The Stars Within

Chapter 1

Cyleste POV

It’s 8 pm… I should eat. Ordering food sounds good. I don’t have the energy to cook. Today was such a rough day at work with the car accident. 5 injured and 2 dead. I feel so much for their families. Losing someone so close and precious to you… it changes you. 

I open my laptop and turn it on. My favorite picture of my cat pops up as my screensaver. Angel, my silly little kitty. I type in my password and turn slightly to look at my sleeping Angel on my desk. Man, sometimes I wish I could be a cat. As I reach towards her soft black fur, my pocket starts to vibrate. Who’s texting me right now?

Boss Lady Sarah

Good evening everyone! Just a reminder for everyone that tomorrow is a special day for our hospital. Tomorrow our new doctor clinic opens! Please remember that we have our opening party tomorrow evening and all employees are required to attend. Thank you all and have a wonderful night!

Damn it! Why is it required? Sarah knows I hate parties. I never go unless it’s required. Ugh. Okay, dinner and then closet shopping. Gotta make sure I look presentable for our patrons. Being head nurse of the Emergency Department, I have to dress and act accordingly. 

“Now time for the real question of the night, what food do I order?” I ask, looking at my sleeping Angel cat. Turning slightly to look back at my laptop, I look up different food delivery services. After settling on one, I order and go to the couch with one of my favorite books to wait.

…

Floyd POV

Ethan

Bro, got ur text. Party? Hell yeah I’ll go! C u tomorrow!

Smiling, I turn off my phone and turn towards the small town hospital that’s about to change entirely. This is just a small step towards my end goal. Tomorrow...  I will return home successful.  

…

Cyleste POV

After dinner and closet shopping I found the perfect dress for tomorrow night. Satin should work right? Who cares, it’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone. Slinking slowly into my soft bed, I lay there looking up at the ceiling. I hope tomorrow goes smoothly. Patrons, music and dancing. Ugh, I hate dancing. Oh well, dinner and one dance for the patrons and bosses then I will leave.

My eyes slowly force themselves closed. I’m exhausted. 5:00 am comes early in the morning. My body slowly relaxes. Forcing my dreamland to caress my conscious self. Dreams. Are they really dreams? The last of my thoughts drift away into my dreamland. Sweeping me away into the darkness of the night. Creating a visual scene that I can only describe as another world from our own Earth. 

Although it seems to have some similarities, there are major differences. The streets are wider and longer in this world. I cautiously walk down the sidewalk looking at all of the store fronts. Their signs lit up with bright neon lights. The storefronts windows are full of moving images within the glass. A commercial-like video plays on the windows, showcasing everything the stores have to offer inside. 

I continue down the widened town street. The buildings all stand taller, almost elongated. The doors of all the buildings have been removed. In place of them are a water-like wall. Bluish with a light lavender mixed color moves simultaneously within the water like substance. As I approach the last building on the main street, I get an uneasy feeling. The pits in my stomach start to churn. I stand there, where the end of the sidewalk and the houses’ pebble pathway meet. 

I stand there staring at the building. No. House. A giant, elongated house with another similar bluish purple water-like doorway. I slowly start the short walk up the pebble pathway. With every tap of my shoes on the small rocks my heartbeat quickens. Who lives here? Where am I? Is this a different world? Questions I have been asking every night in my dreamlands. 

Will I finally get them answered? As I come closer to the doorway I stop. The water-like doorway has shifted in color. The once bluish purple shades are now replaced with gold and amber colors. I slowly raise my hand to touch the water like door. My finger stretches out slightly, timidly moving forward to touch the water-like doorway structure.

My heartbeat races inside my chest. Beating harder with each second. The distance closes more and more with each breath. Why am I so anxious? I close my eyes and suck in a huge breath. I want to know what is behind this! C’mon Cyleste, just touch it! I lurch my hand forward in the fastest motion possible only to find myself sitting up in my bed. Was it really all a dream again?

I move to sit on the edge of my bed. I really hate all of these nightmares. But nothing ever gets them to stop. They just keep getting worse, ever since I was a kid. Wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead, I stand to get ready for work. Shower and then breakfast. Good thing I woke up early. 

...

Floyd POV

“Make sure to have all of the arrangements done for the patron party this evening. Yes. Good.” 

“Do you have everything ready for tonight? Or do I have to wait again for you?” I ask slightly irritated. I don’t want to have to be late to another event, especially not this one. 

“Yeah yeah, you big whiner, I’m ready for tonight. Stop stressing, It’s gonna go great! It always does. Besides, It’s not like you don’t have the money to fix any problem that happens right?” He smirks at me from across the table. Damn you, Ethan. 

“Just hurry up and finish eating. We have work to do for tonight.” I say through clenched teeth. He laughs and throws his napkin on his plate as he stands up.

