Chapter 1
“So what will be today Mr.Andrews?” I asked playfully “Aspirin or naproxen”
I already knew his daily schedule, medications, and what I assumed, preferences.
Because he was simply in a comma
A 75-year-old male collapsed suddenly due to an ischemic stroke and had been in a coma, for over three months. Mr. Andrews’s family used to visit him daily, nowadays, once or twice a month his daughter would come to see him.
After I’ve placed the medicine in the syringe, adjusted his bed sheets, and checked on everything he needed. I filled up his chart and moved on to the next patient.
My shifts as a nurse, start at midnight and finish at 6:00 am. While everyone was sleeping, I was attending at a hospital. When everyone went to work, I cleaned and cooked the prepared meals for my two younger brothers.
I moved my trolley into the other room, and found my dearest Mrs. Nourah awake
“Hello Mrs.Nourah, why are you awake?” I asked and went over to her bedside.
“I am getting ready to go with my husband.”
I sighed, Alzheimer’s disease. A slow, life-hacking situation that can affect anyone, in whatever situation they are in.
“Where will you be going this time?” I asked.
She smiled sweetly, as she looked outside her window and fantasying about the present instead of reminiscing about her past.
“to Locas club, of course.. we’ll wine and dine all night” she added with a laugh.
Before the war, she means.
“I bet you’ll look beautiful, but while we wait for him.. can we have our pill?” I asked, as I took out two pills, placed them in a paper cup, and handed her water.
“Sure, dear..”
Mrs.Nourah looked up at me again and smiled warmly
“your so kind-hearted my love..” she added placing her hands over mine.
I felt my heart fill with warmth, despite the war, despite the difficult situations we’ve encountered. There were still people who made me happy. Mrs.Nourah’s optimism, and kind words were one of them.
The “huge loss” happened 20 years ago, before that time. we lived in peace, we were considered one of the richest lands on Earth, we produced gas, and oil, and we had our internal trades, which made us unique. We were surrounded by sea from three sides, and land from the north. But what we lacked, was an army, manpower, or simply a leader, who did not flee with his entourage when things got a bit complicated.
Politics, and greed for our land’s treasures attacked our land from both sides, two different enemies as I recall. Who thought it would be in their best interest, to make people evacuate to the north and south regions.
And well, the ones who couldn’t. They simply stayed here.
My parents were surgeons, were in love, married, and had me. I was four at the time, the first bomb appeared, I still remember the sound of that strike, a penetrating sound of death to my ears. My parents hid me in the bathtub, but because it was small. I fit, not them.
I survived, they did not.
Afterward, a mother, who took me with two boys went with the flood of evacuated people, from one place to the other until the war, stopped after what seemed like an eternity. At that point, we kept on living in survival mode.
I did not care about what was going on. Why it was happening?
Or how this happened.
I just focused on me and my brothers, who became my responsibility after their mother tragically died.
After the “big loss” the people rose again to build their land, but with a cost.
The farms, as much as they tried to renourish it, did not produce corps.
The plants, as soon as they grew died.
Our food resources were based on canned food and whatever aid we had from the nearby regions.
Our education, and health care were damaged, but the resilience we had, continued.
One year after the end of the war, Me and my brothers were enrolled in a schooling system where anyone with experience, can help in lending their knowledge to the next generation.
I worked under the supervision of a doctor, to become a nurse today and we developed and evolved slowly.
Yet, we still lived in deprivation of the simplest joys or food.
We simply survived day by day.
I moved on from one patient to the next, finished my rotation, and went down to bring a cup of coffee, at 4:00 am. While I was getting my coffee, the announcement started
“Code Blue.. Code blue, please head to the ER”
I looked around and found doctors, finishing up their drinks and heading toward the ER. I took my coffee in a thermal and walked outside with the crowd, to the direction of the entrance of the ER.
My body reacted in a systematic way when it came to trauma, I knew whom to go to, what to say, and what to address based on the case presented.
