Awaking with a start, moisture cascading down her brow to pool at her head, her sheets soaked in sweat, realization dawned upon Isabella as she noticed her chest heaved. Curiosity drew her to the pounding in her chest, the steady heartbeat announcing her anxiety.

However, she thought introspectively, "My dream was so peaceful. Where did this come from?"

Breathing deep several times, she calmed herself before rubbing her eyes and leaving the bed. Needing to strip her bed due to the moisture reddened sheets, Isabella sighed deeply. Luckily, still having laundry detergent in her pantry, relief washed over here as she witnessed this. Although low in quantity yet still enough to sustain her a bit longer. The hard zonk of the alarm quickened her pulse. Jumping slightly, dropping the sheets from her hands, aggressively, she turned off the alarm.

"No need for caffeine today." She thought to herself.

Now, the second day of orientation for the hospital, as well as the morning after her date with Doug. Her mind trailed off about the nuances of the date. Smiling, her mind lingered on his eyes, such kind and honest eyes. Charming, attractive, and witty, this man beguiled her. However, needing to focus on her work, this job meaning everything to her. If she did well here, she could dig herself out of the mound of debt slowly suffocating her.

Shaking this thought off, she quickened to lift the sheets off the bed, preparing for the second day of orientation. Hair, matted against the left side of her head, sweat and tangles keeping this style in place. Drawing a trail on her cheek and down her chin, white specks of dried spittle clung fiercely.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she yawned stretching wide. A flash of sharp pain shot through her stomach then quickly receded, nearly missed by Isabella due to the quickness of the event. Quickly, she clutched her side where the pain emanated. Pushing gingerly at the location into herself, she tested to see if it remained tender, nothing happened. Moving around her abdomen, she repeated the test. Again, nothing happened. A stitch in her chest reminding her to exhale as a puff of air shot out of her mouth. Her chest heaved, awareness dawning on her that she held her breath.

"Weird." Isabella thought to herself with her eyebrows knitted.

Disregarding this experience, walking to her bathroom to freshen up. Turning her facet on, annoyance radiated from her as she discovered her water did not descend. Racking her brain, she tried to think if she paid her bill. Her memory concluding she had, the annoyance grew from a minor itch to butterflies in her stomach. Needing to wipe her face dry and then reapply makeup without the help of water to remove oils off her face.

Onlywith 45 minutes to prepare, Isabella rethought walking to the leasing office to complain. She found calling did not work as fast as an actual human presence. This placing visible pressure on them to remedy the situation.

Peeking out the bathroom, she gazed at the alarm clock on her nightstand. With 30 minutes remaining before she needed to go into work, anxiety fluttered in her chest. Her bedroom, woefully absent style nor material possessions, only a scratched and worn, brown nightstand and a mattress directly on top of bedsprings adorned her bedroom. However absent, it remained roomy without the extras.

Ring. Ring. Ring. The loud shrill of her telephone erupted. Pulsing throughout the nearly vacant apartment, with nothing to buffer the sound, it bounced back and forth amplified in frequency.

As Isabella applied mascara previous to the ring. Finishing, she reached to pick up her eye-liner before the phone began its pulse. Dropping the mascara brush, leaving a black film in its wake, her annoyance grew. The previous butterflies became bees. Quickly she moved towards the phone to pick up the receiver.

Lifting it angrily, she erupted, "Yes! Why are you calling this early?!"

"I love you too mom" Brandt said with a chuckle.

"Brandt?"

"Yes, mother. Tis I." Brandt said smiling on the line.

"Oh! Sorry! I was getting ready for work. Can I call you back later?" Her annoyance quickly replaced with shame for speaking to her son this way.

"Work?! You found a job? Fan-freaking-tastic!" He said genuinely.

"Yeah, honey. I love you. It's great to hear your voice. Let's talk later."

"Sure. Sure." He said, somewhat sadly. "Can you call Celestino too? He said he misses you."

"Of course. I promise." She said hurriedly. "Goodbye. I love you. I love you. Bye. I love you." She said repetitiously. Her familiar pattern with goodbyes.

"I love you too mom," Brandt said before she brought down the receiver to its holding place.

