Page 13 of Byte

I found Byte sitting at my kitchen table, intently focused on his laptop screen while he typed. “Morning,” I said and made a beeline for the coffee machine. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” he said distractedly and kept his attention on the screen in front of him.

Assuming he wasn’t a morning person, I continued getting ready for the day in silence. Once I finished, I felt awkward and unsure of how to interrupt him. Finally, I cleared my throat and announced, “I’m ready if you are.”

Without a single word, he rose from his seat, grabbed his keys, and headed for the front door.

I spent the first half of the ride to the hospital going over every interaction we’d had, trying to figure out what could have caused his sudden change in demeanor, but I couldn’t come up with anything. I also didn’t want to spend the whole day thinkingabout it. I had enough to stress about without adding more. So, I mustered up some courage and asked, “Did I do something to piss you off?”

“What?” he asked in surprise. “Of course not. Why would you even think that?”

“Because you’ve only said one word to me this morning.”

“Shit. Sorry,” he said and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “I haven’t been able to find much on this Chad guy, and it’s frustrating the hell out of me.”

“Oh, well, I guess that’s good. I mean good for me, not for you,” I rambled. “Not that it’s bad for you. Oh, hell, you know what I mean.”

He chuckled. “I really got under your skin, huh?”

“I don’t like it when someone’s upset with me, especially when I don’t know why,” I admitted.

“Since we’re going to be spending a lot of time together over the next two weeks, how about this? I promise to tell you if you do anything that bothers me.”

I exhaled in relief. “That’ll work for me.”

“But you have to promise to do the same,” he added.

“Oh, I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Come on, Gabby. You can’t ask me to do something you’re not willing to do yourself.”

“Of course I can. Let’s say there was a spider in the kitchen. I’d have no problem asking you to get rid of it, and that is definitely something I wouldn’t be willing to do,” I said as he pulled into the parking lot. “But for the sake of time, fine. I’ll tell you if you do something that bothers me.”

“Great,” he smiled. “Now, what time do I need to pick you up?”

“Can I text you this afternoon and let you know? Technically, my shift is over at quarter after seven, but I can’t leave if something’s going on or if I haven’t finished my work. Most ofthe time, I’m finished by seven thirty, but there have been times I was there until nine.”

“That’s fine, and I’ll text you when I get here. Make sure you stay inside and in an area with people around until you hear from me.”

“I will,” I promised. “I’ll see you later. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good day.”

“Thanks. You, too,” I said and got out of his truck. Then I stopped at the front door and turned to wave goodbye before I walked into hell.

“Rough day?”Byte asked when he picked me up from work.

“If I never hear my name again, it’ll be too soon.”

“What happened?”

“Today, I had a patient who’s bedridden, blind, and has some dementia. As I always do, I started the day by going to each room and introducing myself. ‘Hi, my name’s Gabby, and I’ll be your nurse for the day.’ From the moment I said my name, the man started saying it. On repeat. He called for me all day. Do you know what it’s like to hear someone calling your name nonstop for twelve hours? Let me tell you. It is a special kind of nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing, maddening torture.”

Byte grimaced. “That sounds awful. There wasn’t anything you could do?”

“I gave him the medicines his doctor had ordered for anxiety and agitation, hoping they would make him sleepy like they do every other person on the planet. But, no, not this guy. He sounded like a bird with the way he would draw out my name in his croaky little voice. ‘Gaaabby. Gaaabby. Gaaabby.’ And it’snot like I could ignore a patient calling for me. So, I pretty much spent my entire day hovering around his room.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything like that.”

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