Chapter Text
Night settled over the city with a quiet hush. Barely a single soul out in the streets. Lighting the paths were yellow street lamps that frequently flickered.
A cold breeze made Intern burrow further into their hoodie. They held their satchel close to their body, making sure to scan every street. They didn’t need to be late for their first day because someone decided to pick on them.
They strived to start this job without a hitch. The job seemed to be a blessing sent from the heavens for them. The fact that they even got accepted was a miracle. They weren’t going to take it for granted. When they got the email back, they couldn’t help jumping in joy, and their foot refused to stop stomping for so long.
With every building they passed, the sinking feeling grew. They tried to shove the feeling into a box, but it refused to leave. It didn’t take long till they saw the building.
Standing in front of this building made Intern want the sidewalk to swallow them whole. They needed this job, and they managed to get hired. They needed more help during the night shifts, and it's not like they have a normal sleep schedule anyway. So, here they are standing in front of the building like a weirdo.
Taking a deep breath, they entered the building, hearing a faint ringing as they went in. The room was illuminated with the harsh glow of the white LED lights. They noticed the waiting room was just a bunch of folding chairs. They couldn’t help but wince at the mere thought of being made to wait in those chairs. What surprised them was the abundance of silver lady ferns growing in each corner of the area. They supposed it brought some colour to the quite dull atmosphere.
They walked over to the window, and there sat an intimidating figure. Intern only guessed that the person was a barking deer. His eyes narrowed at the paperwork, and his whole body tensed.
The tinted window left the man's face mostly in darkness. Intern could swear that his eyes seemed pitch-black as well. They shook their head. They are just tired, and their brains are playing tricks on them. Despite that, their ears twitched.
“Ah- pardon me,” Intern asked, looking at the man.
The man glanced up from the paperwork; his eyes seemed to bore right into Intern.
“I’m the new intern?” Intern fiddled with the hem of their hoodie.
Instantly, the man's whole presence changed. Intern could only assume he was smiling underneath his mask. He moved into the light. Intern could only let out a sigh of relief, realising it was just a trick; his eyes were normal. Intern felt their ears perk up again.
“Welcome! My name is Doctor Harlow. Thank you for joining the team.” He stood up, towering over Intern, and at least the window between them made Intern less frightened. He stuck out his hand.
Intern shook his hand; he had a firm grip.
“I’ll be showing the ropes, you’ll mainly be checking people in, but you’ll float around too. It's all pretty easy.” Harlow moved over to the door and ushered Intern in. “This is the front office. Secretary will normally be in here. You’ll normally be in when he has days off.” Intern nodded.
The office looked plain, just a recycling bin next to the door. A few boxes were under the desks. A coffee pot on a cabinet, next to a weird poster. ‘Your sanity is important.’ Maybe a reminder to look after your mental health? It somewhat makes sense. On the far side was a large monitor with two wheely chairs.
“We have security cameras, normally Security and Agent have it handled, but it can’t hurt to check on them once and awhile.” Harlow looked down at Intern, his eyes seemed to shine in it. “This desk is where you’ll be spending most of your time.”
Intern eyes swiped across it. It was as plain as you could get, at least there was a nice sage carpet to pop out some colour.
“We have a simple check-in process to book someone in, have them sign this form,” he pulled out a box that was filled with forms. “After they signed it, just stamp and scan it. After that, sort it into a pile. Make sure you take a photo of the person.”
“A photo?” Intern tilted their head. Glancing at the surprise decent camera that sat on the desk. It was a Polaroid one too.
“Yeah, for the books. We need to know who our patient is! We can identify them more easily. You never know when someone is trying to claim to be someone else. Or even if the police are trying to identify a criminal. You must have heard how the crime rate is increasing at an alarming rate. You might even notice something weird with the photo.” Harlow chuckled slightly. “Make sure you stick the photo with the correct document. You don’t want to get things all mixed up.”
Intern was nodding along before pausing, ‘weird’. Intern could only pass it off as a bad joke of some sort.
“Next, you’ll scan in with the computer and print their patient or visitor badge. Pretty simple, right?” He glanced down, his eyes staring right into Intern.
Intern nodded and muttered, “Yeah.” They are just feeling nervous, that's it.
“One more thing, if a patient gets angsty or aggressive, we have shutters,” Harlow pointed to a red button on the wall. “Don’t be shy to decline them. Here at Animal Hospital, we strive for employee safety. Just close the shutter, and Security will handle it for you.”
Intern could only let out a nervous laugh. Remember, you’re getting paid a lot for this; you can handle a bit of strangeness.
“Well, that's pretty much all you should know for your first shift. I’ll have you hover over others on later days. But I don’t want to get you all overwhelmed just yet. I have such high hopes for you. You’ll fit very nicely with the rest.” Harlow took a step forward, and Intern couldn’t help but step back. They gulped as the man loomed over them.
“Over here are the employee sheets. Write down when you started your shift and when it ends. We don’t have strict hours, you know how hospitals can be, right? Make sure you write the right times, I want to make sure you get paid as much the right amount.”
“Do I need to note my breaks?”
“For you, not so much. This office has also become the makeshift employee break room. So the others will come in for their break. But you’ll have a lot of downtime, so there is no point.”
Intern could only place a fake smile and internally scream. Just think it means you technically snack all night and drink copious amounts of coffee.
“Before I forget,” Harlow walked closer and hooked a badge onto their jumper. “There, now it's official.”
Intern looked at a simple badge. Some pride started to swell in their body.
“If you have questions or concerns, my office is always open. Do you have any at the moment?”
“No, sir,” Intern gave him a wobbly smile as the man turned to leave.
“No need for the sir. You can call me Harlow,” he winked at them, “Welcome Intern.” With that, Harlow left further down the hall.
Thousands of questions flew past their mind before they let them fizzle out. They just had to greet people and check them in. Sounds easy enough.
Intern pulled out the chair and slumped into it. They let out a shaky breath and held their head with their hands. They were just letting the nerves take over them. Doctor Harlow seemed like a very nice man, but he just had an intimidating presence. That’s it, they were just judging the man by his appearance.
Stumbling over the coffee machine, they poured themself a cup. Caffeine always calmed them down. They just needed to think of the paycheck and all the things they could buy with it. Money was a great motivator.
Intern scanned the area again, noticing how the lights left each corner in darkness. At least it was a white light and not yellow. Maybe they could bring a few of their plants into the office to make it less creepy. Some more greenery will help.
Things were starting to look up for Intern. They now had a good-paying job, and for the looks of it, a nice boss. They were letting their mind run wild and ramped. Their minds were conquering problems because nothing ever goes this well for them. But they needed to accept that things were looking up and embrace their new luck.
Leaning back in the chair, they looked at the concrete ceiling. Their ears twitched, and they peered to the side.
They squeaked and fell out of the chair. A large abyss figure peered around the corner, its long claws wrapped around the wall. Its head snapped towards them, and its neck bent at an unnatural angle. Its mouth seemed to detach from its jaw. Through the window, Intern made eye contact with it. In a split second, the figure disappeared.
“The fuck?” Intern felt their heart in their throat as they stumbled back up. Just as quick as it came, it vanished. “It’s just a hallucination. You know how your brain loves playing silly tricks with you. Hahah - ha ah…”
Intern tightly gripped the desk. They took a deep breath and forced their heart to slow down. Falling back into the chair, they closed their eyes.
They snapped their eyes open at the jiggle of the door. Intern pasted a smile on their face.
“Welcome to Animal Hospital. How can I help you?”