pink pills - matthew espinosa

chapter v. (part i - keyanna)

"Okay, room 432, Keyanna's room," I mumbled to myself.

This is it, this is when I talk to a patient. This could go amazingly well, or unbelievably terrible, depending on what I say to her right now. My nerves are skyrocketing, and my palms are so sweaty, I could drop Keyanna's food on the ground if I don't try my best to calm down.

After staring at the door for a minute, I took a breath, and knocked twice, before twisting the doorknob and letting myself in.

"Keyanna, are you awake?" I called out, pushing the door out of the way.

That was a stupid question, it was only four o' clock. Great way to start your day, Cleo.

Keyanna's room is somewhat art themed: her paintings and drawings are sprawled across all the four walls and she has her paints sitting on top of the television. Her bed has some clothing on it, and the shower had turned off. Keyanna must've just finished her bath.

I placed her dinner - creamy cheese alfredo with shrimp and broccoli - on her nightstand and pulled out her bottle of apple juice from my apron.

The bathroom door opens, and Keyanna is wrapped in a yellow towel, that is very large on her small body. Her eyes are red, like she had just finished crying, and her hair had been wrapped into a tight bun on her head.

She stared at me with wide eyes, she must have not been informed that I would be coming to her room. I was frozen as well - I look like a crazy stalker lady who had just found her next woman naked.

"Oh, Keyanna, hey," I said, giving her a nervous smile, "I'm Cleo, the new nurse. I brought you your dinner."

Keyanna continued to stare at me, and I turned towards the dinner I put on the nightstand. She looked towards her food as well, and started to laugh loudly.

"You got me my favorite. How did you know?" She chuckled, running up to me.

I shrugged, and gave Keyanna a smile back. "Well, you didn't have any allergies, so I thought maybe you've would've liked something that I loved." It came out more of a question that a sentence.

Keyanna rushed back into the bathroom with her pajamas in her hand now. She wanted me to wait for her, so I decided being her for an extra five minutes would be okay.

When she finished, her hair was in two braids and she had paints in her hand. I didn't know they allowed her to have so many. I told her to take her medicine, which she agreed to do without any problems, and then she asked if we could watch a movie together.

"Keyanna, I'm sorry, but I have to go, I have to go finish my shift," Keyanna pouted sadly, and hugged me.

"Michaela told me someone would leave me today, that's why I was crying in the shower," Keyanna's eyes watered, and my heart missed a beat.

"Hey, I'm not gone forever, Key, I just need to feed two other patients. If you're still awake when I return, we can hang out for a little bit," I encouraged, giving her a bright smile.

Keyanna agreed, wiping her eyes from the tears and hugged me again, telling me to take my time.

I closed the door behind me, ready to meet Prince face to face.