Chapter Text
Intern was half asleep when they woke up to the sound of the mini alarm clock in their pocket. They were hiding inside the office, under the check-in windows to prevent being seen. They groggily took the alarm clock out of their pocket and stopped it before they got annoyed. 1:55 am. They stared at their hand.. they were blue the just day before, and now they’re beige. A gender swap.. alright. At least they’re more easily recognizable now to everyone else. They slowly got up from under the desk and walked over to the biggest, slowest coffee machine to brew some coffee.. the same mundane task they do every single day. Put water in, put the pod in, wait for the water to heat up, grab a mug… you get it. They tried their best to stay awake while waiting for the coffee to finish. To kill a bit of time, they went over to the sign-in sheet with only a pencil they found on the ground once. They sloppily wrote “INTERN” and “2:01,” doodling a little version of themselves on the corner of the sheet. While they usually wake up refreshed enough, the early coffee brew is just a precaution to make sure their sanity doesn’t deplete fast. After they heard the ding from the coffee machine, they walked over and grabbed the mug, giving it a straight chug. Once they finished, they set the mug down and wiped their mouth. They opened the door and left the office to do any clean-up missing from the previous day and medical prep.
Some hours passed and Head Nurse was the first, besides Intern, to sign in. It was 5:57 at that point, and she left a little concerned note. She doodled an arrow to Intern’s sign-in time and wrote, “you okay? :(,” before she left to grab a cup of coffee and start prepping medical rooms.
When she arrived to room one, she found the room was all prepped.. she heard some rustling from room 5, and immediately knew it was the examination table paper. “Hey, Intern, you there?” She went out of the room to get closer to room 5, in which she heard a faint voice.
“..Yes, Intern is here.”
She walked closer and eventually peered into the room, where Intern was meticulously arranging every item into convenience. They had done this with pretty much every room in the hospital now, and it takes a lot of time to prepare, so they woke up extra early. The only thing that they felt redeemed them was being self-kept and remembering what everyone needed and wanted.
“Intern thought.. medical staff need more help. So, Intern prepared all the rooms.” They stood awkwardly with their paws together, their plushy, voluminous clothing giving them a soft, non-threatening look.
Nurse nervously flapped her hands, shaking her head. “‘Daww, don’t worry about it sweetpea! I was just making sure is all. You can continue doing what you wish.”
Intern nodded. As they watched her exit the room, they pulled out a bag of chips from their sweater pocket and opened it, beginning to eat. Admittedly, it was their fifth bag of the morning. In their defense they hadn’t eaten since 8 pm yesterday, and Agent, or.. “Assistant Doctor,” gives them food throughout the day. Their ear twitched and they rubbed it down their head, their paw passing over the incision on the side of their ear. After they finished their chips, they went out of the room and threw away the bag in the nearest trash bin.
“Where did all the chips go??”
Intern perked up at the question, realizing he took most from the vending machine.. Of the basic flavor, anyway. They went back to the office to sit down, because they didn’t do much until they were told to or called in for assistance, mainly done by Agent. They just sat down and kept watch on the cameras. Although, it seems they got on watch a little too late, as almost everyone in the super early shift funneled in before they could process it. They felt a hand on their head, and right behind them, was Agent.
“Good morning Intern,” he said, crouching down to be more on Intern’s level. Agent had quite the interest in Intern, especially after they ate a patient that died after a procedure due to Nurse’s mistake. Although he pretended like he never noticed, alongside the nip in their ear, they were quite the research subject for Agent. He happily narrowed his eyes in a very cat-like manner, gently petting Intern’s head. “Coffee’s ready if you need it.”
Since Intern had gotten used to not getting much attention from others besides pity interactions, they grew a large liking toward Agent. Their tail wagged in the seat, their head turning to face Agent’s. “..Intern feels okay. Does Doctor need anything from Intern?”
“Nope, nothing from you yet bun. Take care, I’ll call you when I need you.” He took his hand off Intern’s head and walked away, now stuck in his thoughts while the nurses dealt with everyone else in the early shift. He went to go sit down at the bench in the shop area.
He could only think about how fascinating Intern was. They were an anomaly, yes, but they were pretty low on sanity when they ate the dead patient.. and they never ate a live patient, or as far as he knew. They were pretty aware of their surroundings as well as what the hospital needed, could treat patients, and remembered what everyone needed. They seemed so docile and kept to themselves, yet they were an anomaly. He thought about how their mood instantly brightened when he came along and offered affection. Maybe that was the thing keeping them at bay. But he had a gut feeling that they would be too many entities today.
“Hey Assistant, we need you over here! We got a more severe patient in room 6.”
He sat up and darted toward the room, because Head Nurse called him over, and she got mad quick.