The clang reverberated throughout the apartment. Stopping, in place, Isabella noticed her growing annoyance diminished to a soft murmur. Breathing deeply, she regained her focus. Smiling, she thought of her sons. Great men, who have families of their own. Worrying about their mother, Isabella took solace in the fact that they still cared for her. Turning, she moved to apply the rest of her makeup. Finishing with ten minutes to spare, she readied the remaining leftovers of her meal the night prior with Doug. Nuking the meal, her thoughts drifted again to him. Doug Tyler, the oncologist, his kiss lingered on her lips, softly tasting the wine on his breath.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The timer went off detailing that the meal was ready. Woken from her revelry, she moved to quickly devour the meal. The microwave did not heat it too much. However, the quickness she pushed the meal down urge her throat to cry out. Having difficulty swallowing, Isabella forced herself to slow down. Drinking the last bit of water, she placed in the refrigerator many days prior, using it to ease the descent of the meal. Clearing her throat, she finished up before heading into work.

Opening up the door to her apartment, a shadow fell over her face. A leaflet slid through the crack of the door fell to the ground. Bending down, she reached for the paper. Flipping it over it read:

Dear Tenants,

Due to repairs, the water will be shut off for the remainder of the day. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The management.

Grumbling to herself as she crumbled the paper, her stomach became bees again. Throwing the sheet inside her apartment behind her as she reached to lock up, Isabella continued to grumble. Navigating down the pathway she entered her car. Several minutes later, she arrived at the hospital. Moving towards the basement level, she walked into the orientation. Looking around the room, not spotting Doug, disappointment set in. Expecting him to be present, looking at her watch, she saw that the orientation was set to begin momentarily. Moving quickly to her previous location, she settled to listen to the speaker.

Surprised, she saw many open spots while looking around. Turning around, she noticed a woman deep in concentration on her phone. Looking agitated as she furiously tapped into her phone, Isabella thought twice about asking her a question.

"Umm, excuse me," Isabella asked quietly.

"Ugh, what an asshole." The woman said while putting her phone in her purse.

Taken aback, Isabella's body instinctively moved backward as the woman made eye contact, realization dawning on the woman.

"Oh no." She said shaking her head and holding up her hands with her palms facing Isabella. "I didn't say that about you. Just some jerk."

Her voice, silken, a deep southern accent sliced through creating a subtle melodious voice. Larger than Isabella, obese with soft pink skin, red specks dotted her cheeks, the unmistakable sign of alcoholism. Her nose, minuscule in comparison to her circular head and multiple chins, she stared apologetically at Isabella.

"Oh," she said. "No worries. I just wanted to ask if you knew why there are so few people here."

"Huh. I didn't realize." She said looking around. "Oh!" She said excitedly. "I remember. They said yesterday that only the nursing department is required to attend the second day. Fun times for us, eh?" She said smiling.

Disappointed, Isabella looked down and said begrudgingly, "Yeah, I suppose."

"Susan."

"Huh? Isabella asked looking up again.

"That's my name." Susan smiled.

"Uh, sorry. Mine is Isabella."

"What is your job here?"

"I'm a CNA. You?" Isabella asked interestedly.

"Ha! The same!" Susan said excitedly.

Her enthusiasm amused Isabella as she smiled widely. Opening her mouth to speak, disrupted by the speaker at the podium, the orientation began. Looking back to Susan, she nodded and turned around in her seat. Several hours later, the orientation passed. She still did not see Doug, this upsetting her slightly. Walking towards her car, she began the drive home, her mind racing on thoughts about the day's orientation.

"He could have at least stopped by to say hi." She thought to herself grumbling, a deep dark cloud lingering upon her.

Feeling annoyance, her eyes squinted while her mouth formed a grimace. With fierce grip, she held the wheel.

"Why am I so upset? It was just yesterday and only one date." She said aloud letting out a deep sigh.

The day, over, Isabella shifted her focus on work, she started her last day of orientation the next day. That day's schedule remained replete with practical exercises as well as a walk through the hospital. Needing her rest to stay focused, Isabella readied herself for bed she forgot to call her sons, Brandt and Celestino. Slipping into sleep, her mind avoided a visit by the creature that vaguely haunted her past dreams.  

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