Chapter 4 At work

Daniel became conscious of his environment as he realized he was in the hospital. The smells of antiseptic penetrated into his nasal cavity sending a signal to his brain of his location. Opening his eyes,the light shinning in from the window blinded him, impulsively,he shut his eyes for a while before opening it. The images were blurry at first but the blinking of his eyes corrected the sight.

How did he end up in the hospital? He asked no-one in particular as he scanned the room till his eyes fell on a fair lady who stood close to the Electrocardiogram, reading the chart.

Must be the nurse. Daniel thought.

Struggling to sit up,he winced in pain alerting her to his conscious state.

"Hello, Mr. Daniel. You are finally awake".

Fascinated by her voice,he stared without blinking. Her voice sounded cool, melodious and soft. Her skin looks delicate. She was beautiful no doubt but not like Rachael.

"Ahhh!" he winced as his head began to thud.

Instinctly,she was at his side,her brow furrowed with worry boldly written on her face.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you care for water?"

She inquired all at once.

"W.....a...t...e.....r" unable to voice out his thought,he managed to give an hint.

"You need water?"

"Yes"

Without answering,she rushed to the dispenser, returning shortly with a glass of water.

Wendy supported the glass with one hand while she tilted his jaw with the other hand, helping him to gulp the content.

Her soft hands felt good on his skin. Daniel mentally noted.

"Are you comfortable in your position?"

Wondering what she meant by that,he arched his brow inquisitively.

"I was thinking of placing a pillow by the head of the bed so you could rest your back,that way you will be more comfortable". Wendy elucidated while gesturing wildly for clarification.

"Okay"

She took one pillow,placed it behind Daniel then helped him rest gently on it.

"You will be fine,Okay?"

Daniel stared without making any sound.

"Can I speak with my parent?" He asked after a pregnant pause.

"Sure,I will let them know you want to see them"

"I didn't say I want to see them" I said I wanna speak with them" Daniel scowled.

Taken by surprise, Wendy looked back at Daniel "Okay"

Geez! Thought he was a nice guy but seems he is not. Maybe he just reacted that way out of frustration. Wendy thought.

Daniel watched her receding figure before heaving a sigh.

He regretted snapping at her earlier but what could he do?. He felt frustrated upon waking up,he saw none of his family member besides him. Is he really that insignificant in his family?

How did he end up in the hospital? He wondered. Judging from the event that took place,the accident was a fatal one. Surviving the accident was a miracle.

What really transpired after the accident? Who brought him here? This questions keeps popping in his mind. He tried recalling all that had happened after the car somersaulted but all he saw was darkness. Beginning to feel frustrated,he gave up.

Rachael?

Where was Rachael? Did mother stop her from visiting him again?

Martin and Cisca walked in,hand in hand with smiling face.

"Hello Son,you are finally awake"

Cisca rushed to check him out. "Are you hurt? Where does it hurt?"

Not bothering to answer the question,he spoke "Mother,where is my fiancee?

The look on his parent face was enough to send someone 6ft below the ground.

"What did you just ask?" Martin spoke coldly,his voice was ice,his face was devoid of emotion.

Boldy,Daniel answered "I asked for Rachael,my fian...."

"Your fiancee?" Martin interrupted rudely.

What's wrong with his father? Daniel thought as he stared aghast. His father has never for once spoken in such a tone with him,well except when he was still in High School but now....

What's really happening? Martin does not act rashly. Infact,he is the most rational person in the family and as such,he loves and respect him with every fiber in his body.

"You mean Rachael,the bitch who called you a semi-dead man?"

Daniel gasped as his heart underwent a uniform acceleration.

"Is it the same bitch that refused to help you into the stretcher simply because you were covered with blood?

His eyes widened.

"Or,the same slut that said the relationship between her and a semi-dead man was over?" Martin spatted. One could see the fire spurting out of his ears as his eyes blazed wildly with fury.

"Father".

Martin gritted his teeth. Damn it!

"If I ever get my hands on that bitch,I swear by her castrated Grandfather's grave,I will squeeze life out of her,break her bones and feed them to the wild animal in the Zoo" he vowed maliciously.

