed him back to the room where nightmares awaited. 

.....

12:17AM

"I'd say it's a severe concussion. We are gonna keep him here for the remainder of the night for observation." 

Ruthy tried not to roll her eyes and let out an irritated sigh. She bit her tongue (literally) to avoid the sounds itching to sneak past her chewed lips. She retrieved the clipboard from Glass, the pen from her front left breast pocket now held tightly in her hands as she jotted down the different drugs the doctor began listing off. 

"Try not to fall asleep." The doctor told him once finishing the never ending list of fluids. The brown-haired green eyed doctor nodded to the nurse before exiting the room. 

.....