Obscurity

Chapter 9: Motives

Alma

Sierra scoots across the entry way to our room and rests her back against the door. She wipes her nose on her shirt and stares up at me.

I ball the paper she slid under the bathroom door up and throw it in her face.

"The next time you threaten someone, you should really think about who you're fucking with." I hiss. "Did you really think you were going to get some mediocre response from me? Did you think I'd beg you to keep your mouth shut? Tell you to just mind your business?" I rapid fire the questions at her. I don't expect a response. She seems surprised by the right hook I gave her.

She sits there, still wiping her nose on her shirt.

I sigh. "Tip your head back and pinch the bridge of your nose, idiot." She tries to do as I say but it looks painful and I begin to doubt my own advice. It looks broken.

"I'll be back." I rush out of the room and get a nurse.

When we enter the room, the nurse looks to me, "What happened here?"

I prepare to tell her what I did and face the appropriate consequences when Sierra speaks up first.

"I ran into the door when I was coming back to the room to give Alma her clothes. When I left the door was open so I assumed it still was and clumsy me ran smack right into it." She covers.

My eyes go wide and my jaw drops. What the hell is she doing?

She looks over to me, "Isn't that right, Alma?"

I put my arms behind my back because I notice my knuckles are a little swollen. "Yeah, that's right. You klutz." I laugh uncomfortably.

The nurse looks at me and then back to Sierra. I think she knows better. "Well then let's go Sierra. You're going to need to see Medical." She helps her up and instructs her to keep her head tipped back as she leads her out of the room.

As they walk out, I notice the crumpled, balled-up paper I threw at Sierra sitting on the floor near the wall. I walk over and pick it up. I throw it in the bathroom trash bin.

If she hadn't been such a cocky jerk with sliding that paper under the door, she wouldn't have been punched. I silently chastise myself for resorting to violence. I'm not a violent person. I think deep down the reason I hit her was because I needed to show her she has to stop messing with me. I hugged a Unit Manager, so what?

She slid a paper from the Patient's Rights and Responsibilities section of the information I was given earlier under the door to intimidate me. The page specifically outlined and stated that staff were not to fraternize with patients or clients and it is strictly prohibited. She was just showing me that she has an ace in her deck and I wasn't having it. She doesn't have shit anyways. It was a hug, nothing more.

I look down and see clothing, half folded from being dropped, and recall Sierra saying the clothes were for me. I collect them and walk over to my bed. I lay the top and pants out and check them for blood. They're clean, surprisingly. I gather the underclothes and scrubs and head into the bathroom.

I look around the bathroom for toiletries. Sierra's will have to do. I close the door and start the shower. I feel the water and adjust the temperature to make it as hot as I think I can stand it. I slip out of my sweater and jeans and carefully climb in the shower.

The hot water is nice. Steam starts to fill the shower stall. I let the water hit my back, and I stand there, thoughts racing through my mind.

Why didn't she rat me out? I'm sure she's working some angle. How could she possibly use this to her advantage? The possibilities float around in a quick succession and I can't seem to pin down an explanation for the cover. I shake the thoughts of Sierra from my head and shampoo my hair. I've got to block that girl from my thoughts. I cannot let her and her motives consume me. I'll be out of here by this time tomorrow and she will be a thing of the past.

I was fully ready to accept responsibility with it all and she stepped up and lied. If it comes back to bite me in the ass, so be it. There is not much I can do at this point. I just wish there was some way to figure out what she's planning to do, how she might use this against me, so I can counter it.

After finishing washing, I rinse off and I step out the shower and towel off. I quickly dress because it's steamy but not exactly warm in the bathroom. As I'm gathering my dirty clothes, there's a knock on the bathroom door. I unlock it and open it up.

"Alma. I came to collect your laundry." The nurse says. I recognize her as the one who took Sierra to Medical.

"Here you go." I hand them over, and she promptly stuffs them into a mesh bag with my room and bed number on it, 5B. "Thanks." I say as she turns to go. She nods and continues down the hallway with a cart collecting everyone's clothing.

I shuffle over to my bed, wringing out my hair along the way. A few drops here and few there. No real mess. My mind begins to circle back around to my crazy room mate and why she did what she did. Alma, get a grip! I tell myself. She was probably just afraid, she probably doesn't even have any plan. I probably just scared her shitless. She obviously wasn't expecting a show of force.

I climb into the bed, not bothering to shut off the light that's still on over in Sierra's side of the room. I figure she'll eventually be back from Medical, and she can get it. I don't care.

Warm under my covers; I stare at the ceiling. My thoughts trail away from Sierra and over to Chris. Why is he so good looking? And my goodness, he smells divine. It was just a hug, nothing more Alma. Or was it? He held on as long as I did. If it weren't for psycho Sierra who knows how long we would've stood there?

Enough, I tell myself. I'm going home tomorrow. I won't ever see Chris again. And though I'm grateful for his help, it doesn't mean he has feelings for me. Just simply believing someone doesn't mean they like you, I reason. I'm so very thankful he thought over what I told him and investigated it further. Hope. I have hope for tomorrow. Nothing can take that away. Nothing.

I close my eyes. And even though I know I shouldn't, I dream of Chris.