Need Someone | [Complete]

Chapter 13: Getting Tired

My sleep l last night had been complete shit. Everything was starting to catch up with me. Not that I wanted to miss any time with Ziggy, but it made it so difficult now that I knew how he felt about me. How he thought he felt about me.

I slept through my alarm and had no choice but to call Theresa and ask her to move my shift. Now I will be working an overnight shift the same day as Rebecca's engagement party. I clocked in at two in the afternoon, still trying to wake up. An alarm sounded from up the hall. I immediately started running.

I made it to Ziggy's room where Theresa and another nurse were already with him. He held a bin on his lap. Nausea again.

The monitor beeped loudly beside him. "What's . . . What's going on?" he asked me when I run over to him. His head hung with his fatigue.

"Your pulse is very low," I answered. He vomited into the bin and then panted. "Ziggy?" his head bobbed. "Hey, stay with me."

I leaned him upright, his sweat-soaked skin was cold and pale. His lips were cracked at white from lack of fluids.

"How long have you been feeling this way? Since this morning?" He gave me a weak nod. I looked over his chart in the computer and saw no logs for pills administered since last night. "Have you not been giving him the anti-nausea medication on schedule?" I asked the nurse.

"He didn't ask for them."

"He's been throwing up for hours. When was he supposed to ask?" I seethed. I grabbed the topical medication from the cart and administer it onto his inner wrists. His eyes attempted to focus on me from under his bald brow. I glared at the nurse before turning back to him. "This should help in a minute."

He looked dismayed, and I knew it won't be enough. Theresa looked at me and left to grab the intravenous version.

I climbed into the bed behind him and stroked my hands up and down his back. "Deep breaths, Ziggy." He nodded and did as I told him. He was in desperate need of relief. Theresa returned after a few moments and added the drug to his bag. "Deep breaths. In . . . and out." He leaned up and followed my breathing, exactly as instructed.

Over time, his breathing calmed. I rubbed the back of his neck to soothe him further. He looked at me over his shoulder.

"Getting better?" I asked him. He nodded. I glared at the other nurse. "You can leave now," I said through gritted teeth. Her brow furrowed with tears as she the room. Theresa followed after her to give her a proper lecture, or so I hoped. I wet a cloth and gently pressed it against his dry lips. He looked at me with a thankful expression as he took it from me, continuing to breathe deeply.

He leaned back against his pillows, wiping the sweat from his forehead. I opened the balm and dipped in a gloved finger. He moved the towel and I dabbed the ointment against his lips.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," I said just above a whisper. He looked down at me and stroked my forearm with his hand.

"Mr. Ziegler," Dr. Mathews said as he walked in with Theresa. "How are we feeling?"

"Like death," he quipped. I glared at him.

"Well, that is not what we like to hear. It seems your blood counts are very low, which isn't unusual during your treatment. We'll give you a blood transfusion, and you should feel much better. In the meantime, we will delay your next round so you have more time to recover."

"Delay it?" Ziggy looked like he was going to cry. "More days of this?"

"Only a few, but we are getting closer. Just hang in there a little longer."