Alma Kapoor

“Why do all the staff insist on sedatives?” She snapped shooting the woman a disdainful glare. “I mean seriously how do you expect to get anything accomplished by keeping up drugged?”

“These are pills for patients that have trouble sleeping.” Amal lined up little paper cups containing colourful pills, before looking back at the girl. The glare had so far gone unnoticed. “I don’t believe in keeping people drugged... there’s more to life than having to sleep all day.”

“Maybe you should take more care when organizing things…”

“Forgive me, I’m still trying to memorise the layout of the nurses station. There’s so much to learn and remember.”

“I heard ya the first time you said that - I’m not deaf. Fuckin’ Marines only messed me up in the head, alright?” He shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back against the nearby wall. “Security, really? Because I don’t want to be put to sleep and forced to remain in a fuckin’ nightmare for however many hours those drugs last. Wow. That’s really gonna help my mental health.”

“Sometimes people need to be told things several times before anything goes into their heads.” The nurse responded, turning to write something down in a notepad left on the counter. “We’re trying to remain positive, Mr Adams. This is a different medication that I’m hoping will work. Your cooperation would make this a lot easier, so if you take it willingly, I can tell security not to bother coming.”

“I would prefer not to take it all, and thus I am not going to. You can pin me down if you want; just know that that shit is not getting anywhere near me while I can prevent it from doing so.” He smiled almost charmingly, hands sticking into the pockets of his jeans as he rocked back on his heels.

This was something she really hadn’t wanted to happen. Having an uncooperative patient was extremely stressful and something she didn’t want to deal with. “You must take your medication.” She couldn’t remember how many times she’d said that already. Stepping backwards slowly, she pressed a button that was built into the desk, calling security to the nurses station.

“Yay.” Caleb rolled his eyes in annoyance; annoyance was always a fairly good cover up for something that was a lot more like fear than any other emotion. He wasn’t scared, as such - but going to sleep, or even feeling calm enough which often lead to him feeling asleep, was not an ideal chain of events. “I’m not taking them until at least 11 o’clock tonight, you know.”

Taking out boxes from the cupboard, the woman could hear the abundance of sarcasm in his tone, tinged with maybe anger or sadness. There was nothing she could do, as it was her job to make sure the patients received all of their medication at the right time. “Absolutely not.” She shook her head, concentrating on the vials. “That is far too late. Would you prefer it in pill form or intravenously?”