It wasn’t only me, everyone who lived in the situations we were living in knew how to handle themselves under stressful situations.
Terrorists attacked resistance attacks. I do not label them anymore.
The only thing I could do was help injured people.
The only thing I cared about was helping the people that were entering the ER.
it was chaotic, some were rushed on trolleys, others walked, and others screamed.
The smell of Blood. Everywhere. And it made me euphoric.
“haven’t you heard, that’s the president of the defenders. There was just a bomb in his headquarters, they said he barely made it alive” two people were speaking next to me, explaining what I did not ask.
“let’s do this “I whispered to myself and went on, to try at least to help in saving what I can do as an individual.
I’ve managed four patients, when two individuals entered the hospital, both tall figures covered in black, one seemed to be holding the other.
The injured man let his head down and was holding his stomach, though usually, black clothes hid the fact of how much blood there was, it did not hide the fact that I wondered how this man was still alive with so much blood loss.
When I looked around to see if someone was attending to them and found none, my feet automatically took me to my new patients.
“My name Is Layla, I am a nurse. tell me what happened and where does it hurt?” I asked quickly the two men.
The man, who was holding the injured, bloody-soaked man, answered first.
“we were next to the building when the bomb exploded… “ he was cut off by the other man.
“I am fine..” the injured man said, pushed him weakly, and stood up.
If we were in another dimension, I would have just sat and admired, not the beauty but the power that resided from him.
Even in his weak state, he was admirable.
His injury was severe, I know. But the way he held himself, no tremors, no trembling, no screams, as the blood that was dripping from his body was not his, but something that was spilled on his during the bomb.
The stranger’s hair was brown, however, with the dust and ashes around, it seemed like a darker color, strong chin, dopey eyes, and a long nose. He shaved his bread and mustache. Unlike the other one, who seemed to keep it.
It took me a minute to see the resemblance, they seemed related but while the injured man was in pain but was trying to control himself, and did not talk, the other one looked fine.
“just let the nurse look at you, then we can go see him..”
“No..” the stubborn handsome stranger said and turned his gaze at me
“we are here to see an elder man that came here.. his name is David Lukerman”
I’ve dealt with grumpy, stubborn patients all my life. This was easy.
“I have to examine you, and then I’ll look for this man, if he was admitted to this hospital, he is in good hands..”
The injured stranger, dripping in blood took a step forward, he looked down at me and sighed
“Listen Mrs.Layla, I don’t have time to be examined, chit-chat.. I need to find this man, and I need to find him now” his voice rose at the end of the sentence with a threat.
I wanted to be afraid, I was scared from the inside because of the look this man was giving me and the aura that surrounded him, he looked dangerous, he smelt like blood and ashes, he looked like he was just out of the battlefield but he felt.
Warm
I felt like I knew him somewhere
Screw my fucked up mental health.
I looked up and maintained eye contact with his weird-colored eyes, were they blue? Green? I didn’t know
“Again, this is wasting time” I gestured to what was happening between us “Come inside and let me help you”
“Let me examine you, and while we’re at it. I can ask someone to go find David Lukerman for you” I said, he hesitated, I moved in closer and placed my arm around his to point him to a nearby bed “I promise.” I said again and looked at him.
I focused on the discolored eyes, what color were they?
He hesitated for a long time, but his companion stepped in “Take care of him.. I’ll go search as well”
While the grumpy stranger sat down, I looked at the nearby equipment and started to wear gloves “Take off your shirt..”
“what’s your name?”
“Javad..”
That name
A sudden memory of slumps and kids running crept up before I shook my head and looked back at him.
A trained nurse would always look at the wound directly, but I didn’t expect the 23-year-old girl in me would fumble and blush when she saw a significant set of abdomens.
“lay down, did you take anything for the pain?” I asked trying to change the mood I am in.
I started to clean the wound and looked at his facial expressions, he didn’t even flinch. After cleaning up a bit with a sterilizer and cloth, the deep wound showed how far it had penetrated inside his abdomen.
