Sinners Row

The sound of nurses chatting amongst themselves at the nurse's station filled the air as Rachel tried her best to finish off some paperwork that she had sitting in front of her. She wanted to scream at the two new nurses to shut up. But she knew that if she screamed it would only make her headache ten times worse than it already was. So, she turned and stared at them and gave them an annoyed look. Upon seeing her angrily staring at them the two young women instantly shut up and turned back around in their chairs and concentrated on their work. Feeling happy that she had finally made the noise go away, Rachel stood from her chair and went over to the coffee machine to get some of the bitter, dark liquid. However, as soon as she stood up she saw the head nurse, Greenfield. Walk up to her section of the station and threw down a packet of paperwork down in front of her and said with a smile on her face. "You are needed in room number 306. Hope you haven't eaten yet, this one will definitely make your stomach turn." As soon as the head nurse had said this, Rachel rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that it was probably something that she had seen before. Rachel picked up the packet of papers and grabbed a clipboard and stuck the papers in it and then walked around the head nurse, shaking her head in aggravation as she left. Walking down the long white-walled hallway to room 306, Rachel passed several doctors and nurses who were busy writing stuff down as they walked, not paying attention to where they were going. After walking for about a couple of minutes, searching for the damn room. Rachel finally found it, she placed her clipboard in one hand at her side and then grabbed the door handle with the other and opened the door and went inside the room. As she walked into the room, she noticed that the bland green curtains that were used to divide the room were pulled somewhat around the bed. Curious, Rachel slowly walked over to the divider and pulled back the curtains, exposing a shirtless Hispanic man in his mid-30's, covered from his neck to hands in tattoos. His short black hair was gelled and slicked back. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the man until she got a bit closer to him. It was then that she noticed the large open wound on his right arm and hand. She could see the muscle and tissue peeking through, the sight alone made Rachel think of chopped meat. The wound on his right hand, however, was cut open so deep that it had sprayed blood on the wall closest to his hand and she could clearly see the bone in his hand. Rachel gaged a bit at the sight of that but controlled herself enough to keep it together. Bringing the clipboard up so that she could see the man's name and then looked back at the man and said in a calm voice. "Good afternoon, Mr. Gonzalez. What brings you here today?" She asked with a smile. The man looked up at her, his brown eyes twinkled a bit in the light of the room. He gave her a smug look and then answered. "I had an accident at the funeral home when I was preparing it for a wake that is supposed to held tomorrow. I went to go drain the man of his blood so that I could embalm him, and I ended up hurting my hand." ' Okay, then how the hell did you cut your arm?' Rachel mentally asked herself. Not truly believing a word that Mr. Gonzalez had said. Once her thoughts were in order, she looked at the clipboard again and then asked the man. "Your name is Miguel, right?" "Yes. Why?" Miguel asked. "I was just asking because sometimes people who lose a good portion of blood like you did. Sometimes experience a little bit of memory loss." She replied, and then wrote down something on his paperwork and then placed the clipboard and the pen down on a nearby table and then walked over to where he was sitting on the bed and then stopped and grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and slipped them on and then turned back to him and said. "Alright. I want you to stretch out your right arm for me so that I can get a good look at your injuries so that I know what I need to do to treat them." Miguel looked at her and cracked his neck and then gave her another smile, then stretched out his injured arm towards Rachel. She took his arm in her gloved hands and looked at his wounds more closely. One look at them and she could tell that he was definitely was going to need a lot of stitches to close both injuries. But first, she needed to clean them. So, she released his arm and then said to him. "Well, you are going to need stitches and I'm going to have to clean these injuries. So, hold on and I'll be right back." As soon as she turned from him and started to walk away, she felt him pinch her ass hard. Quickly, she turned back around to Miguel and watched as he moved his left arm back and then leaned back on the bed and give her a wink and a grin which showed his perfect white teeth. Feeling a bit angered by him touching her without her permission, she said to him in an angered tone. "Look, Mr. Gonzalez. I really don't appreciate you doing that. So, would you please don't touch me like that!" Miguel chuckled a bit and then responded. "Ooh, you're a feisty one. I like my women feisty." Rachel rolled her eyes at his arrogance and then angrily stomped out of the room, all the while hearing Miguel chuckling in the background as she left. Once she was out of the room, she stomped down the hallway, her shoes squeaking as she walked on the waxed floor. Seeing the medical equipment station to her right, Rachel made a quick turn and went inside the room. As she walked into the room, she noticed another nurse named, Megan standing at the counter, grabbing some medication. As soon as Rachel stepped into the room, Megan turned her head from the medication counter and looked at Rachel and asked sarcastically. "Well, what's got you looking like someone pissed in your corn flakes?" Rachel sighed loudly and then replied. "I have a patient who seems to think that it's funny to pinch my ass." Megan covered her mouth and then laughed a little before she then replied. "Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I mean this isn't like it's the first time that has happened and it most certainly won't be the last." "Yeah, I know. I just wish that the patients here would learn not to sexually harass the nurses here." She said with a shake of her head as she grabbed the supplies that she needed and then looked to Megan and asked. "Did you still want to grab something to eat after work?" Megan shook her head at Rachel and then replied. "Nah. I'm going to have to cancel on that. My boyfriend called an hour ago and he wants to talk to me about something important. I hope it's about what I think it's about." She said with a hint of happiness in her voice. Rachel smiled at her friend and then replied. "Well, I wish you luck. Megan." She said to her friend and then turned and left the medical supply room and went back to where Miguel was waiting on her. Once back inside Miguel's room, she could hear the tv playing death metal music from some music channel and she could see him leaning back on the bed. She sighed and walked over to the tv and placed the supplies down on a table and then grabbed the remote off the bed and turned the loud music off. As she picked up the medical supplies, she heard Miguel sigh and then say in an annoyed voice. "What did you do that for? I was listening to that." "Well, you're not listening to it anymore. Do you know how many patients you are disturbing? Don't you have any compassion for the other sick people that are here?" Rachel asked. "Nope. I couldn't give a rat's ass about them. And I can guarantee you that most of those people who came here put themselves in the situations that they are in." He replied in a matter of fact tone. "Oh, so they are like you then?" She asked sarcastically. As soon as Miguel heard her say that, he quickly shut his mouth and turned his head from her. That instantly brought a smile to Rachel's face and she grabbed the supplies and placed them onto a roll-away table and pushed it over to where a chair was sitting beside the bed and sat down. Grabbing another pair of gloves, she removed and threw away her old ones and quickly put the new ones on and then looked to Miguel and said. "Alright, give me your right arm and we will get started." Without a word, Miguel placed his arm in her hand and she began cleaning the wounds and enjoying the peace and quiet that she was finally receiving. Once she was finished cleaning his injuries, she started stitching him up. She looked at his handsome face to see if he would cringe from the pain at any point. But, he didn't show any signs of pain at all. Once she was finished with his hand, she grabbed gauze and taped it around the stitched-up wound on his hand and then started stitching up his arm. When she finished with that one, she taped it too and then stood from her chair and said. "Alright. Here's your paperwork. It's been a pleasure knowing you." She handed him his paperwork, but as she turned to leave the room she heard him say. "Oh, trust me it's been more than fun knowing you. And I promise you that I will see you again. Sweetheart." He winked, and she scoffed and then walked quickly back to her station and started wishing that eight o'clock would hurry up and get there.