—
Some time has passed and Intern worked on idle patients (patients that weren’t getting treated quickly). They encountered a lot of fires and stalkers, in which they didn’t have the fire extinguisher most of the time. Their sanity was low and they started to feel jittery, but they still carefully bandaged up patients to the best of their ability. A new patient came in just as they went on their break, in which, they practically ran toward the back.. or, the break room. They jammed the door shut as well as they could, running to the corner, and dropping down into a fetal position. They knew their sanity was really low and it would be a long time before they could get coffee or any chocolate. They tried to just cradle themselves in order to not lose it, but it wasn’t really working. They felt themselves become even more shaky, their mouth watering, their eyes darting. Only one thought: hungry. But, it would be a little before they lost control. They got up and ran toward the door, desperate for any other way to gain sanity, but the rest was a blur.
…
They suddenly gasped, shooting up to breathe. Looking around, they recognized the area to be room 7. They looked down.. their hands covered in red, the whole floor in front of them messy. An animal opened up to reveal a bunch of flesh. They thought they were going to be sick. They were kneeling in front of the patient, IV tube still stuck in their arm from when they were ripped off the examination table. Splatters of bright, fresh blood sprinkled across their clothing. They couldn’t leave, at least not now. They felt as if there were too many people outside that could see them as a pure monster. Their hands shook with fear and guilt as they slowly crawled away, unsure what to do. They’d done it before, but it’s never been this messy or busy to their memory. They just- stood frozen. They heard a knock on the door and their heart dropped as the knob turned.
“..Hey, Intern? I saw you walk in here. Just wanna check up on you, you don’t seem quite well-“
“…oh.”
Agent was speechless, unsure of what to say. Out of instinct he drew a gun, but his heart was also pounding violently. He didn’t want to kill Intern, but he wanted to stay safe as well. He looked uncertain as he kept it drawn, his hand shaking slightly.
Intern immediately ducked down, cautiously crawling toward Agent, sobbing loudly and ugly. “Please, p-please don’t kill Intern.. I-Intern didn’t- d-didn’t mean to- p-please..! Don’t kill.. please..” They wrapped their arms around Agent’s leg as a plea of peace, sobbing and shaking as they burried their face into his leg. They let out apologies and begged to be spared.
Seeing them be so.. vulnerable, Agent put the gun down and back into his pocket, kneeling down with his other leg. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. He reluctantly put a hand on their head, petting them and comforting them. Thats when he felt them lunge forward into trying to.. nuzzle into him? He was very shocked and wasn’t sure what to do, it was almost like Intern was trying to get under his skin with how close they were. He couldn’t help but blush and try comforting them the best he could, holding him tightly and petting his head. He was trying not to shake himself, but seeing a dead patient in front of him was something that he still wasn’t used to.. especially a mangled patient. He rarely scrubbed in on surgeries unless it was with Intern to study their behavior.
“Sorry.. Intern’s so sorry.. So sorry.. Intern’s so sorry Doctor.. P-please-“
“Hey- it’s okay.. Look, um.. we, um- we can clean this up, yeah? And- and then, um.. you can just wait until the shift ends maybe.. or stick by me.” Agent noticed Intern’s ears were down, and also really noticed the notch on their ear. He felt Intern aggressively nod into his chest, which he thought was a bit cute.. no wait- what is he doing!? Someone’s dead and they have to clean it up. He just hoped that there was no blood on him either, or else he’d have to excuse it as a patient. “Okay- um.. let’s say a Mimic got to the patient before we could save them and you were in the process, alright?” He felt Intern nod again.
He then decided to pick up Intern and take them back into the break room where they could calm down. Once they were sat down, he looked at them. He grabbed a napkin and gently dabbed his face away of any excess tears and blood. “Please, stay here and just.. be careful. I’ll go clean it up while you regulate.”
Intern nodded. “…Intern thanks Doctor.”
“Of course. I’ll tell everyone else that I authorized extended break time.” And it would be believable since, well, Agent is the Assistant Doctor (of Dr. Harlow) to everyone else. He slowly walked out of the room and prepared to go back to room 7 to clean the body as he usually does, but he found that Surgeon was already walking out with a body bag.
Surgeon caught Agent’s stare and spoke. “Well, this one died already, I’m not sure how he wasn’t bagged yet, or how a Mimic got to him while he was dead.” He struggled as he carried it, grunting with every other few steps.
Agent shook his head in disbelief and went back to patrolling the area like normal, only really worrying about Intern’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile.. Intern was still calming down from their actions. This was what they hated the most- actually eating someone. It’s also why they hoarded coffee like crazy and only let those who were very low take the coffee, chocolate, or whatever else there was. They moved back to the corner they were originally curled up on, and knew they weren’t gonna be able to sleep again. They were probably gonna collapse from exhaustion, honestly.. they fell asleep at 1 in the morning after completing all the security measures, then woke up less an hour later. They got only two hours of sleep the day before, so on so forth. They then heard a familiar knock pattern and the knob turning.
“Hey, got you some stuff.” Agent closed the door behind him and walked over, kneeling down, and setting down a thin plastic bag which had a stack of takeout containers, as well as a mug of coffee right beside him. “I got you your coffee, warm and sweet just how you like it. I also got you some food incase you’re hungry or feel low on sanity. Though, I do think you should eat right now.” He picked up the first container and opened it to reveal some noodles, then picked up a set of utensils from the very bottom of the bag. He placed the set of utensils on top of the container and handed it to Intern who was still somewhat curled up, delicately taking the container from him and opening it up, using the chopsticks first.
