Avery in Bed

I didn’t leave my bed for two days. I didn’t answer the telephone either. I’m sure a search party was sent out for me, but I didn’t care. I was alone. The two cats were there, but Jack was gone. And he took the television set.

Luckily, the night that Jack moved out was my last night at hospital for a few days. I have never been happier to be off of work in my entire life. How could I care for any ill patients in my state? How could I offer comfort to one of the scared children who’d been admitted to my unit.

Child

Nurse Avery, my tummy hurts.

Cut to Nurse Avery standing at the end of the child’s bed, reading the patient chart. A cigarette in desperate need of ashing hanging dangles from the nurse’s lips.

Nurse Avery

Ha! You don’t know from hurting, kid. Talk to me when your metabolism slows down, your hairline recedes and the man who told you he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you steals away in the middle of the night, leaving you with a broken heart, a mortgage and an overly expensive bill for 375 cable channels that you can’t watch because he also stole your TV.

My nursing career flashed before my eyes. This wasn’t good. I had to snap out of it. I glanced at my bedside clock. 10:00 AM. I wasn’t due to see the good doctor for another three hours. I dreaded it.

It’s amazing how acclimated a person can get to a specific environment. Short of going to the bathroom, I hadn’t gotten out of my bed in days. I would have been happy never to leave again. My bed was comfortable and safe. I felt as though nothing could harm me so long I was between my 800 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.

As wonderful as that fantasy was, I knew it was just that. I couldn’t hide in my bedroom forever. I would have to go back to work eventually. I would have to return my friends’ phone calls at some point. And my cats would probably turn to cannibalization if I didn’t feed them soon.

The scheduled appointment with Dr. Drexel Carrington would be just the motivation I needed to get back into the grove of things. After all, I’d left his office on cloud nine when I’d last seen him. I was sure that I’d feel the exact same way this afternoon. All I had to do was get out of bed.