“Yes..” he answered
“What did you take?”
“Do you ask too many questions while examining Ms.Layla..” he commented with a smirk.
I glared back at him and examined the wound again.
Something went in
I told him to move to the side.
Something went in and went out, like a stick or a needle.
This was impossible.
I heard sometimes that patients, under stress, do not feel the maximum pain. They become numb.
Maybe this is what was happening?
But he seemed fine.
Internal organs might have been damaged but he was sitting like nothing was happening.
“Can I leave? you examined me already..”
“No, we need to do a CT scan now, it might need surgery if it is severe..”
When he wanted to answer, the other man who resembled him came hurrying.
“He’s here..Javad, he’s here..”
Javad, held on a serious poker face since he entered the ER, but I saw how his face changed, how his body reacted when he knew that this David man was here.
“You did what you wanted to do, thank you for your time..” he said, took his shirt moved past me, and fled.
“Wait..” I yelled but nothing worked.
So, if were in an official normal hospital, that had laws, rules, and protocols with a boss to go back to, he wouldn’t be able to do that.
But we were always in a chaotic system, so I did what I could do.
I removed my gloves, threw them in the trash, and went to the other patient.
After several hours, the ER calmed down, and the shift ended for me to go home.
I couldn’t let go of Javad in my mind.
He had a severe abdomen wound. Yet, he still walked around like it was nothing.
His eyes were changing colors, blue, green, aqua then blue again.
I needed to stay away from these types of men, I always hear about them, and try not to let my brothers be fascinated by them much.
But he was different, I felt it.
While walking back home I looked at my favorite part of the day, the sun rise on our beloved land.
Destruction and ruins were spread everywhere and yet that simple rise of the sun gave me hope.
I arrived “home” which was a rooftop of a house, where this house could take hold of 6 family members, it now has accommodated 12 family members.
My two brothers, another single mother with her two daughters, and an elderly couple, simply felt sorry for us. We have been living with them for 5 years, yet they never asked for rent.
They provided us with home-made meals sometimes, and when I needed to work longer hours, they took care of the children.
I didn’t know what to provide back to them, so the only thing I did was give free medications to the father, whose name was Mr.Hussain.
I greeted him as I climbed the stairs, he was preparing for his morning routine. Drinking tea and taking care of the rarest kind of plants I’ve seen.
He hid them from people, so they wouldn’t ask for his tomatoes, and yet he makes the best tomato soup ever.
“Hello Mr.Hussain..” I called out
“Hello Dear Layla..” he smiled warmly.
“Heard from the news you had a busy day… a bomb exploded near the residential headquarters of the resistance..”
Oh, so those people were from there. I remembered the two men.
“Yeah..” I said and before I went up, I asked
“so exactly what happened?”
“the news says the occupation was targeting the head of the resistance. Mr. babuk, afterward he was rushed to your hospital actually.”
Our hospital, was the third hospital in the region, and it was close by. It makes sense that they brought him here.
“I didn’t see him, but there were a lot of casualties. all seemed from the nearby area..”
The old man sighed as he poured water over his precious plants.
“Stay away from him, if you ever see him. he is a dangerous person, Layla..”
I smiled at the man who acted fatherly sometimes
“Don’t worry about me, old man.. you’ve seen what I can do”
Hussain laughed and shook his head
“go on.. you can kick your brother’s butt now to wake up..”
The next shift started at midnight as well. Once I arrived at the hospital, I took the chart of names and skimmed over if I found David Lukerman.
He wasn’t there
I looked over at my colleague’s chart, and found it.
“can we trade charts?” I asked sweetly.
The younger nurse sighed and gave me his chart, knowing how stubborn I could get
“thank you..” I said, took his chart, and walked away.
Javad has been on my mind, and I wanted to ease that curiosity.
After I checked up on the first patients on the first floor, I arrived at David’s Zuckerman’s front door which was packed with security.
