(Don't Get) Carried Away

6:53PM. A warm weathered evening with a radiant blue sky and puffy white clouds. Just the right temperature and perfect weather for walking (though a long walk) to work in the golden Oklahoma City dun, which is slowly setting over the golden horizon. Ah, the residentials! A loud crunch of metal on metal pierces the air. Must have been another crash on the OKC flyover. It isn’t too far from here. I turn the corner while humming ‘I love the dead’ when I see it: death and destruction. A terrible accident has taken place and I immediately call 911. An old truck sits on fire and the person in it is charcoaled completely to a crisp. A hotrod roadster lays overturned on its side as crimson blood pours onto the ground. I take in this gruesome scene and kneel down to check one of the mangled corpses within the wreckage. A pulse!
Before the roadster can explode, I drag the body from the vehicle and with me to the other side of the street.
I look at the person very closely. There is too much blood to determine its identity, let alone gender. It has black hair, like Marilyn Manson from the EMDM era, but there is no way, right? The eyes are closed. “Hold me… please don’t leave….” The meager low voice pleads. It is a man. “Help is on the way!” I assure, holding the wounded man in my arms as we sit in the middle of a residential street. Never have I seen such a sight, even being a nurse at Oklahoma City Regional Medical Center.
I look down at the guy. Hid expression changed from pained to calm. “Please… just hold me… I don’t… want to die… alone.” He sputtered out the last word ‘alone’ Of course, the man said it in a calm way and it was almost as if he has accepted the fact that his world is slowly coming to an end. We both know his death is near, yet he handles it so calmly and with such poise, I think maybe he has found peace in dying. I never would have guessed that I would be embracing a dying stranger in the middle of the road I always walk down on my way to work. His blood is staining my clothes a dark red, but that doesn’t matter.
I run my fingers through his wet bloody hair and away from his face. Just looking at him makes me sad, no one can possibly imagine the mind numbing pain he is in, nor what he feels emotionally. With a last twitch of his body and one more sharp breath, all is still. The stranger has just died in my arms. “Rest in Peace, my friend.” I whisper. Just as I finish, his eyes open. They are the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen and they are now fixated on me. “This must be heaven because I have never seen such a beautiful woman. I bet you’re an angel. The guy says as he lifts a decrepit, bloody hand to gently brush against my cheek. I put my hand over his, still holding him. Tears form in those beautiful eyes. “Can’t you make the pain go away, angel?” “I wish I could, but I can’t.” I answer, giving him a sympathetic look just as the ambulance arrives.
“Thanks, Jackson.” I tell the EMT who opens the back of the ambulance. “Anytime, Laney.”
The struggling man wouldn’t let my fingers go. “Sing to me, please. I… I like your voice.” He manages. “Love me tender, love me sweet, heaven let me go. You have made my life complete and I love you so. Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled. For my darling, I love you, and I always will.” I sing. A wide smile comes across his face. “That’s perfect.” He says just as we arrive at the hospital.
The man is rushed into surgery and I change into some new scrubs to begin my shift. 8PM-8AM. I’ve been helping at hospitals since I was 17, 4 years now. Of course, I am a RN, and a damn good one. I’ve been voted as one of the best in all of Oklahoma, and I just started almost a year ago. I love my job; helping people is my passion. “I’ll take it from here, Cora.” I tell the day nurse. “Thank you.” “Any time.” I answer while pinning my tag on. Laney White RN. Let the work day begin.

Taking care of all my patients is very rewarding, but also very tiring, so I appreciate break time. 4:16AM. Everyone is taken care of, for the next few minutes, anyway and in a little less than 4 hours, my shift ends. All is silent. I sit alone at my desk in the nurse station. The thought of the wounded man comes back to me and I think about him. He’s probably dead, poor guy.
I enjoy a coffee and a snickers just as Dr. Richards and some guy in a suit come to me. “May I help you?” I question. “Are you the girl who came in with the car crash victim around 7:10PM a few hours ago?” The suited man asks. “Yes, why? How’s he doing?” “Well, that’s the thing. He just came out of surgery and he is terrified. My friend cousin doesn’t like hospitals very much and he won’t quit talking about you, so I think it would make him more comfortable if you were his nurse. We will make it worth your time, just trust me. My name is Chad, Brian Warner is my cousin, though I think you will know him as Marilyn Manson. Chad says. “No way!” I respond, surprised. “Oh yes way. “Oh, I saved a celebrity, who’d have thought…” I quietly state. “So you’ll do it?” Chad asks again. “Yes, of course.” “Good! Laney, tonight you will start as Mr. Warner’s nurse on his floor, room 1152!” Dr. Richards proudly announces. “Ok.”