"Bed five is awake," called Carol. "You want to go get him sorted". I cocked my head to the screaming that had been coming down the hall for the last half hour.
"Not really". I said
"To bad," Carol said shoving his folder in my hands. "He's your's now get him to shut the hell up. He's freaking everyone out." I grabbed the intake bag and headed down the hall.
In the five years I had worked here I had seen people get checked in some pretty sorry states, this one wasn't any different. They had stripped him and placed him in orderly pants. They were covered in piss and his chest in vomit from the charcoal they had poured down his stomach. His raw throat made a pretty terrible sound and yet he still yelled. He strained and pulled at the restraints on the bed. His back arched, his muscle's tensed. Hadn't they sedated him? I checked the file. With the amount of sedatives they had given him he should of been completely zonked, not like this.
"Quit it, your just going to hurt yourself."
He shut up and stared at me, taking in my entire 6'2" hight.
I pushed the hair out of my eyes, adjusted the glasses and gave him a couple of minutes to get his head sorted.
"Where am I?" The voice that had been trying to pull the building down with its volume was now barely a whisper.
"Somewhere safe, You had a pretty eventful night."
"I don't remember"
"What do you remember"
He looked out the widow to his right as if he wanted to jump out of it. The only thing getting in or out would be the light.
Finally he answered "I don't know. It's all a jumble."
"Don't worry, you'll get it figured out."
He turned back to me. "Why am I strapped down. Can you let me out"
I checked the chart, "sorry no. You took a swing at a nurse in the ER and you tried to stab your wrist with a scalpel. Your on lock down till the Doc gives the okay."
"Please, I just want to get cleaned up."
"Sorry. Can't let you out. Suicide watch."
"I didn't" he spat at me.
I nodded towards his wrist and for the first time he noticed the bandage there. "I told you, you took a scapel to yourself and that doesn't count to amount of pills found in your system."
"I didn't want to die, I just wanted to sleep."
"Yeah well, if they hadn't restarted your heart you would of been in the longest sleep of your life."
I reached into the bag and pulled out the Blood Pressure Monitor. I strapped the device around his arm and pushed the start. While it ran and whirled I grabbed a cloth and went to the sink in the corner of the room. I wiped off his chest and tried as best I could. "Thanks" came his reply.
tbc
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