Catarina slapped her hands down on the sides of the hospital bed and shouted, "Why won't you listen to me?!"
The nurses all froze, staring at her with obvious irritation. The nurse closest to the door placed her hands on her hips, her brows furrowed, and chided Catarina.
"That was uncalled for, Ms. Abreu. You need to calm yourself if you want us to listen to you."
Catarina took a deep breath and tried her best to calm herself. Surely the nurses would listen to reason. They would.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But you have to understand, there's been a mistake! I'm not here for a procedure!"
The nurse sighed and walked to the side of the bed, taking Catarina's hand and patting it gently, as though she were comforting a child.
"I know that these procedures can be a bit frightening," she soothed, "but the doctor is an expert in his field. His patients always have the best outcomes. You're in good hands, Ms. Abreu."
"Ugh, you don't understand!" she exclaimed, pulling her hand away. "I only came in because I've been experiencing back pain. I don't need liver surgery!"
"Catarina," the nurse sighed, exhasperated. "You really need to stop this."
"No!" she shouted, throwing her pillow across the room. "I have back pain, not some sort of liver problem! Just back pain!"
"Catarina," the nurse said sharply. "Stop."
"No!" she shouted again, her heart racing from fear.
"Catarina!"
Her whole body jolted and she nearly fell off of the bed, darkness swallowing her vision as she panted to catch her breath. Feeling a sense of panic, she kicked at the blanket that covered her and sat herself upright.
"Catarina, honey, if your back is hurting you that much, just take some medicine."
Her husband's raspy voice caused her to stop flailing and she realized she could see the red glow of their alarm clock on the nightstand next to her. She also noticed that her back ached horribly. As did her head.
Catarina's husband reached over and took her hand, squeezing it slightly, as he yawned, "Next time you go out drinking with your friends, maybe you should avoid drunken dares. You'll be feeling that backflip for days."
This prompt was provided by @mariannewest and can be found here.
Image sourced from Pixabay.
