The Locket | Hero Fiennes Tiffin

The Bad Day

Amelia

I wake up and grab my phone from my bedside table and see that it is half past 7. My phone must have been on silent so my alarm didn't go off "shit" I only have 25 minutes get ready for work and that involves taking a shower, putting in my contacts, getting dressed, making breakfast, doing my hair and makeup, and brushing my teeth.

I jump out of bed and quickly grab my uniform from my wardrobe, so I can go for a quick shower. There is no way that I am going to be able to do everything so I decide to skip doing my makeup, as I honestly would rather be on time than look nice because I am most likely not going to see anyone I meet today ever again. That's one of the perks of working in the accident and emergency department of a hospital, I don't get very many repeat customers, so I can look as shit as I want to. Within reason of course.

I walk down the hall to the bathroom and it's locked, of course it is. I knock on the door and shout "Ellie, can you please hurry up I need to get ready for work" She doesn't reply, but I can hear the water start to run so I know I will be here a while waiting for her. I walk away from the door and decide that I am also going to skip the shower and contacts for today, as I don't have time to sit and wait for her to get out the bathroom and I can wear my glasses instead. I walk back to my room and start putting my blue NHS uniform on as well as my black trainers, glasses and navy blue fleece. I then pick up my favourite necklace, which I wear everyday and put it on. Then I brush my hair and put it into a high ponytail with two pieces of hair hanging down to frame my face. This makes me look like I've put a little bit of effort into my appearance.

I take a quick glance at my phone and realise I've only got a minute until I need to leave so I grab my bag and run through to the kitchen to grab a rice crispy bar from the cupboard to eat on my way to the tube station.

I grab my keys off the hook and open the door to leave the apartment, but as I turn the lock on the door I hear one of the doors open behind me so I turn around.

"Well you look like shit" My cousin says trying not to laugh as she takes in my rushed appearance looking me up and down.
I give her the middle finger and say "I really am not in the mood right now" as I walk out of the apartment. I hear her mimic me as the door slams shut. Why is she so annoying?

I walk down the hallway and make my way to the lifts. As I get nearer I see that the lifts are out of order "This day is getting better and better" I say to myself annoyed that I now have to walk down six flights of stairs to even exit the building, which takes more time.

*****

I get out onto the street and begin the 10 minute walk to the tube station. After about 5 minutes of walking I take my cereal bar out of my bag and start eating it. I guess this is my breakfast for today then, and probably also my lunch if it's busy.

About 5 minutes later I reach the tube station and take out my Oyster card so I can pass through the barrier, but of course on today of all days I need to top it up and it won't let me through. I walk over to the top up machine and wait in the short queue. When I get to the front after 5 minutes because the person in front of me didn't even know how to use the machine, I put £20 on it and go back over to the barrier. Thank God it let's me through. I cant afford to have any more delays or I will definitely be late for work.

I walk towards the stairs leading down to the platform and when I get down to the platform, it is too hot. The train comes quite quickly after I get there, so I'm not waiting long, but when it opens it's door's I wish I had the time to wait for another. There are absolutely no seats left and it is chock full of people going to work. Reluctantly I step on and instantly regret it. I feel like I am struggling to breathe and the heat is making me lightheaded. Luckily the train stops soon after and lots of people get off. I finally feel like I can breathe again. The next stop is my stop, so I quickly get off and head towards the seemingly never ending escalator.

When I reach the surface, I turn left and carry on walking the rest of the way. I reach the hospital 10 minutes late. I hate being late, it just makes me so anxious as I also hate being yelled at by my boss. I quickly walk to the locker room and take my lanyard out of my bag, then I dump my bag into a locker and almost run towards the accident and emergency department, so I can take over from whoever was on nightshift  last night.

I knock on the door and wait for an answer. A few seconds later the door swings open to reveal one of my colleagues, who looks extremely tired.

"I am so sorry Lucy, my alarm didn't go off. I will stay later tonight if you need me to" I apologise
"Amelia,  it's fine, we all have off days, I don't mind honestly" she replies and then yawns
I feel awful and she agrees to let me stay a little later to make up for the lost time.

She hands over to me and I start my shift. I walk out into the waiting room and call in my first patient, who is a young boy that looks about six at first glance. He is with his mum and he has a bump on his head. I take them through to the consulting room and check if he has a concussion, which thankfully he doesn't  and then I put a bandage on his head so that he can go home. I tell a few jokes to the boy whilst I am bandaging him up and when I am done he has a smile on his face. After they leave I go out into the waiting room to get my next patient. This one looks like she is in a sour mood, so I pray that she is not going to snap at me.

I walk her through to the room and she tells me that she fell down and hurt her wrist. I carefully examine her wrist and then decide that she should go down to get an X-ray done on it. However, my suspicions were right and she starts being rude, demanding that I should go with her to the X-ray department and that I should be doing my job properly because she had apparently been waiting for hours. She then left after slating me about how "shit" I am at my job for 5 minutes. I had to pinch the bridge of my nose to stop myself from screaming at the top of my lungs. I then took my necklace out from under my uniform and opened the locket up to look at the picture of me and my childhood best friend Hero, who I hadn't seen in person for at least 10 years. He was the one who gave me the dolphin locket when I moved away to Scotland (my mum's home country) when I was 11. Looking at the picture inside the locket always made me feel better. I don't know why, it just does.

Five minutes later I walk out into the waiting room to call my next patient. I look down at the clipboard to see who's next. I stop dead in my tracks. It is Hero. The  same Hero who gave me the dolphin locket. The same Hero who I haven't seen in at least 10 years. I don't  know what to do, I feel like my feet are glued to the ground. This can't be happening, but I guess today of all days it is, because today just seems to be getting better and better......Not.

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Hi, I was debating for ages whether to publish this or not. It's been in my drafts for months and I'm still not sure on this. Feedback would be helpful, so if you like it so far let me know please 😊