Watch Me Drown

17. Incident

TW: homophobia, assualt, needle (IV)

(Julien's point of view)

"You're Abby's girlfriend?" The nurse smiled at me.

I nodded, trying to force a smile of my own. It probably looked like I was in pain. I realized that this was the same nurse, Hailey, from the coughing blood incident.

"She's okay?" I asked as she led me down the hall.

"Yes." She said, but it sounded very hesitant.

"Are you sure?" I questioned.

"Ah, Doctor Thompson!" She exclaimed at a man standing in front of a room.

Saved by the bell. I tried not to scowl.

"Just give me one moment to talk to the doctor." Hailey the nurse said.

She walked over to him, and I watched. They tried to be quiet, but I could still make out a few words. Words like "Panic" and "Heart rate" and "Conscious" and "Shaky" and talk of an IV. I wanted to yell.

"This is her friend?" The doctor asked.

"This is her girlfriend." The nurse corrected him.

"Girlfriend?"

"Yes, sir."

He looked completely and utterly disgusted.

"She can see Abby, yes?" Hailey asked.

"Yes." The doctor said stiffly.

He walked away and I went up to Hailey. She smiled sympathetically. "Sorry about him."

"It's okay." I shrugged.

"So..." Hailey cleared her throat. "There was a bit of an incident."

"What happened?" I asked quickly.

"Abby woke up when there were a bunch of doctors and nurses fussing over her," She explained. "And, rightfully so, she panicked, and started flailing. The last thing she had seen before passing out was you, then she woke up with you replaced by strangers in scrubs and masks. Everyone thought she was having a seizure, so they...tried to pin her down. But she fought back, and started yelling, so everyone knew she was awake."

"They pinned her down?" I choked out.

Hailey nodded, ashamed of her colleagues.

"Is she hurt?" My blood was boiling.

"No broken bones, no sprains," Hailey informed me. "But there will be quite a bit of bruising."

"And how many people were there?" I forced myself to not lose my shit.

"Four people," She said. "Three nurses, one doctor."

"So four medical staff just assaulted her?" I replied.

"I..." She was at a loss for words.

A million thoughts were running through my head. Do we take legal action? Would we sue? Was it that big of a deal? Would Abby want to take legal action? Would she want to forget it ever happened? Would this haunt her for the rest of her life? Would she not trust doctors? Had she had a panic attack? Was she having a panic attack then?

"I need to see her." I said.

"I'll give you two a few minutes." The nurse said and gestured toward the door of the room. "She's in there."

I marched right up to the door and opened it. Abby was sitting in a bed, her legs pulled to her chest. Her arms were wrapped around them. She fidgeted with her hoodie, which I realized was actually my hoodie, and was breathing unsteadily. One of the sleeves of the hoodie was pulled up for an IV. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was blotchy; she had been crying a lot. A heart monitor was also in the room, the cord sticking out from under her shirt. She jumped when I opened the door, but visibly relaxed when she saw me.