Page 33 of Tension

I nodded my head because he was right.

“You can’t mourn the dead if you're not living.”

I didn’t have a comeback for that.

I heard everything he was saying.

“Let an old man show you how a woman should be treated.”

I tried to stop my face from visibly scrunching up. I don’t know if it worked because he and I both could see that wasn’t happening.

He grabbed his chest. “Ugh, my heart.”

I hopped up; the nurse in me kicking in, then he started to laugh.

“I was just playing around. I'm just heartbroken over you.”

I hit his arm.

“For that, now you have to buy me a drink.”

I made it clear I wasn’t interested, and he didn’t push.

We just sat and had a drink because, in that moment, that was exactly what I wanted to do.

CHRIS

“Long day?”

“You could say that,” I responded to Dr. Debaro, one of the many fine doctors who worked at this hospital.

I was sitting on a bench outside the hospital when he came over and sat beside me.

“What’s up?” he asked me, nudging me with his shoulder.

“You ever had that restless feeling after a long day?”

I leaned back against the bench, my arms resting on my bag.

“Like you know you're tired, but you want to do everything except lay down?”

He nodded, crossed his legs, and leaned closer to me.

“That’s your anxiety trying to slow you down. Cause once you go to sleep, the next step is waking up and doing all this over again.” He gestured toward the hospital.

He was actually pretty close. I had just started some new meds for my anxiety and depression, and I thought that was what was affecting my sleep pattern.

Medicine could have some strange side effects.

But he didn’t need to know all my business.

“Bye, Dr. Debaro.”

Moli, one of the hospital admins, switched by wearing a skirt that I didn’t necessarily feel was appropriate for work, but I digress.

He waved at her, then brought his attention back to me.

“I guess I'm just chopped liver.”