“It’s too hard to explain, but that girl in the hospital bed fell off a cliff as she was about to get with the guy she likes. He confessed that he’d been in love with her for years, but now she has amnesia and doesn’t remember any of it.”
“She was going to get with that guy?” I ask as on the TV a dark-headed, broody-looking guy appears next to the hospital bed with tears in his eyes.
“No. That’s a different guy. She was dating him, but secretly had feelings for the other guy. This dude is all wrong for her.”
I laugh and take a seat on the bed next to her. “Sounds complicated.”
She shrugs one shoulder and takes a drink of juice.
“How’s your blood sugar?”
“Shit, obviously. I’m here.”
I laugh softly and she gives me a rueful smile. “I’m dehydrated and my sugars are a mess.”
I check her chart while she keeps watching the TV. She’s improved since they admitted her this morning, so that’s good.
Liza was my very first patient. I was doing clinicals when she was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. For the past nine months, she’s been in and out as they struggle to get her levels steady. Her parents both have big corporate jobs and most of the time she’s here by herself. They visit, but it’s not like the other kids who have parents hovering over them for their entire visit. Even when she was here the first time, her mom only stayed the first night and the rest of the time she visited for an hour or two once a day.
Liza’s sixteen, plenty old enough to be left alone, I guess, but it frustrates me that they leave her alone so much while she’s sick. That’s probably why I bonded with her so deeply. I felt this huge responsibility to make sure she had someone looking out for her.
Mindy lets me know any time Liza is admitted and I try to come down during my lunch break. The sassy teenager is a total night owl, which works out nice for me since I don’t take my long break until around midnight.
“I heard you had some famous hockey player on your floor. Is it true?” She takes her attention off the screen long enough to look at me as she asks the question.
“How’d you hear that?”
“Please. That’s all anyone has been talking about. Have you met him?”
“Yep. I sure did.”
“Really?” Liza pauses the TV and turns on the bed to face me. Her eyes light up. “You met Ash Kelly?!”
“A second ago he was ‘some famous hockey player.’”
She rolls her eyes dramatically. “My dad watches hockey and sometimes I sit with him so we can spend time together.”
My chest squeezes at her admission and I like her dad even less than before. I wonder if he has any idea his daughter is trying so hard to get his attention.
“So, tell me, what’s he like?”
“He’s…fine.”
“Fine?” She studies me closely, then stiffens. “Is he an asshole? Was he mean to you?”
The fire in her eyes at the thought of someone treating me badly is heartwarming.
“No,” I say quickly. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea. Ash might be frustrating, but I’m pretty certain that he’s not a jerk. “He’s fine. Normal.”
“I’m not buying it. You’re not telling me something.”
Now I’m rolling my eyes. “There’s nothing to tell. He just won’t sleep.”
“O-kay,” she says the word slowly like she’s trying to decide why that’s a problem.
“He needs rest to heal and instead of doing that like I keep suggesting, he’s wandering the halls and signing autographs for every person on the floor.”
Liza nods slowly. “He’s probably just bored or lonely.”
“It’s only been a few hours.”
“Yeah, but hospital time isn’t like normal time. I swear the minutes go by twice as slow here. There’s nothing to do and nowhere to go. Everyone inside either feels crummy or is preoccupied taking care of the people that feel crummy and at this time of night everyone outside of here is sleeping or busy.”
I try to hide the pity in my expression at her admission, but she must see it because she’s quick to smile and add, “I’m used to it by now. That’s why I always make sure to bring my own entertainment.”
Liza presses play on her show and turns back to watch it. Guilt settles in as I think over everything she said. Maybe I was too quick to dismiss Ash’s need for socializing. He’s a professional athlete who is going to be sidelined for weeks. Who wouldn’t want to take their mind off that?