Night shift - Completed

Chapter 9

Calum's POV

There was something about laying around all day that made me even more tired. After finishing my lacklustre lunch, I decided to nap whilst the others were out and it was quiet - but what I learnt was that, in a hospital, this was very difficult. Within moments the wards emergency alarm rang and it was like pandemonium in the room.

"Yvonne! Poppy! I need help!" I could hear people running, yelling for things they needed. The alarm finally silenced but the voices were still loud, scared, upset.

"His blood pressure is low, and his pulse, we need fluid now." I could hear Poppy say. Someone ran to a phone and put out an emergency call. Moments later, an army of people ran in, past my room and further down the ward to help everyone else. "He's fitting!" Doctors shouted orders that were too mumbled for me to hear but the silence in my room was deafening. I panicked, even though there was nothing I could do to help this person, and suddenly saw how precious life really was. Our lives are so easy in ways - we get upset when we can't see our families while we tour or when our music just isn't cutting it and we can't work out why, but we never had to deal with sickness and injury and death. This is what these nurses saw on a daily basis. Somehow, Poppy was still so cheery and lighthearted even when she has seen these things every day.

"Derek? Can you hear me? Derek?" Another voice suddenly brought me from my thoughts.

"He's unresponsive." Someone else stated as more things were run up and down the ward.

"Starting CPR." Poppy shouted over the noise and I could imagine her working her hardest to help this man. My grip tightened on the bedding as I tried desperately to listen out for signs that this guy was going to be okay... but I didn't hear any.

"Doctor, call it." A strict voice spoke sadly.

"No, Yvonne." Poppy argued, sounding like she was still working on the man.

"Sorry Poppy, time of death 14:21." A male voice spoke, who I would have assumed was the doctor. A silence rung out over the ward. Every other patient would have heard it too. Someone just died right in this room we were in. It was surreal. I couldn't get my head around it. This didn't happen, surely? Without thinking, I pressed my call bell. Within seconds, Poppy had popped her head through the door to check on me. She tried to look normal but I could tell she was upset.

"Hey Calum, everything okay?" She asked, her normally cheerful voice sounding a little downtrodden. I waved her into the room and she shut the door behind her.

"That's what I wanted to ask you..." I sighed, trying to offer her a smile. She looked thankfully at me.

"I'm alright, thank you." She lied well but not well enough, I could still see past it. I pulled a face that said I didn't believe her and she sighed, letting her shoulders droop how she had wanted to from the beginning. "Derek had been on the ward a while, everyone knew him. It's just a shame sometimes we can't help people how we want to." She was brutally honest with me, as if talking to her friend rather than her patient.

"Poppy, as great as you are you're not a superhero. Everyone has a point where it all becomes too much." I tried to soothe her, not really knowing what to say to make it better. It was a pretty shitty situation and words weren't often going to make it any better. She looked down at the floor before looking up at me again, past her long brown eyelashes.

"You're really not like other patients, you know." She said cryptically, leaving me asking for more. I was about to open my mouth to ask what she meant when the door swung open and the boys walked in, armed with bags of takeaway food. Poppy let out a small laugh. "You guys never stop eating, do you?" They all laughed with her as they opened the boxes and dished the food out between them.

"What did we miss?" Ashton said lightheartedly as he stuffed some chips in his mouth. Once again, Poppy's head lowered.

"Someone on the ward died." I stated, almost angry with them for their timing and happiness. "I was checking Poppy was okay." They froze instantly and put their food down.

"I'm so sorry." Michael said first, the others nodding in agreement.

"How are you?" Luke pressed, "Both of you?" His gaze looked to me as if to say he knew it'd affect me more than I was willing to say.

"I'm okay thanks Luke. It's always tough at the time but we have to soldier on!" Poppy somehow still sounded enthusiastic, cheerful that this was her job. They both looked at me as if they were waiting for me to answer.

"It's sad man, I just can't believe it." I said honestly. There was so much more I wanted to say, but with Poppy in the room I wanted to make sure i seemed okay. Really I wanted to express my worry for how short life really is and that it can be taken from people at any moment. Derek could have been one hundred or twenty, i was just too scared to ask which it was. I didn't want to know. As far as our black and white view went, you died when you were old or seriously, incurably ill.

"Anyway, I'll let you all eat in peace. I'm going to fill in the paperwork on Derek. Just call me if you need anything." She smiled at us all, nodding her head at us as she bowed out of the room.

"So, did you find out who told Shine off?" Luke was straight back to business as soon as the door shut. I tutted and rolled my eyes.

"Someone just died in here man, have some respect!" I snapped, causing the others to exchange worries glances. Luke said nothing back but he turned himself away from me, digging through the boxes to find some food.

"Ash, give that to the miserable troll over there." Luke handed Ashton a box which in turn he handed to me. When I opened it, I was thrilled to see a huge selection of southern fried chicken and chips, just what my hungover self needed.

"Alright, I'm sorry. It just got to me. We've never had to deal with death before and I never want to again." I breathed out, trying to calm myself. "Poppy said he went to speak to the head nurse, Yvonne. It's definitely her from how she described it. He changed instantly while talking to her." There was silence in the room for a second before Luke spoke up.

"I'll let management know, they'll send someone to talk to her."