Spurning,he faced Daniel. "I am really disappointed in you. How in hell did you fall in love with an ill-mannered, selfish,greedy, self-centered bitch like Rachael?" He spatted.

Daniel stared horrified by the image painted of Rachael by his Dad.

"Father....I believe she had a reason for doing that" Daniel defended.

"Listen to yourself" Cisca spatted fuming with rage. "Are you making sense right now?

"Mother..."

Don't mother me. If I was not the one who birthed you,I would have said you're not my Son".

"What? Daniel looked at her aghast

"Yes. The truth is glaring before you but you are blind to see it. Open your eyes Daniel. Don't be a fool"

Daniel stared from Martin to Cisca unable to believe what he just heard, not knowing how to react or what to say. He opened his mouth to request for some privacy when the young nurse entered, interrupting him.

"Ma,it's time for him to rest "

At that instant, Daniel couldn't be more happy. Mentally expressing his gratitude to her for coming in at the right time to save his sorry ass.

He felt so obliged.

"No issue,we were about going" Martin spoke.

Cisca glared at him.

"Open your eyes" he muttered to his hearing alone before leaving.

"Mr Daniel are you okay? You look emotionally stressed"

Yeah! You are right beside who won't be emotionally stressed when blessed with a parent like his.

"I am fine now"

He watched as she slowly grasped the PIV near the catheter hub between the dominant thumb and index finger.

"You want to remove the IV?"

"Yeah but i am going to connect a new one". Quietly,she folded one gauze in half,held the gauze gently over the peripheral IV insertion site with her non-dominant hand, with her dominant hand she removed the PIV by pulling the catheter out along the line of the vein and away from Daniel.

Daniel felt dizzy at first before slowly regaining stability.

He watched in dismayed as Wendy administer another intravenous fluid to him.

She was so gentle, focus and soft spoken. The dream of every man but definitely not him. Sighing,his gaze shifts from her to the ceiling. What's really going on? Why will Rachel call him a semi-dead man? Did his parent make it up? No! That's absurd.

No matter what happened,his parent can never pull such an expensive lie on him which meant this must be the truth.

"Nurse"

Wendy attention shifted to him. "Please can I get my mobile phone?"

"I am sorry sir but you lost your phone during the accident."

"Fuck!"

"I am sorry about that"

"It's okay". With that his gaze shifted to the wall, staring at it intensely.

"Mr Daniel could you sit up? I want to change the bandage" she spoke politely.

Daniel pulls himself up in a sitting position, silently watching as she unwrapped the bandage son his legs,clean the wound with some antiseptic before leaving it.

"Won't you bandage it?"

"No,it need some fresh air"

With that,she made to exit the room in order to disposed the used medical tool.

Unable to resist, he asked "What's your name?"

"Wendy"

"Oh"

She was just a random,ordinary girl who felt nervous around people.

At the far end of the same ward lay a disabled patient with an amputated arms. She watched distastefully at Wendy as she moves around to clear things.

"Hey, nurse isn't it time to change my bandages and dress my wound?" She scolded bitterly.

"I am sorry ma'am but I was assigned to Mr Daniel"

"Yeah,why won't you be assigned to a mother fucker him? You are as incompetent and useless like him" she blasted.

"Hold your horses old fool. What's the meaning of that outdated lecture of yours?" Daniel snorted .

It was not in his agenda to interfere but seeing the nurse at the brim of tears was enough to move him into action. He had to save the beauty in distress.

The patient startled at his rude remark.

"I was not refering to you. Castrated dog"

"Slutty bitch, couldn't you mind your fucken business with your fucken fake arms? Oh I am sorry. I get the stategy. You were badly craving for attention that was why you behaved like a moron. I feel your pain."

Fascinated by the turn of event, Wendy smiled inwardly.

He is cool. Oh God! The handsome Mr Daniel stood up for her. He just defended her. Praise Master Jesus! Wendy mentally exclaimed dramatically.

Accepting defeat,she glared at Daniel and Wendy before facing the wall.

"Grade A fool!" Daniel muttered.