When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

Val’s face, but it quickly faded. In the quiet, the memory of that day drifted to the surface. She’d messed up.

Fingernails dug into her palms as everything she should have done danced defiantly in her mind. The guy had scared her, and she let that fear show on her face which only terrified him more. She’d then tried burying the fear and foolishly tried to touch him. Because of that, she had a concussion, and Tyler, a black eye.

She closed her eyes and took a steady breath. Failure couldn’t be an option for her. Her parents had sacrificed too much.

Then came memories of the panic attacks, the groveling and begging for extensions and grace.

She had sacrificed too much.

Thursday morning, Val strode into the hospital with fast food in tow. Megan’s shift ended later than expected—something about a patient not wanting to change clothes. In comparison, Val’s practicum days were relatively uneventful. Until yesterday, the worst that had come through the E.R. during her shift was a kid with three broken bones. Megan, however, was a magnet for disaster. every day.

Val sidestepped around a man in a wheelchair, then entered the outdoor seating area past the cafeteria. She found her friends sitting at the far end then made her way across the maze of tables and chairs. The contractor had obviously been distracted. Walking space was nonexistent on crowded days. Even so, there thankfully weren’t too many people eating on a Wednesday afternoon.

“My savior!” Britt exclaimed, jumping up to snatch the bag of holy sustenance.

“Glad to see you too,” Val laughed. In minutes, burgers, fries, salads and the rest of the orders were spread across the table.

“I am so hungry,” Megan mumbled between bites. “Val, how’s your head? I heard about what happened yesterday.”

Britt set down her food and looked her over. “Yeah, some guy pushed you?”

It hit like a blow. Another reminder of her private shortcomings. Quickly gauzing the emotional wound, Val grinned and pointed to the bandage. “Just a scratch.” A partial truth. The cut was just short of needing stitches, but she couldn’t really feel anything. A miracle, the nurse who patched her up had said.

“The paperwork was awful, but that was about it.”

Megan winced. “I can imagine. I cut my finger on some piece of equipment my first week, and the vultures in HR were pressing me like a police investigation.”

“What was his issue anyway?” Britt squeezed an ample amount of Italian dressing over her salad then looked up.

“I don’t even know…” Val shook her head, then unwrapped her burger. “He said something bit him, and there was something in him, but his tests had come back fine, and he started talking crazy, and—” She took a deep breath then threw up her hands in defeat.

“Hmm...” Megan bit her lip. “Did he say what? If it was a widow or maybe even a rattlesnake then he’d definitely lose it.”

“Not a snake or spider.” Val crumpled up the burger wrapper then reached into the bag for a chicken sandwich. “Or at least any that I’ve heard of. He said it was a… nosferatu?”

“He was nuts,” Megan said with an affirmative nod.

“Straight shot to psych ward,” Britt confirmed.

Val stared at them incredulously. “What?”

Britt swallowed then took a sip of her water. “Nosferatu means vampire.”

Megan shrugged. "Hey, at least he wasn't crying ghoul! Now that would have been alarming."

"You mean ghost?" Val questioned.

"Nope." Britt shook her head. "Ghouls are monsters that live in graveyards and eat human flesh."

“Which you would know if you had made it to any of our old movie nights at Eric’s,” Megan added.

“Well, excuse me for actually wanting to pass this semester.” Val took a defiant sip then set her cup down. “And I’ve gone a few times.”

It wasn’t that she hated horror or fantasy games—they were fun every now and then. Britt and Megan were just obsessed. They’d gone all in with a club that some of the new security guys had started and, consequently, signed away a significant portion of their free time. She had no idea how Megan hadn’t failed out of the program. Britt was a bit more controlled, given that she had a kid. But with her husband roped into the club as well, Val had to wonder how everyone managed to stay employed.

“But anyway, yeah, it was really strange… I just hope he gets himself figured out. But enough about me.” Val slammed her hands on the table, startling the other two, then grinned. “What did I miss this morning? I was told something about a difficult patient?”

Megan didn’t waste a second. “You won’t believe this woman!” Her fist clenched into a choking motion. “I go in, all cheery-eyed and helpful. ‘Hey, ma’am, is it alright if I help you get dressed’ and she’s like 'no!'”

“Well,” Britt said thoughtfully, “maybe she just wanted to get dressed without some twenty-something feeling her up. I made that mistake when I was your age...” She said the last part in her “old-woman” voice. Whenever she could lord her seven-years seniority over them she took it.

Megan laughed and rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Britt, you’re only thirty. And no, she could not manage on her own.”

Val raised an eyebrow when she didn’t continue, then leaned forward. “Oh, do tell.”

“She’s got her head stuck in a sleeve, waddling around the room like a blind penguin. Lamp crashes, knocks over a chair, then she screams when I got close to help. Then the real nurse, Sara, comes in. Now the lady’s sweet as can be. ‘Yes, I’d like some assistance. Thank you so much.’ Thank you so much, my ass.”

Val and Britt exploded into laughter. “You really do have the worst luck here,” Britt managed between breaths.

Megan put her head in her hands. “And I don’t even want