Four men with snipers, guns attached to their chests were circling in front of the area of Mr.Lukerman
And then did I connect the dots, of him, Hussian’s updates of the head of the defenders.
Maybe, it was him?
I noticed one of the security members, as the man who dragged Javad inside the hospital. I went over to him and once he saw me, he knew who I was
“And we meet again..” he smiled and said with a friendly manner.
“Seems like it, how are you?” I asked
“Good... didn’t think you worked here as well”
“we have a shortage of staff, so I cover ER and in-patients as well”
“that sounds tough, so you’re here for..?” he asked and pointed at the door
“yes..” I nodded as I showed him my tray of tools, which consisted of a thermometer, Sphygmomanometer and several medications
His face changed, It was like he was someone and then he turned to someone else in a split second
“I need to search you before you go in..”
“search? What do you mean by that?” I asked
He coughed and looked at the direction of what seemed like a female security.
“My apologies Miss, but I will need to search if you have anything dangerous..”
I was in awe of what was happening in my workplace, no patient before this, needed I be searched, so I could do my job. But I looked around and saw many guns and snipers, so I gave up, placed the tray on the floor, and raised my hands up. While she was searching for me I asked the other man.
“how is Javad?”
The younger stranger, smiled “he gave you a hard time, eh?”
“he’s fine, he’s on a mission..” I noticed the small gesture of pride as he lift his head up.
“What?!”
I went over to him after the security female finished “he had a severe wound on his abdomen… how did he go on a mission”
The man continued with a smile.
“no he was just covered with blood, your mistaken.. he’s fine”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but then the door of the room opened, I went inside still looking at the other man, who kept smiling and looked ahead.
I went inside the private bed, which was reserved only for people in critical care.
I found a woman sitting next to the bed, with her head bent as a man in his late fifties was lying on the bed.
So this is David lukerman. If that was his name?
“Hello Madam… my name is Layla, I am Mr.David lukerman’s assigned nurse”
The woman looked up and nodded her head
“very well.. proceed,” she said in a state of power, that was natural to her.
I examined the vital signs and placed another dose of inflammatory medicine in his syringe, he was brought in awake and aware, however, he endured a massive hit to the head due to the explosions, and broken ribs that led him to the state he was in now.
Even if I suspected he was the head of the resistance, I wouldn’t know.
I thanked the lady and walked out.
They always say, when you think of something too much, it comes to you.
Javad has not left my mind ever since I saw him yesterday, how can they send him to a mission, while he is injured?
I was on the in-patient floor next to David Lukerman’s room, and as I was documenting everything, I felt a presence, shifted my eyes, and found him walking in quick strides to the room.
My mouth fell, his clothes were clean, and he wore a pair of jeans and a blue blouse, with no sign of blood, wound, nothing.
The scars from the shatter of the bomb, that fell on his arm and hands were all gone, he was up and about like nothing had happened.
Was I hallucinating?
No
I wasn’t, he recovered instantly.
My feet took me to him, and I stood in front of him.
He stopped, unfazed
I took a moment to speak while I looked back at him, his eyes were stunningly weird. It was like I was pulled into a tornado of colours.
It was indescribable.
It was aqua today
“How..?” I asked
Javad, looked down at me and asked, politely
“Can I help you in something?”
“You were hurt..” I said.
“Excuse me..” he was playing dumb
“you were hurt, there was a big wound on your stomach..” I particularly yelled, as I pointed at his shirt
“take off your blouse..” I wanted to see, He chucked and held my hands, that tried to go to him
“Miss, you have clearly mistaken me for someone else.. I am not hurt”
“I know what I have seen, Javad.. you were hurt”
“it’s clear you know my name, but I assure you.. I am perfectly fine” he said with calmness
“now excuse me, I need to go..” he pushed my hands downwards and walked over to the room.
I couldn’t leave it alone..
I knew what I saw, and it was frustrating how Javad, the stranger I saw one day injured, the next in full recovery.
I had to see his abdomen.
