Late Night

It was late. The room was dark except for a pale green light that seemed to come from the corner. John lay on the bed listening; nothing. The only sound he could hear was that of his own breathing. John looked around the room, but lost interest quickly for there was not much to look at. There was a circular clock on the wall that he couldn’t quite make out what time it read. He guessed it was probably about 3:00 am.  John muttered something about only wanting to go back to sleep as he tried to sit up to get a better look at the clock. He struggled for a few minutes but soon laid his head back on the not so comfortable pillow.  As he did so John suddenly felt cold. It started at his feet and worked its way up his body. John pulled the blankets tighter. “Who turned the air on so low,” he wondered.  John lay awake with the blankets pulled around him for another hour. Finally John closed his eyes. John’s mind was at peace. The round clock on the wall marked the time 1:31 am. It was late.

5:15 pm. “Damn it!” John thought looking at the radio clock in his blue ford focus. “Damn it damn it, I’m late”.  John sat in his car and nervously strummed his fingers on the steering wheel looking at the traffic in front of him silently wishing he could make them all disappear. John was on his way to meet his girlfriend Tiffany. He was supposed to be there by 4:30 and he still had five miles to go. John pulled out his phone.” Better call”. Suddenly a gap opened up in front of him. Johnny stepped on the gas narrowly avoiding a yellow Toyota truck with a bumper sticker that said “My co-pilot is Jesus”. John smirked. He then remembered he was about to call Tiffany.

         He told her he was going to be late. He told her about the traffic and she laughed at his frustration. She told him to drive safe and that she would see him as soon as he got there.  John hung up.  What Tiffany had confused as frustration was actually nervousness. John looked again at the ring in the box that he had purchased the last week. He let out a large sigh. This was the night, and he was late.
         The nurse drank another cup of coffee. How many had this been? She lost count. Why had she agreed to do her friends shift? At the time when she agreed she never thought she would end up being this tired. Now, all she wanted to do was find a quiet place to lie down. “At least the patients get beds,” she thought bitterly. She looked at the clock, 5:45. Just another eight hours and she could go home. Suddenly the intercom came to life. “Nurse Shields please report to the…” The nurse had hurried out the door leaving the empty cup of coffee on the table to listen to the rest of the message. “So much for a nap”, she groaned.

         6:00. John drove silently, glad to be out of the traffic. He had picked up Tiffany and was now heading for the park.  He glanced over at Tiffany. She had her eyes closed. He reached over to stroke her naturally curly brown hair. A slight smile played at her lips. John remembered the first time he had seen her smile. He almost laughed out loud as he remembered how he had their whole first date planned out. They were going to go to a movie, eat at the nice Italian place that had just opened, and then he would walk her to her door right when she was supposed to be home. But none of that happened. The movie was sold out, and the restaurant was packed. So instead they went to the park (the very park he was taking her now) and had hot dogs. She had smiled and laughed when he dribbled ketchup on his new shirt. John shook his head at the memory how she must have thought he was a dork for not reserving seats at the restaurant. “Oh well”, he thought, “she is still with me and after tonight we will always be together, I hope.” John looked back over at Tiffany and saw she was still smiling. That was the last thing he remembered.
         Witnesses said that the blue ford focus did not even slow down for the red light. The suburban had sent the small car rolling three times until it came to a stop on its hood slowly spinning.

12:30 am. Nurse Shields sat behind the desk. She had heard from dispatch about the massive car wreck and had been with the doctor when the man known as John had come on the gurney. Six and a half hours of surgery later the man was finally in his room sleeping. Now more than ever, as she felt the waves of exhaustion taking over her mind, she wished she could do the same.  Now as she sat at the desk with her hands cradling her head she had to be careful not to fall asleep as she kept an eye on the screen monitoring her new patient. “John? Yes I’m sure that was his name” she thought to herself.  “At two you will have someone new and I finally get to go home”, she said aloud to the unresponsive computer screen.

12:45 am. “Tiffany!” His mind screamed at him to open his eyes. “Tiffany! Is she ok? Did she make it? What about the ring? OH God! What had happened? Where was he?”  John’s eyes fluttered open. “Where am I?”  The room was dark, cold, and quiet. He could barely make out a circular clock on the wall. John looked around and saw in the corner of the room a monitor emitting a faint green light. As John’s mind cleared he noticed he was connected to oxygen. “Oh God. Tiffany is dead. I know she is dead; No, don’t tell yourself that.” John tried to get his mind off Tiffany. “Why, why, why of all nights” John felt the hot tears fall down his face.
 
1:00 a.m.  Nurse Shields looked at the screen, next check up at 1:30. Finally, she would be able to lay her head down. “Please just no interruptions” she thought as she happily laid her head down.

1:30 a.m.  John’s mind was frantic. “Where was Tiffany? Was she alive?” Could he live with himself if she wasn’t? John could not close his eyes. His mind would relive the moment in the car, the smile of Tiffany, and the peaceful look of her face as he drove.  John looked back at the oxygen tank.  His mind was made up. He felt at peace as he turned off the oxygen. He had to be with her.

1:35 a.m.  Nurse Shields was running down the hall frantic. She could not believe she dozed off. She was late for the check up. She ran into the room. “What?” Something was wrong.  John lay in the bed not breathing. She did a quick scan of the room and noticed the oxygen turned off. She looked back at John and noticed a peaceful smile on his face. “How odd”, she thought as she left hurriedly to find the doctor.

After informing the doctor, Nurse Shields walked slowly back to her desk and did the last minute filing.  After a while she sat down and cried, the doctor told her that it was really strange that John died this way for Tiffany died so he could live. She was an organ donor. Tiffany looked at the clock, 2:00, time to go home. It was late.