“Okay fine. You’re too much sometimes. I’ll get ready. But hey, maybe you should have another cup of coffee. You’re grumpy today Floyd.” He says as he walks out the dining room. I finish my coffee as the door latches shut. Ignoring what Ethan said, I go through my list for the day. Check on food arrangements, call Jethro, my lawyer, to make sure all the paperwork is ready, visit the hospital and my clinic and last but not least the party. I stare out the window, mentally preparing myself for the day. 

“It’s going to be a tiring day” I say to the trees outside the window. A very tiring day.

…

Cyleste POV 

I’m not sure waffles were the best idea to eat this morning. It sounded great but my stomach disagrees. Oh well, today is the day of the Patron party. As I park my beat up old VW bug, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. 

Molly

Hey girl! I’m bringing you a gift today! I want you to wear it tonight. I’ll be there soon!

Wants me to wear it tonight? Hmm… interesting. I guess I can indulge her for one night.

10 minutes later and I’m at the nurses station. With my Courage the Cowardly Dog scrubs on and my favorite Nike’s on for work, I’m ready to seize the day! I grab my first set of patients charts and head over to one of the two computers facing the entrance. We only have 4 computers at the nurses station in the emergency department.

Catching up on the night shift can be time consuming, so I decided to reserve a good 30 minutes every day for catching up. Looks like rooms 100-106 did pretty okay last night, and rooms 107-115 had some issues throughout the night. Looks like I’ve got my hands full today. Sighing, I reach for the pile of patient charts. Time to get to it. These patients won’t heal themselves!

About an hour later and I’ve finished with my morning rounds. I don’t like people, this is well known with my coworkers, but I love my patients. Making them happy and helping to heal them, it makes me smile. Walking back down the long hallway, a large crowd catches my attention. My heart stops as I see all the hospital officials walking with a strange man. 

All I could see was the back of his head and shoulders. His pitch black hair shined in the hospital lights. He was tall, probably around 6 ft. That must be the new Patron. He’s the owner of the new doctor clinic we have. Shrugging to myself I continue down the hallway towards the nurses station. 

“Hey girl!” I hear as I walk up to the nurses station.

“You’re late. Again. Damn it Lilly! Why do you even bother coming in? You miss all of the morning rounds everyday.” I purse my lips into a straight line and wait for her reply. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” She answers me giggling. Ugh! I don’t have time for this! I need to head to the lab. 

“Whatever, Lilly. Eventually you’ll get in trouble, and not from me next time” How annoying. She acts like she's 12 but she’s 1 year younger than me and I’m 25! Grabbing the lab paperwork and test samples off the nurses station desk, I turn and leave down the main hospital hallway towards the elevator. 

We have 4 civilian and 2 staff elevators on the south side of the hospital. The south side has the emergency department, one of the cafeterias and the new doctor clinic. The main hallway leads to the north side of the hospital, where all of the specialty doctors are. The west side is for surgery and the east side for veterans and children. I usually stay on the south side.

Sad part is, even with the staff having their own elevators, they’re still slower than molasses. With a light “ding” sound, the silver doors open and I walk in turning towards the small side wall of floor number buttons. After pressing the 3rd floor button, the doors close and show a reflection of a tall man behind me looking down at his phone. 

He wore a dark grey suit with a white button up under his suit jacket. His skin is a beautiful dark amber color, almost copper. I couldn’t help but think he was sexy. His arm and chest muscles begged to be free from under his expensive suit. I swear I started drooling. If it wasn’t for the elevator opening the doors on the 3rd floor, I probably would have embarrassed myself.  Oh my gods, I can’t even be thinking about this! Labs. I have labs to get done. 

By the time I reach the lab on the North side of the hospital, I’m tired and hungry. I sign over the lab specimens to the technician and start to head back towards the elevator. I am so ready to be done with today. I pull my phone out of my pocket and look at the time as I press the down button for the elevator. 8 more hours to go. 

The rest of my shift went smooth as usual. Nothing too exciting. Some vomit and broken bones today. Finishing my nightly rounds was easy since half of our patients were discharged. Looks like it’s almost time to go home and get ready for the Patron party. Walking down the hallway my pocket buzzes again. 

Lilly

Girl! You ignored me all day didn't you! Whatevs i’ll see you at the party anyway. I left the present in your locker! Please don’t forget to wear it! See you tonight!

Sighing I put my phone back in my pocket and continued to the nurses locker room. Inside the locker room I grab my bag, the present and my left over lunch. Tonight is sure going to be interesting. Now to go home and get ready. It’s 4:02 pm right now, 4 hours to get ready and get back here. I can do this! Feeling the determination to dominate the party and impress our patrons, I start heading out the hospital main entrance to my cute old VW bug. With a turn of the key in the ignition, it roars to life. See you soon Saint TeResa Hospital.