Hope and All its Enemies

Chapter 3: I don't want to go among mad people

I had found myself on the first floor in an On-Call room near the ER. I sat in the corner rocking myself back and forth holding my knees to my chest. I had no clue how I got there but I made no plans on leaving. My hair was soaking I didn't understand why at first. Then I noticed my eyes drenched in tears. I stared at the wall in the On-call room.

There wasn't much in there just a futon beds, a bunk bed, a small coffee table in the corner, and a dresser with a mirror. It was dark except for the tiny bit of light peering through the blinds, creating light on my toes. I scanned the room for a clock and found one above the wide window. It read 6:38 pm which was surprising for the amount of light outside. It's never sunny in Washington.

It was pretty quiet in the On-Call room with the exception of the loud screams and screeches from the ER. I had guessed there was an accident on the way because I hear loud and fast footsteps outside and then sirens following.

I stood up slowly. Wiping my hair out of my face putting it up in a ponytail. I crept around the room slowly. I looked down at my feet noticing my shoes weren't there. I had also lost my coat. I jumped down to the floor to check if they were under the bed. And sure enough they were.

I started pulling them out from under when I heard a loud screech. "HELP! I NEED HELP!" said the young male voice. I let go of the jacket and got up opening the door quickly.

I stepped out to the middle of the hallway, just in time to see the boy fall. He started shaking violently. I ran to him and knelt down next to him. His eyes white, wide open and teeth clenched down hard. I hovered my hand over him. "HELP!" I yelled. I was panicking until I remembered. We learned about the shaking in science. Seizures. I started thinking hard trying to remember. Okay yeah you have to hold their head to keep from hitting on the ground.

I put my hands on this shoulders using my forearm to keep his head still. "Help! This boy needs help!" Then a female doctor, an intern, poked her head around the corner. My back faced to her but I turned my head to see if there was someone coming.

'Hey what are you doing back here?' she said coming towards me.

'This boy needs help.'

'boy?...'

Thats when she noticed the shaking boy in my hands. "Oh god, I'm gonna need some help back her" she knelt down beside the boy checking his pulse with two fingers on his neck. 'Okay..umm' she moved him to his side and held up his head. "How long has been like this?" she looked at me with concern almost out of breath. I shook my head in fear. "Okay I need you to run. Go get help and fast" I nodded in agreement. I quickly jumped up and sprinted down the hall. My bare feet pounding on the floor. When I reached the ER entrance there were so many people but my ears had blocked out the sound. I scanned the room and when I couldn't find anyone free my only instinct was to yell "Help!" off the top of my lungs. The level of volume dropped quickly while people turned their heads to look at me. "The boy," I pointed behind me "He needs help" a female doctor ran up to me then past me to check in the hallway. "Crap." She said running down the hallway a male and female nurse ran after her with a AED and a stretcher. I backed up to the wall putting up my hands. My heart pounding out of my chest. Everything was moving slowly and my vision was blurry. I looked back down the hallway, checking if the boy was okay. He was already gone. I remember his young face and the blood on this head, and the down his arms.

I walked into the ER desk. Phones ran and chatter went on and the sound of the TV would have driven everyone crazy. I didn't bother asking for help. I walked straight out to the lobby. The lobby was surprisingly quiet. There wasn't much motion except for the occasional doctors walking from on hallway to another and a phone call here and there. I stood in the middle of the lobby letting time pass around me.

I thought about all the fun times with mom I remember the little stuff. Me scraping my knee and mom taking my curled up body in her arms. The face of desperation the night a man tried to walk into our house " That is not your father" she repeated to herself over and over again. Remembering all this but it did not make me shed a tear not one. I stood in the hallway quietly, alone. Not quite sure what I was looking at but admiring it's color deeply. Noise around me following in and out my ear. Then I remembered the young boy. His face soft but full of pain. Too young to carry it around. His hair blonde and short and his nose thin. He must have been no older than 9 and he was all alone.

Finally I approached the front desk.

"Dawn? Why are you still here? Is that blood?"said the lady who sat behind the desk who's name was Maria.

"Hey Maria, What time is it?"

"8:00 but..." I cut her off.

"I'm gonna.. go." I walked off toward the elevator. She stood up "Dawn!" It was too late because the elevator doors were already closing. I pressed 3 and waited in silence. Then exited when the elevator reached third. I examined the hallways on this floor especially the Peds hallways that I walked towards. They were painted yellow, not like neon or anything and not quite banana yellow either.

I walked down the hallway trying to remember the right room number. 216. "Bingo" I whispered to myself. I walked in and there was Marie sitting quietly staring at the walls. I came in and didn't even greet her I crawled on to her bed and sat at her feet. She, completely dismissing the blood on my face and hands, gave me a small grin that faded almost instantly barely. I looked down at my hands fiddling with the sleeves of my sweater. "My moms gonna die" I said. "My mom abandoned me" she said. I looked at her straight and we peered into each others eyes. Her eyes as blue as the ocean and as clear as the sky. I looked down at her night stand. Her eyes followed mine. "Hmm... Alice in wonderland" I grinned. She picked up the book and examined it then looking back at me, she scooted over and lifted the blanket as if gesturing for me to lay next to her. I crawled into the sheets and rested my head on her shoulder. "Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after‑time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the..." As she began to read I began to dose off along every word she read.