Smother You In Your Sleep

Smother You In Your Sleep
She had just been watching and waiting. And taking care of Vin Warren, of course. But that was only because Andy was in charge and he wanted to be funny.
It was mid-afternoon when she entered Vin’s room and found him with a bag of chips and a candy bar.
“What are you doing?” she bellowed angrily, and his eyes widened as soon as she began advancing on his stash. “You know you’re on clear liquids for your test tomorrow. Where did you even get those?”
Luckily, the chips packet was unopened, but the candy bar had a well-defined bite taken off the end. She snatched the chips off the bed, but he held the candy out of her reach.
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to lay here and let you people starve me to death,” he countered argumentatively.
“Give me the candy.”
“No.”
“I’m going to tell the doctor what you’re doing.”
“Great. And while you’re at it, call the kitchen and have them make me a burger.”
“Well, I guess you’re not doing your test tomorrow. You like me so much you want to stay another day.”
Vin rolled his eyes. “Ha! I’d rather drop dead.”
Irene crossed her arms across her chest. “Then why don’t you? Oh, right… because you want to make my life miserable first.”
“If I were Brenden, I’d put you over my knee and teach you how to talk to your superiors.”
“If I were Nina, I’d smother you in your sleep with a pillow.”
“If you were Nina, I’d smother myself with a pillow!”
She ripped open his bag of chips and turned it upside down over the trash can, letting the chips sprinkle down like raindrops. Then she threw the bag away and stormed out of the room, making sure to leave the door open just because he liked it closed.
She didn’t hear from him for over an hour. Then later, when she checked on him, she saw the uneaten candy bar in the trash can. He didn’t apologize for his behavior, and she didn’t either. But he spoke to her like a person, not his subordinate, and she realized with a sense of triumph that she may have discovered how to handle Brenden’s crass father.
Strangely, this new relationship seemed to work for them.
A little later, she went to the break room for something to snack on. Sine was warming up something in the microwave, and Andy followed on her heels, eager to know what kind of food she would have.
“Nothing you’d be interested in,” she told him. “Just yogurt and almonds.”
“Chocolate-covered ones?” he asked hopefully.
“Nope, just the plain old ones.”
“Fuck it. I’ll take anything right now. Hand them over.”
She tossed him the ziplock bag and dug her yogurt out of the packed refrigerator. Around a mouthful of nuts, Andy said, “Talia told me about Dr. Swift.”
“Yeah? What do you think?”
“It’s convenient. Seems like she wanted it to be her just as much as you do,” he answered finally after he swallowed, looking thoughtful. “But it wouldn’t hurt to bring it up with Haley. She is cool and if she doesn’t agree, you guys could forget the whole thing.”
 “I am not doing that.” The refrigerator rattled when she closed it. “There is no proof, and I don’t want to create drama if I am wrong.”
“The person who stole the drugs created the drama. Not you.”
“And what if it is not her? I would be accusing her for no good reason.”
“And what if it is her? Frankly, I wouldn’t want my patients being operated on by a doped-up surgeon. Besides, she didn’t have to know you said anything. It could be anonymous.”
“Nothing is ever anonymous.” Irene turned to Sine, who was snatching her food out of the microwave. “What would you do, Sine?”
She looked surprised at being addressed. “I uh… I don’t know.” She had a cup of hot chocolate, she realized, as she began stirring at a brisk pace immediately. “Maybe you should say something.”
“See?” Andy said smugly.
“I need to think about it.”
“Think quickly. Before the drugs get out of her system.”
“Yes, Father,” she said dryly.
He nodded in approval. “Good girl.”
Nina came to visit about an hour later and brought two boxes of homemade cookies. She offered one to the floor as a thanks for taking care of Vin, and the other she gave to Irene to take home for Brenden and her. She would have given it to him directly, but they all knew how fickle men were and she didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the nurses and doctors.
Andy devoured half the box immediately and insisted she was only allowed to eat cookies from her own box, not the one she had given to the floor, because otherwise, she was just being greedy. But he agreed to share one cookie from the floor box if she promised to talk to Haley. She hunkered down with her own cookies and didn’t consider it much of a loss.
Nina shut the door to Vin’s room, and Irene figured that since she was there, she could finally get a break from him. She checked on her other patients before realizing she had a missed text from Brenden.
He was asking how she was holding up with his father. He stopped by that morning to drop off the coffee and give her a sympathetic look, then came again later with some of those chocolate cookies from the doctor’s lounge she loved so much. She was pretty sure he felt bad, knowing what she had to deal with all day.
He only stopped to speak to Vin once, and only for a few minutes. He was lucky.
Irene headed for the break room so she could check her messages. There was no one there, so she took a seat at the head of the table, resting her feet on the seat of one of the chairs. She was right—Brenden was simply asking how she was doing.
She quickly typed out her reply, checking the time on her phone, counting down the minutes until she was off work and could cozy up next to him on the couch. Maybe she could pout about Vin a little and get a sympathy foot-rub.

Something vibrated loudly on the counter, near the microwave, and she looked over to see Sine’s phone lying face down on the laminate. She ignored it at first, but when it vibrated twice more, she hopped off the counter to pick it up, thinking she would take it to her so she could check her messages.