Andrew:
August suddenly swings his legs over the side of his bed, he grits his teeth "what are you doing?" I ask, still with food in my mouth. "The bathroom, chew your food" he tries to stand up but it's obvious it's causing a lot of pain. "Do you want some help getting there?" I set my plate down and start walking towards him "please, my weight would topple you" he chuckles then quietly curses in pain. "You'd be surprised how strong I am" I put my hands on my hips, He chuckles at my display. He gestures for me to come closer to him while smiling.
He puts his arm around my shoulder and I put my arm around his hip and puts a bit of his weight on me, He smells like Iodine and old blood. He's mostly using me as support. "Are you okay?" he sounds genuinely concerned "I'm fine, I can handle more weight if you need" he puts a bit more weight on me and we slowly walk into the small white tiled bathroom. I get him over to the toilet "I hate to do this but you have to leave the door open" He groaned and shooed me out. "Do you know if I can shower yet?" he asks "I'll go ask" I step just outside of the room and flag down a nurse. "Hey, can he shower yet?" She peaks at his chart just outside his room and shakes her head no before moving on.
I walk back in and turn my head away from the bathroom door as I walked past to give him as much privacy as possible. "Sadly, you have to be smelly for a bit longer" he loudly groaned "really? I smell like shit" I can hear the sink running, he's washing his hands. "So..." I ask "About that personal question...." I can hear him quietly giggling to himself "yes?" he starts limping out of the bathroom, using the handrails on the wall as support, I rush over and help him to his bed. "What exactly is off-limits?" He laughs "well..." he raises his brows "Don't ask about how I ended up here, My parents, or my sex life" He counts all three on his fingers "Cool, that leaves a lot of options." he gets a concerned look on his face.
"so, what is your work history like?" I ask "Y-you have so many options and you choose interview questions?" His stutter is cute. I nod and patiently wait for him to answer. "Well, I worked at a convenience store as a teen and then I joined the military at 18" "You were in the military?!" He looks down at his lap "I was dishonorably discharged 4 months ago" he shrugs. "Oh" I quietly sit back down and go back to eating.
YOU ARE READING
Learning to Cope
RomanceA promising nursing student volunteers for the "golden angels program" at his local hospital where he meets a man struggling with his mental health and the cards life has dealt him. How will he recover? (This story is the product of disassociating)