CINNAMON

9. Chapter

Naomi

I woke up that someone is hiitting me,  which didn't make sense because I found myself on a sandcastle, trying to find the treasure for the princess.

"Get up, Sleeping Beauty, it's time to go to work," I mumbled, only now realizing that something was cooling me from below, and too much light was entering the room. I heard some banging downstairs and opened my eyes.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, we need to get to work," El started clapping, and it didn't help my hangover at all; I felt like killing her.

"Meaning, destroying lives?" I tried to sit up, but my back was so sore from the floor that it didn't work well.

"Maybe," she slipped on her heels, and I fell back onto the pillow.

I couldn't sleep much last night; I kept thinking about how we ended up with that terrible night. If he came back and apologized, I wouldn't have a problem forgiving him, but he didn't, so I found myself twisted on the floor. I found my phone lying next to me and checked the time. I'm already late, but luckily I have a patient in an hour.

Downstairs smelled of coffee and toast. Lyn had prepared a plate full of vegetables, and I started eating before they even sat down at the table.

"Thank you, Lyn," El gave her a nasty look, and with my mouth full, I just nodded. "I shouldn't praise you so much, but it's really good, I'd just add more salt next time," Lyn chuckled and handed her the salt shaker, which she didn't take anyway and ate it in two bites.

Lyn kicked us out of the house before half-past seven because she was in a hurry to get to school. El drove me to town, and I tried to powder my nose in the car.

"Have you decided yet?" El brought it up after a few minutes of silence that filled the car.

"With what?" I always make decisions at the last minute, as if she didn't know me.

"With Jason," I almost smeared lipstick to my chin. "You know, from the start, he didn't seem right to me, and I have a nose for people," we all know how she has a nose for people, and she thought I was a secret police agent because I didn't talk much during the first days of school.

"I'm not sure if that applies to people; I thought it only applies to food. But nobody ever liked you at first, and if I remember correctly, you thought the same about me, and don't get me started on Lyn," she thought Lyn was a witch because of her stubborn curls and also because she almost poisoned her with undercooked meat, but it wasn't that much of a disaster.

"I'm not saying it's not true, but even the master carpenter sometimes cuts himself, but I had the chance to get to know him, and my opinion of him hasn't changed. I told you that back then, and I'll tell you now. Leave him be."

"It was different back then," I combed my hair and put it in a slick bun.

"How was it different? It ended in a disaster, just as I predicted."

"Tayler was here," I interrupted her and didn't allow myself to think about him; he doesn't exist for me anymore, actually, he doesn't exist at all.

"He wasn't responsible for everything," she wanted to argue with me, but I wouldn't let her.

"For most things, unfortunately, yes."

"Okay, I admit, he was crazy, but he's not here now, and don't let yourself step into the same water twice."

"I'll try," I unbuckled my seatbelt when she stopped in the hospital parking lot. "Thank you for the ride," I breathed out so I wouldn't slam the door and headed among the crowd of people.

My office, along with the clinic, was on the fifth floor, but today I decided to walk. Bad idea, very bad idea, I couldn't find my lungs; I probably left them somewhere on the first floor.

Tatiana was already waiting for me inside with another cup of coffee, and I thanked her for it and I quickly changed. I looked at my white coat with the name Ray. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry because it didn't mean anything to my parents anyway.

"Naomi? May I?" I took a deep breath and nodded. Today is a beautiful day to save some lives.

I was completely exhausted after a whole day of handling paperwork. Tatiana had made me my sixth coffee to keep my eyes open, and when she told me that the last person was waiting in the waiting room, I breathed a sigh of relief. I prepared my papers, popped a handful of nuts into my mouth, and showed that I was ready.

A boy appeared at the door, whom I had the opportunity to see yesterday. I think his name was Oto. He was wearing a blue scrubs, so a surgical intern. I quickly wiped my mouth after the remaining nuts.

"Good afternoon," he greeted me and sat on the chair in front of me.

"Sorry to disturb you, but Dr. Carter isn't working today, and they sent me to you," he stumbled, and I didn't understand what he meant because Carter won't be working properly for another three years.

"My patient has temporary complete paralysis, but since yesterday, he's been experiencing chest pains. He had seizures four times during the night, so I gave him medication, but I don't know what else to do," he looked at his fidgeting hands, and I understood what's going on.

"And this patient, is he on Ferris Street?" he nodded, but didn't raise his gaze to me. "I thought so. Mrs. Miller sent you?" he gave me a positive answer, and I closed my eyes to count.

"You should know something," he began. "I'm not a doctor yet, but I think he didn't want to survive. He had narcotics in his blood and he wasn't wearing a helmet when they went on the slope."

"They went skiing?" One thing I knew for sure about him was that he hated winter sports.

"Y-y-yes, but I don't know more. No one told me anything specific. But you can talk to Mrs. Miller. She's waiting outside." I ran my fingers through my hair, ruining whatever was left of my hairstyle.

He left. I could use some narcotics right now instead of him?

I finished the paperwork for tomorrow and prepared the documents for the head doctor. I waved goodbye to Tatiana on my way out and headed to my favorite café in the city center. However, in front of the building, I saw Mrs. Miller sitting on a bench. I had no choice but to walk past her, so I went straight to face the inevitable.

"Hello," I said, sitting down on the bench, looking straight ahead.

"How's your sister?" The change in conversation surprised but also pleased me.

"She's fine, my mom wants to pack her off to me," she smiled and started advising me to be gentler and more welcoming to my sister.

"I heard what happened to your brother, my condolences," I had no intention of commenting on that.

"It was a long time ago," we fell silent, and I watched the cars struggling to find parking. Rebecca placed her hand on my thigh. I knew exactly what she needed. Help. Am I even capable of giving it to her?

"I brought his file again; I just need a miracle, and he always said you were his," I took the file from her and put it in my bag.

"I can't promise anything," I left without another word.

When I finally opened the door to my modest one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town, I felt like crying. My parents lived nearby, practically in a villa, and I was barely managing to pay off this place. I headed straight to the kitchen and opened my last bottle of red wine. I didn't bother with a glass and drank straight from the bottle. I sat on the floor and leaned my back against the bedframe. I opened his file and began reading.

Many records were missing as if even I wasn't supposed to know everything, just what I needed. The treatment was completely wrong; he didn't need this at all. On the contrary, he needed movement, and he couldn't manage it only because he hadn't used his muscles properly for four months.

Just wait.