Softly, you whisper

Sixteen

Sixteen

"Paging Doctor Sian. Paging Doctor Sian. Please proceed to the Isolation Room. STAT."

The PA system echoed around the hallways of the hospital. Thunders of footsteps coming from the nurses followed the man in a white uniform.

I sighed as I stood up from the bench on the side of the hallway. It was always the same. The rush. The white walls. I got used to it.

I've been working in the hospital for almost three years now. The clinical experience ever since my college years taught me how to deal with the day-to-day life in the hospital. Everyday feels like a new challenge and a new day to meet different people with different cases.

A shriek from the other room woke me up from my reverie. Nilingon ko ang bahagyang bukas na kwarto at nahagilap ang isang pasyente. The nurse assigned was already holding her and calming her down. Seeing it, I now realized I had some work to do for today.

"Have you checked the medical records of our new patient, Nurse Zo?" The head nurse of our ward asked me as I was arranging the files on my personal desk.

"Hindi pa po. I was looking for the file right now. I forgot to check on it yesterday." I replied as I kept on flipping each folders.

"It's fine. She just arrived last night. Do you want to check on her today? She's in room 211. You'll be assigned on this case."

Tumango ako. I saw the file already but I plan on opening it once I checked on the patient. It had been a lazy week for me and I still haven't grasp to do a lot of things.

But I work in the hospital which means slacking off is not a thing here.

"Tara na?" Nurse Gallardo asked me as she opened the door. Sumunod naman ako dala ang puting folder ng pasyente.

"She's been in trauma for almost a month now. The paramedics found her at the fire scene, tulala at hindi raw gumagalaw. Report says she saw her whole family got roasted in fire. Must have been so traumatic and...frightening," she sighed. "We ways get those kind of cases ano? People experience an unexpected event and they couldn't recover easily. Watching your family...in that kind of situation? I can't even imagine that."

I opened the file as we entered the room of the patient. I caught a whiff of faint vanilla scent from the air. Kumunot ang noo ko dahil kakaiba iyon sa mga amoy sa tuwing pumapasok ako sa room ng mga pasyente.

Lifting my eyes, I was welcomed by a girl with a long her. She was in a fetal position, sitting above the padded bed. Her hair fell down smoothly from her back and settled above the mattress. My eyes wandered on her face and my lips slowly parted as the familiar face emerged from my subconscious.

Hindi ko alam kung bakit ako napalunok o kung bakit nanghina ang tuhod ko. My fingers trembled as I tried to open the file once again and read the patient's name.

Del Valle, Norine Ahava

That was the patient's name and it felt like a punch in my chest. My eyes wandered from the imprinted letters, tracing her beautiful name. Ibinalik ko ang tingin sa kaniya. She was staring idly at the wall, the fetal position was unwavering.

I swallowed hard.

"I'll leave you here for now to observe, Nurse Zo——is everything okay?"

I blinked as I heard Nurse Gallardo's voice. My eyes shifted on hers as I slowly nodded.

"Y-yes, everything's okay. Does she have any relative left?"

"She was friends with one of their neighbors. She brought her here."