Intern ate pretty fast, slurping the noodles. They hadn’t received this sort of comfort before, especially after eating someone. They were still too in shock to question it. After they finished the noodles, they sipped the broth from the container until they drank it all in one go. They set down the empty container. “..Intern.. Intern feels.. okay. Not good, but.. okay. Intern thanks Doctor for the food..”
Agent sheepishly nodded, placing a hand on Intern’s head. “Of course bun. I.. I saw your clock out time last night, I don’t think you’re doing okay.” He looked off to the side, hesitating before looking back at them. “Is everything okay? Why do you clock out so late, and in so early? This time it was barely an hour difference.”
Intern froze, unsure of what to even say. “..Well, Intern..” They looked down shamefully. “Intern doesn’t have a home. The hospital is all Intern has known. Intern has to.. sneak by, but, all good.”
Agent picked up the mug of coffee with his other hand and placed it near the bunny’s face, causing them to look up. “Drink up bun, you need it heavily. I’ll help you eat the rest, yeah? It’s just a little.”
Intern nodded. Agent placed the mug to their lips and they took one paw to hold the mug themselves so it wouldn’t spill.
They ate the rest of the food without problem, as it was just some fried chicken and fluffy french toast. Agent left them alone because he had to attend to medical emergencies which left Intern alone, but they held the trash like precious treasure that could not be replaced. Like it finally made them feel good about themselves, the feeling they’d been chasing all throughout these years. He was so gentle to them. Agent was their high and they would not let go of him. They felt their face flush as their tail wagged just thinking about him. But, after some time processing, they figured they should maybe go help everyone else.
—
Almost everyone was gone from the hospital and Intern avoided suspicion, mostly working in the background like always and attending to matters when they were called in on it, especially when it involved Agent. A conversation from earlier went like this:
Intern was working on a patient when they heard “Doctor.” They perked up and turned around to eavesdrop. Just so happens that they finished healing the patient so they went straight over. It was Surgeon and Head Nurse having the conversation when they noticed Intern staring at them with their little beady eyes but seemingly plush body.
Surgeon looked at Intern, waiting for questions or a request, since usually Intern had a tone that moved others like an experienced doctor would have- more than Agent’s performed tone or Surgeon’s normal tone, honestly. They could switch it on whenever they wanted. But after a bit of silence, he raised an eyebrow. “..Yes, Intern?”
“Intern.. heard about Doctor. What about Doctor?” Their tail was wagging without them even realizing it.
Head Nurse put a finger to her cheek, thinking. “Oh! The Assistant was just looking around seeing who was available to scrub in on surgery with him considering it’s a more serious matter that can’t really wait.”
Intern nodded, a very soft expression shown. “..Can Intern scrub in?”
Head Nurse and Surgeon looked at each other and Surgeon shrugged.
“I mean, I don’t see why not! He’s waiting for someone in the OR, you can go and start with him.” Surgeon pointed towards room 8.
Intern nodded and immediately headed over.
..But alas, that was probably five hours ago. Intern was very exhausted and felt like they were about to collapse, despite the fact they drank so much coffee. It was about 12:47 am, and they just clocked out. They noticed a note on the sign-in sheet from Psychologist: “please see me tomorrow.” Agent clocked out closer to 11, but he stuck around to help Intern. Intern walked over to Agent in silence, struggling to stay awake. They frog blinked as they held onto Agent’s open arm to prop themselves up, and they began to leave. Agent offered for Intern to go to his house, and actually sleep for once. He was totally willing to sleep on the couch if it meant Intern would take his bed and be extra comfortable.
Agent looked forward to ensure it was safe before beginning to cross to the parking lot. He walked slower to keep up with Intern’s small exhausted steps. He felt bad for them, they intentionally did everything possible before anyone else arrived at the hospital. “..I had no idea how hard you worked- or how much you did.”
They slowly nodded, unsure of what to say. “Intern likes to h..help.” They were getting drowsier by the second. They stumbled before falling over.
“Woah!-“ Agent caught them just before they hit the ground, picking them up swiftly. He carried Intern bridal style into his car, worried about their health. Because pretty much most prep work was already done, he’d make sure they both got in the latest to let Intern’s sleep schedule improve. That also means that he would wake up before they did. He picked up his phone to make a call.
“…Hello? Yes, this is the Assistant Doctor.. yes, I’m aware, Harlow. I apologize for calling you this late… Uhm, no. However I stayed back with an employee to help them and they collapsed in front of me out of exhaustion… Yes, Intern… I know, I’m worried for their sleep schedule as well. I know they’re our hardest worker. That’s why-… Okay. Can I request a day off for them?… Alright, thank you. Goodnight.”
Agent hung up and set his phone down. With the other seat laid down and Intern on it, he couldn’t help but draw his tail near them. Intern drew a little closer to Agent’s tail, and he was admiring them.. But- well, he needs to focus on the road. He inserted his keys into the car and began to drive off with some peace of mind.