Ancient Awakening (The Ancient) by Matthew Bryan Laube
*****
“Melissa!” Mike screamed as he snapped back awake. That's not how it had happened!
He was still in the waiting room, still alone. Melissa was still dead. The dream, the daily nightmare, left him with an ache in his heart so deep a small sob escaped his lips. For awhile he did nothing but resist the urge to tear up. This wasn't the time or the place.
“You okay?” asked a sweet voice. Mike looked up to see a stunning nurse looking down at him.
“Yeah,” his voice was choked. Then he added, “I'm good.” He sounded much more like himself.
He tried not to stare at the woman. She was amazing. Tall, strongly built, full-figured, with long, dark hair. Everything combined to form a picture so attractive, even the scrubs she was wearing couldn’t distract from it. It was like waking up from a nightmare to find an angel!
“Mr. Samson?” she asked politely.
“Yes that’s me.” He glanced to his left and his right. He was alone in the waiting room. Who else would he be?
“Follow me, please.”
“No problem.” He tried not to sound too eager. “Is this place usually so empty?”
“Oh, we've been pretty busy,” she looked back and shot him an odd grin. It was a creepy expression, and suddenly Mike felt a bit uneasy. She led him to a room with several beds broken up by curtains.
“Let’s get that shirt off and take a look.” Mike obeyed, noting the pain in his shoulder as he removed the blood-soaked t-shirt.
The nurse began to clean the wounds. She didn’t ask how he got the cuts, but just went about her business. Mike couldn’t help but continue to notice how attractive she was.
“So, you’re a police officer?” She started to glue the two deeper cuts, her touch oddly hot. He couldn’t help but fidget.
“Yeah, just a traffic cop. A run-of-the-mill police officer. I might try for detective in…OW!” The nurse had actually pushed hard against one of the cuts. “In another year or so.”
“I’m so sorry.” Then, her eyes locked with his and sparks flew. “You might be very useful...” She ran her fingers slowly up his chest, sending little shocks of pleasure through his skin. This was suddenly going very differently than he had expected. He wanted this woman. He needed her. She grabbed the back of his head and slowly moved his lips towards hers. It seemed wrong somehow, but he was so light-headed, he couldn't think.
“I…I can't,” he stammered. But it was a lie, he could. He had been so lonely without Melissa.
“Shhh,” was her only response. Their lips just brushed and then…
“Let’s see what we have here,” said another voice. The nurse pulled back and snapped her head around, looking for its source. Mike stiffened, the spell broke, and suddenly, he felt confused. A female doctor, dark-skinned and pretty in a normal sort of way, pulled the curtain aside and stared at them both.
“Everything alright, Mary?” She gave the nurse a searching look.
“Of course, Doctor,” Mary smiled back.
The nurse patted Mike on the cheek, and whispered, “I'll be right back, don't go anywhere.” She opened the curtain and stepped out. Mike caught sight of a handsome man, right outside.
What the hell was that about? Mike watched her leave. Had she really just come on to him like that? That didn't really happen, did it? He could see the letter to Penthouse in his head.
Dear Penthouse, I never thought this sort of thing could happen to me, but there was this really hot nurse and...
No, there had been something very wrong about the situation. Something was odd about the woman. She had been so attractive, so amazing, yet Mike sensed that something was off.
“Hi, I'm Dr. Tyler. Sorry I took so long. Sometimes it seems like I'm the only one here seeing patients.” She gave Mike a quick smile. “Let’s see those cuts, Mr. Samson.”
For a moment, the doctor inspected his wounds, and then started stitching them closed. After several minutes of poking him with the needle, the doctor applied new bandages.
“Do you mind if I ask where you got these? They look like a bear or something.”
“Police business. I can't really talk about it.”
“So you’re an officer then.” It wasn't really a question.
“Yeah. Look, I was wondering, is it possible to check if you had a patient in here a few days ago?”
“Well I'm sure I can't help. I've been away for a few weeks. First day back. I’m pretty sure you would need a court order to get any details, but they might be able to help you at the front desk.” She quickly gave him directions and hurried on to her next patient.
Mike replaced his shirt, regretting that he hadn’t brought a clean one. Heading back into the hallway, he made his way to where he thought the front desk should be. The halls were quite empty. Maybe it was just that time of morning. A movement caught his eye as he passed a room, and glancing inside, he saw two figures locked in a passionate embrace. He recognized the nurse named Mary and the tall male doctor. In the dim light, Mike could just make out the doctor’s name tag.
K. Malone, MD
Chapter 9 - Bad Dreams
Mokash – Vas – Feast of Silence