Doctor: Mitchell
AM Nurse: Riley
Doctor Mitchell? She didn’t recognize that name.
A whooshing sound made her turn her head again, and she identified the sound as the door sliding open. Ken walked in staring at his phone. When he raised his head and saw her staring at him, he froze. Then he slipped his phone into his pocket and rushed to the bed.
“Hi there,” he said softly, smiling. He had haggard lines on his face, big dark circles under his eyes, and at least a week’s beard growth. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see your eyes.”
“What…?” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
He stepped close and brushed her hair off her forehead. “It’s okay now.”
“I don’t…” Exhausted, she closed her eyes and licked her lips. “Thirsty.”
“I’m not sure you can drink yet. I’ll find out.”
She didn’t turn her head again but listened to the whooshing sound of the door. A few seconds later, the door opened again, and the blond man she’d seen came into her vision. “Mrs. Dixon, I’m Nurse Riley. Just Riley works. It’s great to see you awake.” He checked her IV bag and her arm. “Do you have any pain?”
Pain? Trying to focus, it occurred to her that everything felt like ticklish pins and needles. “No.”
“Good. That means the good drugs are doing their job.”
“Thirsty.” She closed her eyes, unable to take his movement. It made her head swim.
“Doctor Mitchell said you can have ice chips. Let’s start there. It’s been a few days since you had anything on your stomach. I’ll be right back.”
Days? What had happened? She made the effort to turn her head again and saw Ken standing by the bed. She tried to lift her hand, but she could only manage to raise it slightly off the bed before it collapsed back. He must have perceived what she needed because he immediately scooped up her hand.
She licked her dry lips with her impossibly dry tongue and croaked, “What happened? I don’t remember.”
Ken pressed his lips against her wrist and said, “It’s okay. We’ll talk once you have some ice in you. You’re super foggy from the pain medication, too.”
Riley returned with a Styrofoam cup and a plastic spoon. He scooped a piece of ice onto the spoon and held it up to her lips. “Open.”
The cold ice hitting her tongue felt like the most wonderful sensation she’d ever experienced. She closed her eyes and let the water melt and drip down her tongue to the back of her mouth.
The next time she opened her eyes, Ken was gone. The whiteboard had a new name for her nurse. This time it read:
Doctor: Mitchell
PM Nurse: Carla
The door whooshed. This time, her head turned with more ease. Ken walked in, his gaze searching her face as if trying to read her current state of being. “Hey,” he said, walking up to the bed and kissing her forehead. “How are you?”
She lifted her hand, and this time could keep it up. He took it. “Less medicine head,” she croaked. “Can I have more ice chips?”
“Don’t know,” he said with a smile. “Last one knocked you out for about four hours.”
He picked up the cup on the table near her bed and lifted ice with the spoon. It felt so refreshing when it went into her mouth. She sucked and swallowed and tried to let the ice touch every part of her mouth. “Thank you,” she said when she swallowed the last drop. “I am so thirsty. My throat hurts.”
“That’s from the breathing tube, I’m sure. Doctor Mitchell thought you’d be sore.”
She searched his face, looking for anything that would hint as to what happened. “I don’t remember.”
He sat down and leaned his elbows on her bed. “Do you remember Rosita?”
As if unbidden, her free hand moved over the blankets covering her stomach. Flat. “Rosita?”
