The End?
The hum of the overhead lights greeted Gwen as she made her way out of the staff room and towards the nurse’s station for her second shift of the day. Well, not her shift but Susan’s, who couldn’t make it due to some “family conflict”. Or so she said, but that didn’t really matter to Gwen. More hours mean more money and she wasn’t exactly in a position to pass that up.
“Gwendolyn! How are you?”, a soft voice called to her from behind as she neared the desk that held her workload for the night.
“Hello, Mrs. Judy!” Gwen smiled as she looked over her shoulder at the plump, older nurse. “I’m doing all right. What about you? Anything crazy happen while I was gone?” she asked with a smirk, knowing it wasn’t likely since she was only gone long enough to go grab a quick bite from the cafeteria.
Judy chuckled wryly and placed her arm around Gwen to squeeze a hug out of her from the side. “No, honey. But I’m sure there is enough work around here already to keep us plenty busy until shift change.” She winked and huffed a breath.
Judy was on the shorter side, her head even with Gwen’s shoulders. Her curly greying hair was piled up on top of her head in a bun with several small curls that refused to be tamed framing her face. Her dark eyes were lined with delicate little wrinkles from smiling all the time.
Gwen chuckled along with the woman. “I’m sure you’re right about that. No wonder I got swindled into working the night shift as well…” She trailed off with a small huff, making Judy laugh a little harder.
“Oh please, Gwendolyn. You were chomping at the bit to get an extra shift and you know it.” Judy shook her head and swatted at Gwen making her jump, narrowly avoiding her hand.
“There goes your violent side, Mrs. Judy. I don’t get how everyone thinks you’re just a sweet little lady.” Gwen tsked while feigning disappointment.
In return, Mrs. Judy offered her a halfhearted glare and shook her finger. “You’re lucky I like you, little lady.” She said sardonically, then added, “And it’s an even bigger shame because I brought in cookies for everyone, and I saved one just for you.” She whipped fake tears from her eyes.
Gwen perked up immediately at the thought of Mrs. Judy’s legendary chocolate chip cookies and swiftly grabbed both of her hands. “Have I ever told you how amazing and wonderful you are? The absolute best in my humble opinion.” She said sweetly while giving her best attempt at puppy-dog eyes.
“Gwendolyn Mercy!” her head nurse Stacy called out, making her flinch back. “Stop harassing the woman already and get to work.” Her no-nonsense tone was enough to get Gwen moving.
With one final pout, she mumbled an affirmative and started going through the pile of patient files still needing to be sorted, leaving a laughing Judy behind.
After about an hour of going through the various paperwork she needed to sort through, Gwen felt a nudge and looked up to find Mrs. Judy smiling down at her with a cookie she’d wrapped up in a napkin in her hand.
“You look like you could use a pick-me-up.” She mock whispered while handing over the sweet treat.
Gwen sniffled and shook her head as she tried to politely take the cookie, but it was probably more akin to Gollum snatching up the One Ring and hissing out a “my precious”.
Just as Gwen made to take a bite out of the treat, Stacy came rushing over. “I need you guys to get ready. We’ve got a few trauma cases inbound from a wreck. A head-on collision on the freeway with at least five people injured, two of those are in critical condition.” Gwen’s blood steeled in her veins and her heart started to pound.
This was it, the reason she’d rather be at work than in her empty apartment. The reason she didn’t mind taking the other nurse’s shifts.
Within what felt like seconds, Gwen was out of her chair and throwing her hair into a messy bun as she and the other nurses working with her went over their game plan once their patients arrived. Soon the doors opened up and people rushed to the appropriate rooms and triage began.
“Gwen! I need a hand over here!” another nurse named Jessica called out to her and she jogged over and was met with a very unhappy man.
“I said get your hands off of me! I am fine and I don’t need any help from you!” A disheveled-looking man was shouting and pulling at the various medical equipment attached to him.
As Gwen got closer, she got her answer as to why he was being so combative. The man reeked of alcohol. “Sir. My name is Gwen. You were in an accident, and we need to make sure you don’t have any other injuries besides that cut on your head.” She said firmly, trying to hide how she felt about his state.
“I don’t give a damn ’bout no accident! I told you I don’ need any help from you people!” He shouted again, becoming even more irate. “You get this crap off of me and let me go home!”
An officer stepped up and barked out at him, “You’re not going anywhere other than the jail when you’re finished here. So, I suggest you listen to the nice ladies here and get treated now so you don’t end up with more to regret later.” He placed his hands on his belt as he spoke, a silent threat among all the chaos happening around them.
“All right, why don’t we just restart from the top?” Gwen said gently as she raised her gloved hands up in a placating manner. She had been slowly creeping closer to the man’s side, which in hindsight was probably not the best decision she had ever made but she’d been in worse situations than this. “We’re just trying to help you. At least let us treat your cut.” She spoke calmly and watched the man like a hawk.
Suddenly, the man launched out of the bed and caught her in the head with his fist, the force of the hit sending her crashing to the ground. Her face smashed into the tile, and she could feel her nose break on the impact. People began screaming around her as everyone rushed to restrain the man. Blood gushed out of her nose as Gwen started trying to push herself off the ground, but before she could fully rise, she saw the outline of a boot rushing towards her and then she heard nothing.
What’s happening… she thought.
Gwen lay crumpled on the cold floor, her body battered and broken. The room around her blurs and shifts, reality becoming fragmented. Her eyelids flutter open and closed, her gaze vacant and distant.
Gwen’s senses fluctuated between moments of clarity and surreal detachment. Sounds echoed like distant whispers, barely reaching her fading awareness. Flashes of light and shadow danced across her vision as if teasing her with fleeting glimpses of reality.
Gwen tried to speak, to cry out for help, but her voice was silenced, trapped within her weakening body. Panic rose within her, knowing she was alone in her silent struggle.
In her dimming consciousness, memories and fragments of her life flickered like old film reels. Moments of joy, pain, and love played out in rapid succession, mingling with the encroaching darkness.
Gwen’s body felt heavy, disconnected from her faltering sense of self. She struggled to move, to escape the clutches of her fading existence, but her limbs refused to respond.
Fear took hold as she felt herself slipping away, inch by agonizing inch. She tried to hold on, to cling to life, but it was an uphill battle against an implacable force.
Sensations blurred together—a dull ache that pervaded her body, the taste of metallic bitterness in her mouth, the smell of antiseptic mingled with the scent of her own fear.
Gwen’s vision narrows, like looking through a tunnel. The world around her fades into obscurity, leaving only fragmented impressions. Faces become indistinguishable, colors lose their vibrancy, and time itself seems to distort.
She tried to reach out, to touch the fabric of reality, but her limbs felt weightless and unresponsive. She was a mere observer in her own fading existence, a prisoner within a failing vessel.
Gwen’s mind became a whirlpool of emotions—fear, regret, and a profound sense of loss. She grappled with the unfairness of it all, the cruel inevitability of her impending demise.
As her body weakened further, Gwen’s awareness diminished, slipping into a realm of shadows and half-formed thoughts. She felt herself teetering on the edge of a precipice, suspended between existence and nothingness.
Am I dying…? She asked, though no one was there to respond in the dying light that surrounded her.
In her final moments, a bittersweet acceptance settled within her and all she could think about was the cookie she never got to taste. She released a whispered breath, her eyes fixated on an unknown beyond. The world faded away, and finally, she succumbed to the quiet of her fading echoes.
