The Daughter of the Northern Star

Doctors and Hospitals

Chapter 2 - Alana

As usual, the day at the hospital was as busy as ever, stopping only at my break time before I returned to my daily routine while... At the same time, I wondered whether I should accept the other job, which I went to the interview a few weeks ago.

The p*****t was better for sure; however, there were other things I should consider despite all my friends telling me that I should have already resigned from my current job.

The other hospital was a lot farther from home, and going there using my bike would be impossible, so my only options would be the bus, taking me about 1h30 to go to work and another 1h30 to come back home. 

Of course, I could always get a car, which would be a challenging choice since I need to convince my mother about it, so she didn’t have a heart attack when I arrived at home with my new vehicle.

... Basically, there were several probabilities, and only I could choose which one was the best for me...

Finishing my shift, as usual, I said goodbye to my co-workers after confirming my schedules for the rest of the week as I always liked to do to avoid last-minute surprises.

After putting my phone in my backpack, I was already in the parking lot when I heard someone calling for me... And as a pleasant surprise, the voice belonged to Doctor Rodrigo.

... He was a tall black man, a few years older than me, and who had just received his medical degree a couple of years ago...

We had been flirting and going out for a few weeks now, but we weren't in a relationship yet, although everyone around us didn't understand why, since they always told us we were a beautiful couple... And about that, I needed to agree too...

... However, despite what they all said, I strangely always felt something was missing between us...

The first time I met Doctor Rodrigo at the hospital, a foreign feeling of familiarity immediately overtook my chest, making me feel like I had known him for years, even if it was the first time we saw each other, and... I couldn't deny that it was what made me want to go out with him when he invited me.

I wanted to understand better what such emotions could be if perhaps it was what everyone else called love at first sight or soulmates meeting, as one of my friends liked to say... 

Yet, despite it all, despite his pleasant presence and nice appearance, I didn't know what kind of feelings I had for him.

... But back to our little encounter in the parking lot, when he saw that I had my bike with me today, he mentioned that it was a pity that he would be on duty tonight since he couldn't give me a ride home due to that, even though he really wanted to, being such reaction so cute that it even put a smile on my face.

Thanking him for his kindness, even if he hadn't done anything, I told him that we could always leave it for another day, making him smile back to me before asking me if I would be free on the weekend...

"Yes, if nothing changes until then, I will be."

And everything I had said about not knowing how I felt about him seemed to fly out the window when I looked into his face, which easily convinced me to go out with him again, even if I just saw him as another friend.

... Something once more attracting me to him just like the first time I saw him, and those were the emotions that I didn't understand yet how to explain...

"Be careful with the cars, and don't forget to use the bike lane." Like an annoying brother, he told me that, kissing me on the cheek along with his 'see you soon' before he finished parking his car correctly.

"I will. Don't worry, and can we talk later?" Showing my phone, I asked him, receiving a thumbs-up as an answer when he smiled again before I continued my way home.

... I couldn't wait to arrive at the apartment, take a shower and send him a message, even though I knew I would only receive his response a few hours later...

But I could always go dreaming about it on my way home, of course.

Stopping at two traffic lights, I was already almost arriving at the building that my family lived in when I started to feel weird... 

As if the flashlights were shining before my eyes, making me stop for the third time before continuing my journey while thinking that maybe I should take one nap first when I arrived home as I felt a slight headache in the back of my mind.

That wasn't so unusual as I had been sleeping poorly lately, and I associated this with my insomnia and early mornings, which sometimes made in the past weeks, my mother and sister told me that I should go to see a doctor, which was quite ironic since I worked in a hospital.

But, instead of following their advice, I preferred just to think that those were just simple headaches and that everything would soon pass since I was already getting used to my work routine.

... Which again was a positive fact about why I shouldn't change my job right now...

But well! Consequently, changing my later routine, I just thought about taking some medicine and sleeping as soon as I arrived home while I continued to feel like the bike seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as the flashes started to become more constant before my eyes.

I was starting to imagine that I would pass out anytime there at this rate; however, before I could even stop and text someone or call 192, it was already too late as everything in front of me became black, and I couldn't feel anything anymore.

And when I opened my eyes again, I could only hope that I hadn't hurt myself badly when I fell off my bike and that whatever I had wasn't too serious... Otherwise, I would spend the next weeks, not months, listening to my mother complains about how I should have gone to see the doctor right away.

... But ironically, instead of a white ceiling as I imagined, I came across a starry sky at that moment before I sat down and realized that I was obviously not in a hospital, nor on the street that I was earlier...

Wherever it was, strange beings watched me while I couldn't understand yet what was happening... And by strange beings, I meant people with wings, horns, and even with leopard's heads that looked at me like I was the weirdest thing that they had seen in their lives when I heard two different cries before I felt two arms embracing me while I could only think of one thing...

... A dream...

... All of this should be a dream. It couldn't be real... Or could it?