Chapter 2: A New Nurse

Editor's Note: This piece was sent with Danny's last e-mail which described his mystical night in Marrakesh. Stay tuned for Danny's tales from Essaouira.

Chapter 2: A new nurse

That night, once again Manuel couldn’t sleep. However this time, the boy was restless for an entirely different reason. His chance meeting with Jack the DreamGiver had given him new found energy that he hadn’t felt in months. Manuel couldn’t stop thinking about the man, with his weird green suit, and the mysterious briefcase that had to be locked three times over. He couldn’t help but wonder and worry about how his dream could come true. How could he go on a wild adventure? He couldn’t even do normal things, like go to school, ride a bike, or even walk for that matter. The boy felt cheated of all the things most people take for granted.

Just as Manuel was starting to lose hope, he heard the door to his room opening. This was very unusual. The only people who would come in this late would be nurses. But nurses never came into his room this late at night. The only time they would come in was when he pressed the red button next to his bed, or if he was getting another shot, or more medicine. Manuel hadn’t pressed the red button, and as the person approached his bed, he started to get quite frightened.

“Hello ‘dere darlin’,” a sweet southern, almost Jamaican, voice said.

Manuel could now see the person who had invaded his room. It was a nurse alright, but one that he had never seen before. He had met all the nurses in the hospital. They all knew him by name and he the same. But this nurse was different. The new nurse in front of him, had a tall and slender build, was younger than the others and quite frankly she was beautiful. She had long, shiny black hair, braided in pig tails, that went past her shoulders, and bright blue eyes, that seemed almost enchanting. Her skin was a beautiful brown, and she had cute little freckles splattered under her eyes and across her nose. Manuel realized he was staring and hadn’t said anything to the young lady yet.

“Uhh…Hello, what’s your name?” Manuel asked.

“Mi name’s Vesta. Vesta Orange,” the young nurse smiled with her big white teeth.

“Orange? That’s a funny last name. I’ve never heard of that,” Manuel replied.

For some reason Manuel was able to speak to this woman, more than he was able to speak to his own parents, or doctors, or even Jack. It was as if her beauty was motivating him. He couldn’t just let a pretty girl stand there without striking up a conversation with her.

Vesta puzzled, “I, mistuh, suppose dat Orange is a bi’ differen’ a lass name. Speakin’ of da matta, have ya evva seen ‘n Orange eat ‘n orange?”

Before Manuel could say no, Vesta had reached into her pocket and pulled out a baggie full of orange slices. They were the brightest and ripest looking oranges he had ever seen. She opened the bag and then plopped a whole slice in her mouth and made and made an orange peel smile.

Manuel started to giggle. He had never seen an orange eat an orange before, and the sight had turned out to be quite silly. Then he found himself reaching out and receiving an orange slice from Vesta. He put the slice up to his lips tentatively, because he hadn’t had solid food in at least a month, and he didn’t know if he could handle it. He managed to get it into his mouth, and as he bit into it and the juices reached his tongue, his body felt a burst of excitement running over it, and his eyes began to water. It was the most delicious orange the boy had ever tasted.

“Thank you,” Manuel mumbled with his mouth full.

“You, mistuh, look like a monke’,” Vesta laughed.

Manuel laughed too, and took the peel out of his mouth, and said, “Are you new here?”

“Kind da,” Vesta answered, “I don’ wahk for de hospidal. I’va been assigne’ da ya by de DreamGivers. Mi ya new nurse, an’ tis mi job to ge’ ya feelin’ bettuh so dat we can sen’ ya on your ‘bran’ new ‘venture.’ Is dat okay widd ya mistuh Manuel?”

After Vesta said this, he soon realized that the nurse’s dress was bright sea-foam green just like the mysterious man’s suit was the day prior. For some reason he hadn’t noticed it before. He started to blush because he realized that Miss Orange’s beauty had distracted him so much that he hadn’t even noticed her brightly colored dress. Then he gathered himself and said, “I’d love for you to be my nurse.”

“Well das jus’ great!” Vesta said. Then she added, “But you can’ nah tell nobodies bou’ me. No’ de doctuhs. No’ de nurses. No’ even ya parents.”

“Why?” Manuel questioned.

“Cuz mi goin’ da be doin’ tings to make ya feel da better. And I don’ wan’ de doctuhs and nurses gettin’ in our way, questionin’ de treatmen’ mi be giving yas. It wuh’ delay ya ‘venture.”

“I see,” Manuel replied. “What sort of treatments will you be giving me.”

Manuel didn’t want this pretty nurse pricking him with needles and then offering him suckers.

“Well, mistuh Manuel, I will only be treatin’ ya tree times, and then ‘opefully ya will ‘ave enough energy tah embahk on ya journey. And guess wha’. De firs’ treatmen’s already ovvah.”

Manuel was confused. He felt as if Vesta Orange was pulling a fast one on him. “What do you mean the first is over?”

Vesta answered, “Ya know dat orange I guv ya.” Manuel nodded. “Well sweethear’? Dis wasn’ jus’ any ole orange. Twas a magical orange darlin’, from a magical place.”

Manuel would normally had called this lady a raving loony, and would be leaning over to the phone to call security, but the way she said it, and the way the orange had tasted in his mouth, made him think otherwise. Maybe, just maybe, he had eaten a magical orange, and this new nurse was telling the truth.

“What kind of magical land?” Manuel asked.

“I’m sorry darlin’ I can’ guv everyting ‘way, odderwise it wuh ruin ya ‘venture. Well, I needa be goin’. Bu’ mi be back. Remembah you gah two more treatmens wid me, mistuh, and den we are gedding ya outta here.”

Then Vesta leaned over the mechanical bed, and kissed Manuel on the forehead, which made Manuel’s face turn bright red.

“See ya soon, Manuel,” Vesta said. And Manuel fell into a deep sleep.