Page 42 of E'Levyn Days
“A real six,” he said, sounding almost offended. “Damn, y’all don’t believe nobody in here.”
“Not when they’re trying to impress people.”
“I’m trying to impress you?”
I looked at him long enough for him to see I wasn’t about to play that game with him. “I’m going to check when your next dose is due.”
He smiled like he knew exactly what I’d done. “You smooth.”
“No, I’m working.”
“Same thing.”
I shook my head and turned toward the computer mounted near the wall, logging into his chart while feeling his eyes on my back. I didn’t have to look to know he was watching me. Some men had a presence even when they were sitting still, and Marvelous was one of them. Even hooked to machines he still carried himself like he wasn’t used to being helpless.
His pain medication wasn’t due for a little while, but he had the PCA pump if he needed it, and from the way he was trying not to touch the button too much, I could already tell what kind of patient he was going to be.
“You know you can press this when your pain starts climbing, right?” I asked, walking back to the bed and pointing to the button clipped near his hand. “You don’t have to wait until it gets unbearable.”
The way he kept looking at me almost made me nervous but maybe it was my own consciousness as well.
“I know.” he told me.
“You sure?”
He looked at the button, then back at me. “I don’t like feeling all out of it.”
“That makes sense, but pain can slow your breathing down too if you let it get too bad. Then you won’t move, won’t cough, won’t take deep breaths, and that turns into another problem.”
He didn’t say anything right away. He just listened, and for a second I saw the seriousness underneath all the slick comments. That made me soften my tone a little, not much, but just enough.
“You’ve been through a lot. I’m not saying stay knocked out all day. I’m saying don’t sit here trying to prove something to yourself while your body is trying to heal.”
His eyes stayed on mine in that intense gaze. “How many of your patients you giving lectures too? Damn.”
“Only the hardheaded ones.” I said with a chuckle because he was a trip.
I turned back toward the computer before he could pull me into another conversation and finished documenting the rest of my assessment. His pain medication wasn’t due for another thirty minutes, but nothing about him looked like he needed me to call the doctor early. He was uncomfortable, which was expected, other than that he was good. When I logged out of the system and turned around, he was still looking at me, only the playful expression had disappeared again. He had that same look he wore when he asked about the surgery, like there was something else sitting on his mind that he’d been waiting to bring up.
“You was there when they brought me in, right?” he asked.
“I was,” I answered, pulling the rolling table a little closer so his water and call light were within reach.
“Nah, I know that part now.” He shifted his eyes toward the television before looking back at me. “I’m talking about when they took my clothes and all my shit.”
My hand stopped on the edge of the table for half a second, and although it probably wasn’t long enough for him to notice, it felt like I had frozen in place for a whole minute and there it was; the one conversation I’d been hoping nobody would ever have with me, and of course it had to come from the same man whose room I’d been assigned to today. I forced myself to keep moving, sliding the plastic cup closer to him before straightening the straw even though it didn’t need to be straightened. I then ignored a call from Rome and focused back on him.
“Everybody’s belongings are inventoried after a trauma,” I explained, keeping my tone as normal as possible. “Anything the emergency room receives is documented, sealed, and either secured or released to the proper person.”
He stared at me like he was waiting for more. “You the one that did mine?”
My stomach dropped, but I kept my face neutral as I looked back at him. Lying to Tasha about where the money came from had been one thing because she wasn’t standing there asking me a direct question. This was different. Marvelous wasn’t accusing me of anything, at least not yet, but the fact that he even remembered having belongings made me wonder how much else was coming back to him.
“I helped,” I said carefully. “There were several people handling your care that night.”
His eyes had a weird look in them, but it wasn’t in a threatening way, but like he was searching through whatever pieces of memory he had left. “My chain and watch made it upstairs to me though.”
“That’s good.”
