The Good Doctor

Dream Anxiety Disorder

Doctor Henrich Scneeplestein made his way down the hall slowly, but with purpose. The bright lights glared against the harsh, clinical white walls and pale blue floor, threatening to sterilize his vision. He had spent hours on his last operation. Despite the success, and the joy he felt for having saved another one, his head was spinning. Lack of food and sleep were beginning to wear him down. No matter, he would rest soon. First he had to tell the family that

their beloved mother was safe and sound for now.

He pushed through the doors to the central commons area where the nurses station was, and waved to the current nurse behind the desk. She gave him a friendly, but strained smile. She must have been there as long as he had.

Past the nurses station, and past the elevators was the waiting room where he could see the family waiting as patiently as they could. The father was pacing still, the son doing his best to ease him into rest, with the young daughter curled up asleep on the couch, her coat thrown over her like a blanket to keep her warm. The doctor paused before entering the room, taking a deep breath as he fumbled habitually with the stethoscope around his neck.

The son saw him first, and paused his ranting with his father which caused the father to pause in his pacing. The son reached down and tapped at the sister who sat up straight as if she had been awake the whole time. All of them had a look of dread in their eyes.

Doctor Schneeplestein forced a tired but genuine smile onto his face and stepped through to give them all the good news. Even before he stepped past the threshold, the father was sending prayers of thanks to the Heavens above.

"She iz well," Schneeplestein assured them in his odd accent, "Ze blood clots were a concern, but not anymore! She vill be on medication for the rest of her life, but she is alive, and zat is ze most important part!"

"You did it!" said the father in amazement.

He grasped the good doctor by the shoulders, smiling brightly as he said again, "You did it! You did it!"

The father's hands slipped up Schneeplestein's shoulders. With an elated smile, the father grasped a little tighter. His fingers pressed in, digging uncomfortably into Schneeplestein's skin. The man was so excited that he must not have known his own strength. Schneeplestein reached up and placed his hands over the man's fingers in attempt to pry them off, but the man had a grasp on the doctor that would not be broken.

"You did it!"

The man's toothy grin strained. His brows furrowed, and his nose wrinkled.

"You did it!"

Doctor Schneeplestein watched in horror as the man's face warped into a maddening, unbridled rage. His fingers were around the doctor's neck now, pressing in at the soft tissue, cutting off circulation.

"You did it!" The man cried again.

Doctor Schneeplestein could feel his windpipe collapsing. He struggled to get the man off of him, but his grip was relentless. The pressure in his head throbbed as the man continued to squeeze and scream "You did it! You did it!"

Schneeplestein's eyes darted around for any signs of help. The only thing still in focus of his blurry vision was the children off to the side staring at him in horror, and the red, twisted, infuriated face of the man who was destined to kill him.

"You did it!" the man continued to scream.

Schneeplestein's arms and legs went slack. Pins and needles shot through him, and his tongue rolled wildly, writhing in his open mouth in attempt to dislodge the thumbs that were crushing down on his windpipe. He grasped desperately at the father's arms, but his fingers had lost all feeling. He could hear the throbbing in his ears as his heart struggled and his lungs spasmed in a desperate plea for oxygen. Static sparkled around the edges of his vision. As he slowly sank down, the darkness reached up to swallow him whole.

"YOU. DID. THIS!!!"

Doctor Schneeplestein gasped loudly for air, and sat up straight, his eyes flinging wide open. He grasped at his neck as he gulped in the air, and felt no hands there. Schneeplestein whipped his head around and found no angry father, no horrified children; Just a silent, empty hospital room dimly lit with a bedside lamp.

Schneeplestein took a deep, calming breath to regulate his breathing, and wiped the sweat from his brow. His whole body was shaking from the nightmare.

"I couldn't save her," he mumbled to himself.

He stared down at his hands for a moment, contemplating the reality of the situation. They were clean, of course, but he could still see the blood on them. He had always heard that the first lost would haunt him forever, but he never realized just how true that statement was until that day.

"Doctor?"

Schneeplestein glanced up to see one of the nurses peeking into the room. Tall and brown-skinned with a hijab wrapped around her head, she was a soothing sight for the doctor. Nurse Malki had been a friend of his from the first day he began his practice at the hospital.

"Taking a bit of a rest?" the young lady asked, her British accent soothing to his soul.

"Come, sweet lady," said Schneeplestein, motioning to the other bed in the room. "You have always been a good friend to me. Vill you sit a moment with me?"

"You're still upset over losing Sarah," Malki surmised.

He flinched upon hearing the woman's name. It somehow made things even more real.

The doctor smiled weakly and replied, "Always a smart lady, you are."

She blushed and waved it off. "Oh, thank you, but... it's very obvious you are upset. We are very worried about you."

"Ze first loss vill always haunt you," he quoted, waving a finger in the air. "I vill need some time to overcome zis obstacle. But fear not! I vill come back stronger than ever, more determined. I am here to save lives!"

Malki giggled, and nodded her approval. "That is a very positive mental attitude you have, Doctor! We cannot save them all, but we must always do our best."

"Zis is correct!" said Schneeplestein. "But alas, I think I should rest a while longer. I have a little time left on my break, and I am still tired from ze last patient."

"I will leave you be then, my friend," said Malki as she stood.

Doctor Schneeplestein laid back down as his friend made her way to the door. The nurse paused before exiting and glanced back at him. She was still very concerned for him. He was much more lethargic than usual, and was having nightmares more often. She mumbled something about medication, but when Schneeplestein perked up and asked what she had said, she simply smiled and said, "Nothing. Rest well, Good Doctor."

She stepped out and closed the door to the room just enough to give him some privacy, leaving it open a crack. The doctor laid back down on the hospital bed and stared up at the ceiling, and let himself drift as close as he dared to sleep. Just as he began to doze off, he heard a voice over the intercom: "Doctor Schneeplestein to A and E. Doctor Schneeplestein to A and E."

Schneeplestein's eyes popped open. With a sigh, he sat up, stretched, and made his way out of the empty hospital room that had served as his temporary sanctuary.

"No rest for ze wicked!"