Sleep State

Chapter 1

ANA

Outside the large glass window of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the sun rose in the east for the fifth time. Each day the night sky would glow and brighten until the light broke the horizon and morning had made its daily welcome. This one was no exception.

For the past five days, Anastasia Steele watched the beauty of what dawn looked like as she sat behind the marble counter as she reviewed her patient's medical charts and made notes, and quietly counted the minutes until her shift was over. A single check mark was made next to the present date on the calendar in purple ink. Silently, she congratulated herself. She had made it through her first week as a registered nurse. And what a week it had been.

No matter how much training she had gone through nor the countless hours she had dedicated her studies to reach her newly desired title, she had not been prepared for the week she had just endured.

Just like any job it has its pros and cons. While she enjoyed the fulfilling role as a caretaker to help nurse and monitor people back to life and reality, she could have done a little less without the hysterics, foul complaints, and vomit and bloodstained scrubs. Sure, all of it came with the territory, but this week had been amplified with cons versus pros. She had been warned that she had some feisty patients in her first week, but what she considered feisty was timid to what she actually had endured. But that would be all put behind her temporarily as she was about to officially have her first day off. A day filled with sleep, homecooked meals, and a good book. That's how she planned to spend it before she would have to suit up again in her unscathed scrubs and make her way back for another long week of night shifts.

"Room 42," a blonde middle-aged woman named Sandy approached her desk and slammed her chart down on the counter. "Just never shuts up, even at this hour. I think that woman just likes to hear herself speak."

Sandy had been her mentor for the week. She had followed her from room to room. She had assisted her with diagnostic tests, helped her analyze results, administer medications, and had equally put up with the bullshit that came along with the job. Even then, according to Sandy, this lot was far from the worse. She had heard and seen it all. Every horror story imaginable, Sandy had the front row seat. If you mentioned an irate patient, she had one worse and after the many years in the field, the job weighed on her visibly. Ana wondered if one day she would look like Sandy. Maybe one day she would have the ability to mentor a newbie and one up them with her experience. 

Touching the skin under her eyes aware of the dark bags under Sandy's eyes, she hoped that in the years to come that she would own her job, not have the job own her. A good serum to be purchased was on her to do list for her day off. Now was the time to take care of herself before time caught up with her and it was too late.

"Would it be horrible that I have considered sedating her?" Sandy contemplated out loud.

"Yes, and it would be highly immoral not to mention illegal." Ana response was laced with humor. 

"You're right," she sighed. "Anyway, it looks like your shift is almost over. Hope I wasn't too hard on you for your first week."

"I think the patients were harder on me than you to be honest."

Sandy laughed. "You handled them well, though. You're going to do fine here as long as you know that each day it doesn't get easier. If anything, it gets harder. You never know who is going to be wheeled through those doors and what you're about to face. But that's the job." 

"Right." Ana nodded.

A blinking room number on the computer screen lit up followed by a corresponding beep that alerted them both. One of the patients was requesting assistance, whether it was seriously needed or not. Most of the time, it was urgent, but the few repeat offenders and big time abusers of pressing the red button made them all moan with annoyance whenever it went off.