Daisy and the Phantom Nurse
Act III

As I laid there, in total darkness, feeling the cold air running across my exposed skin. I started to reflect on my life. I was sixteen years old. And about to meet my maker. This was not how most horror movies ended and this was not how my adventure was supposed to end. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart. Getting mad now would not solve a damn thing. Instead I focused on the good things that had happened in my life. I had been born premature and neither the doctors, or the nurses that had tended me figured I would live for a week.

Mom was heartbroken, she felt like she had failed my dad. Dad was brought to the verge of tears. My older sister, Sue, short for Susan only remembers being told her baby brother might not make it home from the hospital. It had been my late grandmother who had broke the news to her. Susan was three at the time, and really did not understand the cycle of life or death. But somehow, I won out for that week, and then for two, then for three. My frail body fought on and in the end I was discharged from the hospital, a bit underweight for a baby my age. But healthy enough.

Mom and dad of course showered me with love and affection. My older sister, Susan became my best friend. Sure we fought like brothers and sisters often do. But she is the one who took me on childhood adventures. Susan was a tomboy, and excelled at sports and at scouts. Sue knew all the hidden nooks and crannies of the old family farm. She knew the names of all the creeks, hills, hollows and vales that dotted the landscape of Vicksburg. She knew the location of the hidden springs too.

I closed my eyes and released my breath. I felt a deep sleep starting to come over me, a heavy sleep, maybe this would be how my life came to an end. Maybe as soon as I closed my eyes, I would wake up standing in front of the gates of Heaven. Maybe, the good Lord would give me a nice pair of wings, maybe even give me a body that matched my soul. Maybe I will be reborn as a girl?

I was just above to fall into that peaceful sleep when the door to the can I'd been sealed in opened and the table I was sitting on was pulled out. And once more I found myself in that strange, lime green room. The evil nurse returned and she was holding a knife in her hands and she had a twisted grin plastered across her face.

“No, no.” She said as she looked down at me. “I'm not going to let you off that easy!” She said, smiling a little as she rolled me toward the center of the room. “Now, where should I start.. I think I will remove your eyes first and replace them with some blue ones.” She paused. “Because your hair is blonde, and your pinkish eyes don’t really go well with blonde hair. I think then I will slice off your penis. You won’t be needing that soon! Oh yes, this is going to be fun!”

You know at this moment I think most people would be freaking out and screaming their head off. Instead I just peered at her and used what remaining strength I had to lift my leg up. Once my leg was lifted up, I shoved my foot into her face. I heard her nose crack and she stumbled back. Stunned I'm sure. And I hoped her nose was broken. 

“Oh you fucking bastard! I'm going to really fuck you up for that!” She yelled as she stumbled around the room. He boney hand holding her nose. Her eyes were no longer black but red and they burned like the embers of Hell. I saw the fires of the underworld flicking in her eyes and I knew then that the story Cerridwen had told me was not a story at all. No matter, if I was going to go down, I was going to go down fighting. Because I’m a Bell, and Bell’s don’t go down easy. Also I’d been bullied all of my life. And I was no stranger to brawling. And right now, I was not seeing the buggyman of the hospital, the fable ‘Nurse Spooky’. No, right now I was peering down at the bully of the schoolyard. And I knew only one way to deal with a bully. That was to beat them to a pup. 

“Go to Hell!” I yelled as I rolled over the table. By the grace of God I landed on my feet. The strange nurse was still stumbling around the room, holding her nose that seemed to trickle a small stream of what appeared to black puss.

“You're already in Hell.” The nurse said as she glared at as she seemed to regain her composure. “You entered Hell the minute you entered this room. There is no escape for you.” She said as she started to move toward me. “So stop fighting! And just accept your fate! If you do that and get down on your knees, and beg and plead and tell me how sorry you are for hitting me, I might still grant you your wish and try to make you a girl. If you keep fighting. I promise you, when I’m done with you, you will look like something from an Wade H. Garrett story!”

I said nothing. Instead I took the metal table I'd just been laid upon, the one I'd just jumped off of a few seconds ago and I  pushed it toward the nurse. Well I shoved it toward her, the table spun around and smashed into knocking her against the wall of the room. All of this seemed so easy. I could not believe I was winning? Or was I winning? Had it just been the element of surprise that had caused me to gain the upper hand?

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and started to run. I mean I dashed out of that room and dashed down the hallway. Those objects that littered the hallway, I pushed them behind me as I made my mad dash for freedom. I could feel the evil nurse running after me, she was cursing up a storm, hollering as she rushed after me.

I was within sight of the lift when I felt something take hold of me. I spun around and noticed the evil nurse had taken hold of one of my braided pigtails. She grinned as she held me by the braid. I then noticed the gleam of something sharp in her hand. She seemed to be holding a knife of some kind. My face drained of color as she raised the knife, and started to lung toward me.

Thinking quickly, I stepped to the side and spun around with me, she still held tightly to my braided pigtail. Using all the wit that God had seemed fit to give me, I reached over and picked up the first thing that I could lay my hands upon, an old walking cane. One of those wooden ones, that the one good thing about hospitals, so many of the items that you find lying around could be used as a make-shift weapon if you were creative enough. Or blood thirsty enough, or crazy enough.

Cane in hand, I swung it like one swings a baseball bat. I heard something crack as the crook of the cane smashed into the nurse's head. Blackish blood seemed to spray in all directions. The nurse howled in pain and stumbled a little. She then dropped her knife, but her hold on my braid still held.

It was then I made the most heart rendering decision I ever had to make, I reached down and picked the knife up and cut the section of braid she was holding.. the braided section of hair fell down on the floor. The nurse at this point was drunk on pain and stumbling around, still holding that cut section of braid.

“I'm going too..”

That was the last thing she said as I then reached down and picked up the knife, it seemed to be a surgical knife and with pure hate rushing through my heart I drove into her belly. A few seconds later an ear splitting scream filled the air and as she dropped to the ground. She fell in front of me, going down to her knees, black blood seemed to be pouring from the wound and dropping down on the ground, her face seemed to be covered in blood, her claw-like hand seemed to still be  clutching my braided pigtail like it was a cherished item.

I wanted to say something. Instead I picked up the cane and smashed it across her face again and again until it broke, no splintering into a million little pieces, drops of blood, pieces of broken teeth flew in all directions as I smashed at her face. Then.. then I rushed toward the lift and as soon as the metal door opened I rushed inside and pressed the button for the first floor.

A few minutes later. The stainless steel door to the lift was opening on the first floor. I stumbled out of the lift and into the hallway. And like an aimless traveler I stumbled around in a daze till I came into the lobby. An onrush of doctors and nurses filled the lobby. Some were clocking in for the day, some were clocking out. I watched them from the shadows before I stumbled toward the hospital's cafeteria. I paused as I stood before the door. I had no money..

Sighing I reached into the shallow pockets of the skirt and to my amazement I found a handful of dollar bills and one five. And a dogeared ten. I shrugged my shoulders and made a mental note to repay 'J' as soon possible and with that I stumbled in. I wanted food.. I wanted coffee.. I looked like hell I know. And I knew that I would need a haircut. I just hoped enough of the length would be saved so I could still kind of pass like a girl.

“I need coffee.” I said, taking a deep breath, as I pushed open the door that led to the cafeteria. I knew sooner or later that one of the staff would come and find me, they would tell me off because I had snuck out of my bed. Mom would tell me off, dad would tell me off. I’m sure they would ground me from the playroom or some kind of punishment. But I could deal with that and I would deal with that when the time came. Right now, I just wanted the warm comfort that only a home-style Breakfast would offer me.