One Shots 'The nursery nurse'

Addiction

That was an idea that had been floating around in my head. But I never really knew whether you could write a proper story based on it. Let's see how it goes down. If there's a demand, maybe I'll do a Part II
________________________________

Marjorie opened her eyes. She lay in the dark for a moment before turning on her side. She reached next to her on the other side of the bed, where she felt Reece. Her hand was on his chest, where she could feel his breath.

Marjorie tried to go back to sleep, but a pain spread through her neck. A pain that slowly rose into her head.

Marjorie breathed out loudly. Not now, she thought.

She lay still for a few more moments, but the pain got worse and now she was also getting dizzy. She had no other choice, so she dragged herself from the bed to her kitchen.

Chronic neck pain was the diagnosis she received from the doctors.

Stress relief, sport, meditation and yoga, that's what the doctors advised her. She didn't really stick to it. How could she? After all, she had a lot of responsibility and therefore a lot of working hours.

Marjorie opened the kitchen cupboard and took out the painkillers. Almost empty. She couldn't say how many she had used this week.

So she took another two.

Marjorie looked at the kitchen clock. Four o'clock in the morning, she still had two hours before she had to get up.

She went back to bed and tried to get back to sleep.

The alarm woke her from her half-sleep. Reece turned to her and took her in his arms.

"Hey you...", he murmured.

"Hey, good morning...", she gave him a kiss.

Reece was sitting in the kitchen drinking his coffee. He had already made a Togo mug for Marjorie. He was just waiting for her. When he heard loud footsteps.

"No Carly, don't worry ...... You're ill, stay at home..... I'll see you when you're feeling better... Bye." With that, she hung up the phone.

Marjorie leaned against the kitchen counter and closed her eyes. There it was again, the pain.

She took the pain medication out of the cupboard again and took two more tablets.

"Marjorie? Is everything all right?", asked Reece.

"Yes, everything's fine. Just got a headache. Carly called in sick, so we don't need to take her with us," she said, putting the packet of tablets in her bag.

"I guessed from your phone call that she was ill. I've made you a coffee to go. Are you ready?", Reece asked and stood up.

Marjorie nodded.

The computer screen was brighter than usual, at least that's how Marjorie felt.

Her eyes were burning and she really couldn't concentrate.

Autumn was sitting opposite her on the phone, dealing with an angry parent at the moment

Marjorie stopped, rubbed her eyes and held her position. She hadn't had a pain attack this long for a long time.

"Marjorie!" Charlotte's voice snapped her back to the here and now.

"Yes, what's wrong?" she asked.

Charlotte played nervously with her hands. "Max's mum wants to talk to you. She's not happy with the food here. She wants more meat on the menu..."

Marjorie put her glasses back on. "More meat?"

Charlotte continued. "Yes, to make sure Max gets more protein. Because he should, and I quote, 'grow big and strong and not be a weakling like some boys' ".

Marjorie exhaled loudly. "Ok, I'll talk to her."

Max's mum left the Nursery in a rage. The conversation had led nowhere. Charlotte looked at Marjorie. She looked tired, burnt out, she thought to herself.

"What a witch. Well, I'm going back to the office.", said the manager.

But after just a few steps, her eyes went black for a moment and she felt dizzier than ever. Marjorie caught herself against the wall. Her head and neck were throbbing.

Charlotte quickly ran to her. "Are you ok?"

But Marjorie just nodded and ran on. She left a worried Charlotte behind.

When she re-entered the office, she was followed by two eyes. She sat back down in her chair and rummaged through her bag.

"Another headache?", Autumn asked.

Marjorie just nodded.

On the one hand Autumn felt sorry for her, on the other she was glad. Marjorie didn't notice when she had a migraine. Autumn played nervously with the flask under her desk. That conversation on the phone had really upset her.

She carefully put the flask back in her bag. Autumn could already feel her hands shaking slightly. She took a big sip of her coffee. Well, it wasn't just coffee now. She immediately noticed how she became calmer again.

The working day dragged on for Autumn and what was even worse. Winter had gone to visit his family for a few days.

When she was finally home, her mood was in a complete slump.

It was bad enough that she was already secretly drinking at work. No, she was now alone and on top of everything else, she had made the mistake of looking at Siobhan's Instagram story.

And there she saw her lying by the pool in her childhood home. That bloodsucker had taken up residence there. Well, she and her father really did go together. Plague and cholera.

Autumn took a bottle of wine out of the cupboard.

It shouldn't bother her so much, she never had a good relationship with her father. But every time she saw the fathers at work with their children. Her heart broke a second time.

Autumn looked at the Instagram story again. She breathed loudly and poured herself a glass of wine.

After one bottle, she would forget all about it.

The next morning, the two women were back in the office.

Autumn had noticed that Marjorie had swallowed another couple of pills.

Marjorie, on the other hand, had long known about the flask that Autumn always had with her.

Both knew that the other had a problem. But neither of them wanted to talk about it.