𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 & 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒕 ⇁𝒔.𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅

twenty: stay awake

Sabrina Woods

My nostrils burned as I inhaled the distinguishable hospital smell of hydrogen peroxide and bleach. My eyes immediately snapped open at the thought of being in a position of vulnerability and possibly being caught in the dirty deeds I'd been participating in, and sat up quickly.

"Hey, hey..." A familiar voice spoke next to me and I immediately met eyes with JJ. "You're alright, Sabrina."

"Where are we?" I asked, although my initial suspicion was confirmed as I saw blinding white walls around us and stained marble tile underneath us.

"The hospital. You took quite a hit to your head when you fell." she answered, her eyes glistening with sympathy. "The doctor just wanted to be sure you didn't have a concussion when you woke up." 

"I uh, I have to get Hallie. She's still at daycare," I said, clearing my throat.

"Garcia already picked her up. She's at your house right now. Don't worry."

I nodded and ran a hand through my hair, wincing as I went over a sore spot.

"Ah, you're awake. I'm Dr. Brown." An older man walked through the door with a tablet in hand. He had a thinning hairline and friendly eyes behind a pair of rectangular glasses. He put the tablet down on the desk and made his way over to me to shine a light in my eyes. "It doesn't look like you've got a concussion, but I am concerned about other things."

My body tensed and my eyes immediately flicked to JJ as the doctor politely asked her to step out of the room.

"Things, like what?" I asked timidly.

"Like, when was the last time you ate?"

I thought for a moment as I tried to remember the last time I ate something, and what it was.

"I uh... don't remember."

"Hm. Well, I think that is probably problem number one," he replied with a shake of his head. He wore a sympathetic smile as he looked over his tablet, typing in some information. "And your last drink of water?"

"Probably a few hours."

"Any stress?" he asked, his eyes meeting mine again over his thin framed glasses. I couldn't help the scoff that escaped my lips. He nodded again and typed something else. "Any abnormal sleep behaviors?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

He smiled a little. "Are you sleeping?"

"Oh. No." I replied, my shoulders slumping casually.

Dr. Brown stood up from his position in front of me and went back to the desk placed in the corner of the room where a laptop was placed.

"Well, it looks like you're definitely suffering from dehydration, as well as malnourishment. It seems like your fainting episode was due to low blood sugar and exhaustion. I'd recommend getting some granola bars to parcel out through the day. Keep a log of your eating habits, it'll help." He wrote something down on a piece of paper and ripped it off. "As for your sleep deprivation... I'm assuming this is not something new?"

I shook my head.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked.

I shrugged. "About four months."

"Do you know what caused it?"

"Well, I can only assume it's stress-related, seeing as I have a stalker and my baby daddy recently decided to show up unannounced and demand rights to see our daughter, and a friend of mine got arrested on murder charges....so, sleep really hasn't been a priority lately." I brought my shoulders up slowly as I stared at him, a line formed on my lips in agitation.