The Soul Guardians

chapter 4

I was woken up the next morning by a gentle grip on my arm, seeing the smiling face of Nurse Kate. Her blonde pixie cut, neatly trimmed to show off the thousands of piercings on her ears.

"Had a long night, did we?" she asked before handing me the thermometer to place under my armpit. Checkups were a regular part of my morning routine, even when I was back home.

I nodded and said, "You wouldn't believe," as she checked my machines and tubes.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Feel like I've been hit by a truck," I said as I held the thermometer in place for a moment.

"Hmmm," the nurse laughed, "it wouldn't have anything to do with the mess in the kitchen though, would it kiddo?"

I froze and pulled the thermometer out from my armpit before my surprise or guilt could somehow show in the temperature reading the nurse made a note of on her clipboard.

"The kitchen? What happened in the kitchen?" I tried not to yawn as I stretched out my sore limbs.

"Yeah, Nurse Maggy's been going on about it all morning. Apparently there was a huge mess, it looked like a real rager. Or maybe vandalism, who knows? Something about cake flour all over the place..."

"Strange..." I pretended to be more interested in the morning news than the kitchen fiasco as I turned on the TV.

The nurse gave me an untrusting side-eye before she tidied up the room and made her way around my bed.

"Wait, since when does Nurse Maggy work the Night Shift?" I asked.

Nurse Kate shrugged, "I think she was called in for the patient that passed last night. A sweet old lady, she was. Such a shame." She sighed. "It feels like we've been losing so many patients before their time these days. A lot of other nurses have had to take on more shifts lately, especially in the emergency room."

"Hmm," I sighed too. Was she talking about that strange old lady we saw the previous night?

"Uh, wait! Nurse Kate?" I called after her, "I don't think I can make it to the cafeteria right now, could I have my breakfast here please?"

"Avoiding your parents again huh?" She sighed, "Listen kiddo, I know it's difficult—"

"— my who? My parents are here?"

"Yeah, they're here. I ran into them... unless it was meant to be a surprise... sorry."

"Yeah, what a surprise," I said through gritted teeth. "But no, uh, I just feel really tired and sore... so no cafeteria for me. You can tell my parents I hope they enjoy their meal."

"It sounds more like you'd like them to get food poisoning from their meal," Nurse Kate tried not to smile as she said that.

And then she was quiet for a moment, reading the irritation and anger I felt at them. No, I didn't want them to get food poisoning, that would've been terrible. But it also would have saved me some stress for a while.

"They're your parents, Esmeray," she said as if she could read my mind, "they only want what's best for you."

"They want to have me moved to the psych ward. Doesn't sound much like my best interest would be at heart there."

"How are you feeling today?" she repeated as she toyed nervously with some of her earrings.

"I already said I'm feeling a bit tired and my body is sore?"

"No... I meant with... about your friends? It's their birthday today isn't it? How is that making you feel?"

I looked at her with my head cocked to the side, a bit confused. "What do you mean? I feel fine? I mean I don't like my own birthday but I love celebrating with my friends."