Jim by Paul Argentini

Author:Paul Argentini [Argentini, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: face transplant, War in Iraq, Paul Argentini
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
Published: 2001-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

40

BROOKE ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, TEXAS

There was a cloying sameness to each day. To Keith it seemed he had to sneak awake to find out what he had to face for the day. It was never a question of whether or not he would be in pain. The question was how much pain.

Someone would come with a hypodermic and give him a shot or feed medication into him as a drink. He’d be off to oblivion in a blink. When he rocked and bubbled back to consciousness, like the emergency row boat hauled behind a vessel, he found tailing him some amount of pain. It wasn’t always a lot, but there always was some. The strategy was to work it out so he could get another shot sooner than it was supposed to be delivered. When he was strapped in the bed he would suddenly sit upright and shout, “I need a Scotch and soda!” Most of the time, especially with medical personnel newly assigned to him, it would work. They would ease him back onto the bed and shoot him up.

“I need a Scotch and soda!”

“I’m Nurse Louise, and I’m here to please. That’s my name, and your ass is my game!” Her hair was red as a pimento and piled high in a bird’s nest on her head. Her eyes were a piercing turquoise, her nose no bigger than the end of her thumb. Her mouth opened when she smiled showing a perfect set of ultra-white teeth. Her hands moved rapidly and constantly, checking the chart, setting the gauges, cleaning up the table, adjusting the linens and pillows.

“I need a shot.”

“Chart shows you have two hours to go.”

“I need a shot!”

“No.”

“Louise? Is that your name? Louise? If you’re here to please, then give me my shot.”

“My name is Louise McBride. And my answer is ‘No.’ One way I can get your attention: I’m going to hop up on that bed and hump your ass wild and just before you blow your lights I’m going to hop off. Will that get your attention or do you think you’ll be distracted enough so you won’t need the shot?”

“If not for pain, I will for rabies.”

“Now I know how smart and how dumb you are.”

“The mentally handicapped always say that.”

“Tell me your name, John, I’ll consider giving you a shot.”

“John.”

“Right. I’ll give the shot to John.”

“I tell you what. You give me an injection, I’ll give you back an injection.”

“What have you got my last four husbands didn’t have?”

“I’ll sue you for sexual harassment! Give me a shot! My name is Keith!”

“Keith, I just came off break. You’re going to make this an awful long day for me. You have less than two hours to go before you get another.”

“Nurse Louise? Can I whisper something in your ear?”

“Sure.”

“Nurse Louise? I have never seen lovelier hair than yours. Won’t you be my Florence Nightingale?”

“Of all my patients, I admire you most. That’s because you’re the only one I’ve got and had for the last couple years.

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