Secrets to Keep (Phan)

Chapter 21

I hated hospitals.

I hated everything about them; the needles and the sterile scent that lingered in everything, the white walls that were never truly white, but instead always faded out to a depressing grey or hideously stained yellow. I hated the florescent lighting that made every dark circle under each patient's eyes ten times more visible, and I hated how the threat of death lurked in the corner of every room.

So, given the circumstances, waking up to the incessant beeping of a machine, and a nurse who looked more drained than I felt changing the drip of clear liquid that led to my arm, didn't exactly make me feel ecstatic. My head was pounding and those god forsaken lights were burning my eyes through my lids even worse than the dryness in my mouth was burning my scratchy throat. My breath tasted like dead things to put it simply, and the only coherent thought that I could manage to pick up running through my brain was, "where's Dan".

Carefully, I lifted up my only arm that wasn't having its veins leaked into to touch my forehead, where I was met with the scratchy feeling of what I assumed was gauze on the pads of my four fingers that weren't clamped with those weird, grey, finger clips that measure your pulse.

The nurse quickly turned to look at me with dull green eyes, only now noticing my alertness due to the small movement, and through what may or may not have been magic, her bedside manner was switched on, and a smile spread its way over her pale lips. She looked more, well, alive, as color flooded her pale face in a healthy glow.

"Well look who decided to join us today." she stated, continuing to reattach my arm tubing to a fresh pouch. I tried to sit up, but every individual muscle in my body ached and creaked like parts of a machine coated in rust. The nurse immediately went to hit the button on my hospital bed, making her blonde ponytail bounce, and elevating the back so that I was in a sitting position. The small amount of movement was enough to send my vision swirling in and out darkness.

"Where's Dan?" I croaked out in a broken voice, though I doubt she was able to understand the squeak that came out instead of words. Quickly, the nurse brought a cup from the bedside table close enough to me so that the green bendy straw was aligned with my cracked lips, and I took a few sips while the cool water soothed the desert that was my mouth like a summer rain.

"What was that?" the nurse- who's name tag read Vanessa- asked in a soft voice, and I saw her reach down to her belt to page someone, I'm assuming an actual doctor.

"Where's Dan?" I repeated, my voice less broken this time, yet still weak.

"Daniel was assigned treatment down in the pediatrics ward." Vanessa answered sweetly, and just as she said it another woman walked in with a pristine, white doctor's coat fluttering behind her.

This girls' thick ringlety hair was tied back in a dark bun with strands falling out every-which-way, and her blueish-green eyes that sat behind thin-rimmed glasses were a shock given the darker caramel color of her skin.

"Hello Mr. Lester it's great to finally meet you, I'm Dr. Meyers." she introduced herself, and her wordings left me slightly more confused than I already was.

"What do you mean finally? How long have I been asleep?" I asked, stricken with panic. I wanted to see Dan.

"Only a night, there's no need to worry." Dr. Meyers answered with a smile, "We've already contacted your bosses so you're not missing work. Do you remember what happened Mr. Lester?" she asked, glancing down at her charts.

"I-I think something exploded?" I replied questioningly, "It was all so fast, just a boom and I fell over, and Dan- is Dan alright?" I asked suddenly, making me wonder why I hadn't asked earlier.