Chapter 1
The dreams had started again. I haven't had them since I was 19, but living here in this apartment working 12 hour shifts at Ocala Regional Hospital seems to have brought them back after all of this time. Perhaps nursing was too stressful of a career for me to have chosen. I could hear those words in my mind, in my mother's voice as she used to tell me it was only stress that brought on the dreams. Maybe she was right.
I was sitting straight up in my apartment drenched in sweat with the blankets thrown to the floor next to the bed. My blonde hair was stuck to my face and chest. I looked at my hands for evidence of the blood, it was so real my hands felt raw from all the scrubbing. The scrubbing to remove the blood that had stained my hands with its warm thick caress. I could still picture it, my face sprayed with bits of red and matter. What kind of matter? Brain, skin?
Memories flickered in my mind. No Braylen, not memories, a dream. I could hear the screaming, the pleading not to do it. Do what? It sounded so loud and so close. Begging for their life. A woman's voice; I could hear it echoing over and over. "Please, please don't do this to me! I'm not a bad person. Why?" But after a few moments the scream had been replaced with the sound of a saw, the most sickening sound of a saw moving through flesh and bone.
I could see myself looking in the mirror, pale and devilish, scrubbing my hands until the blood was gone. Washing my face until the proof had dissolved. I looked up and watched myself smile, but it almost felt like it wasn't me. It seemed to be some one else, some one who looked like me, in my body. I was trapped in my own head in the dark just watching in horror.
The sink, its usual porcelain white was stained and ruined with the thick dark liquid that ran down the drain. I jumped up from bed running to the bathroom and looked down at the sink. Nothing. It was clean. I looked at the reflection starring back at me, pale and alarmed. My camisole was soaked through and my striped shorts were not any better.
I splashed water on my face at the same time the alarm on my phone began to sound. Great, I thought to myself. Another 12 hours shift and only 4 hours of sleep. I stumbled over to my night stand to turn the alarm off and reached a few inches away to turn the coffee pot on. Coffee, I was going to need a lot of coffee.
An hour later I arrived at the hospital. "Braylen, patient in Room 262 is exceptionally needy, just FYI," Ryan said in sing-song voice as he hustles past me and adjusted his stethoscope. Another great, I thought to myself. "Anything else I should know about before I start my shift?" I yelled back. "264 oxygen levels have run low all night, 263 keeps ripping out the IVs and trying to walk out in the hall naked and oh, 265 always needs morphine for the tiny little cut after his surgery that looks completely healed up," Anna replied smiling at me. Her chin length, jet black hair shone under the hospital lights and despite the night shift, her skin was bright and she always looked as though she had a full nights sleep.
I nodded wearily, "sounds like fun," I replied. "Braylen," Anna sighed. "You look like Hell. Did you even sleep after your shift yesterday?" "I think she looks wonderful, as usual!" Ryan piped in. Anna and I both turned to him to offer a look of annoyance. "You know, in that vampire, walking dead-ish kind of way," he smiled. "Well thank you both, but I am fine," I grumbled taking the stethoscope out of my pocket. "Now first things first, after oxygen level guy I definitely want to see who is trying to get naked." I winked as I turned on the heel of my white shoe and headed to my first room.
