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"And this is the new hire. She's a medical assistant, but please call her Assistant for short."
Another new employee had joined the hospital. The hospital was always understaffed, so it was good to have new employees. As long as Security didn't have to engage in any conversation with the new hires for at least a month after their first shift, then she was fine. New hires were really damn incompetent. They died on their first week. She didn't want to get too close to them in fear of being heartbroken over their death.
She was sure that Dr. Harlow would make her learn how the medbay rooms worked first, right?
"Security, she will be under your watch for her first shift."
Awh fuck.
"Uhm- I mean- Okay Dr. Harlow!"
Are you fucking kidding me, Dr. Harlow?
The medical assistant was a sleek black cat who was wearing a suit and neat pants. Dressing in stuff so formal in a hospital setting, especially one with blood and slime, was certainly a choice. Whatever, it's not Security's job to judge. She was just supposed to aid this new hire in the process of checking in anomalies, that's all.
Assistant offered her a polite nod. "Nice to meet you."
At least she was professional. Many of the new hires act like stupid, reckless idiots. Maybe this one could actually do things correctly. Whatever, as long as she didn't take the coffee when Security needed it.
"Okay, so our secretary quit a while ago, and Dr. Harlow still hasn't found a replacement. Until then, I'm stuck running the front desk for literally all my shifts." Security gestured toward the two check-in windows. "I'm guessing he wants you to learn this too, since I can't exactly be here every single shift. Usually you'll have to juggle both windows because everyone else is busy in the back. And since you're a new hire he probably can't trust you with directly handling the patients yet."
"…I see. I'm assuming that once I learn how the check-in counter works, I'll be learning how to treat the patients?"
Security noticed a patient walking up to the window. "I'll get back to you on that, I should teach you how the checking in process goes." She turned to the patient, who was fiddling with their paperwork. "Hello! I apologize in advance, we have a new hire today, so I'm teaching her how the check-in window works."
"That's okay! I'm glad the hospital is getting more staff." The patient replied, her calming smile feeling slightly unnatural in a hostile environment like the animal hospital.
Security took the animal's appointment paper and held it up so Assistant could see.
"First thing you're gonna do is look over the paperwork. Make sure everything matches up." She shrugged. "You'll eventually start seeing more and more fake sheets."
Assistant leaned over slightly, carefully reading the sheet.
"Everything appears to be valid."
"Yup!" Security grabbed the camera from the counter. "And then we take their picture."
Assistant tilted her head. "Their picture…?"
"Mhm."
Security snapped the photo before giving it a quick few shakes. Color slowly appeared across the paper.
"Sometimes the animals that are anomalies will look different or 'cursed' in their photo. Take a look at this one."
Security handed the photo to Assistant.
The black cat studied it for a few seconds before handing it back. "I don't notice anything unusual."
"Good! Now we double-check with the security cameras!"
She walked over to the screen, motioning for Assistant to follow. The patient appeared on the camera exactly as they should.
"Normal there too. Congratulations, you just checked in your first patient."
Assistant looked between the cameras and the patient. "Technically that was all you…"
"Ehhh true!!"
Returning to the counter, Security typed the patient's information into the computer before printing a nametag.
"Room four!" Security handed the tag to the patient with a smile.
"Thank you!" the patient replied before happily walking toward the hallway.
Assistant watched them leave. "That's pretty straightforward."
"Yup, usually is. However, you have to watch out for anomalies."
Security sighed as two patients entered the hospital at the same time.
"There's two of them…" Security rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Alright, how about I watch you check that one in? I'll make sure to see if you're doing your job correctly."
"Alright."
Assistant walked over to the empty check-in window while Security stood beside her. Security quickly realized the patient in front of her was an anomaly. The hollow eyes of the yellow normal 'stared' into her soul.
The patient, a small orange fox, nervously handed over their appointment paper to Assistant.
"...Hello." Assistant accepted the paper with both hands. She looked over the paperwork, comparing the date, room number, and patient name. She reached toward the computer.
"Whoa, hold on." Security gently grabbed her wrist before she could type anything. "Picture first."
"Right, apologies…"
Assistant picked up the camera and awkwardly pointed it toward the fox.
After taking the picture, Assistant seemed a little confused. She stared at the blank photograph.
"...Do I shake it?"
"Yep!"
Assistant gave it a few small, careful shakes.
Color slowly appeared across the photograph as Assistant shook it.
She walked over to the monitor, scanning the camera with careful sight.
"...Nothing weird, I think."
"Yay!" Security smiled. "Go register them."
Assistant carefully typed the patient's information into the computer, taking noticeably longer than Security usually did.
When the nametag printed, she picked it up and held it out.
"...You're assigned to room five. I hope your appointment goes well."
The fox's ears perked up.
"Thank you! You're very nice."
After the patient walked away, Assistant let out a tiny sigh.
"...Did I do acceptable?"
"Honestly, yeah. You didn't- like- mess up or anything. I remember we had a new hire that printed out like 23 name tags for the same patient. It was funny seeing them panic, but c'mon dude, so much resources wasted…"
"What the hell?"
"Exactly my thought!"
Security quickly closed the shutters on the other animal at her check-in window. "Oh shoot- I should've told you how that was an anomaly- That's my bad. If an animal is twitching a lot, they're an anomaly."
"I know how anomalies look like visibly."
"Oh okay! That's great!"
Security focused her attention back onto the check-in window as she saw another patient walking through.
"Hello! Please don't mind the slowness today, I've got a new hire with me." Security apologized in advance before retrieving the sheet from the patient.
"Yup everything checks out-"
"I think that's an anomaly…" Assistant whispered to Security's ear, low enough for the patient to not hear.
...What makes you think that?"
Assistant pointed her finger at the designated room number. "The paperwork says they're scheduled for room three."
"...Yeah?"
"...Didn't the patient you just checked in also receive room four?"
"Right… hold up." Security looked back at the patient. "Hi! I think there's some confusion with this sheet, are you a visitor or a patient?"
The animal, who looked slightly guilty, nervously responded with "Patient, ma'am."
Security closed the shutters.
A hiss was heard from the other side of the shutters along with a "WHAT!? NO SERVICE!?" It made Security chuckle a bit.
She turned to Assistant. "Damn, that's pretty good! Sometimes, the animals might not be anomalies, but they might be fakers. Fakers will fake the sheet to get treated, but they plan to use an innocent person's account to pay for the appointment instead, which is unfair to those people. As much as I want to help them, I can't. The hospital is low on funding, so our higher ups will probably fire us if we let too many patients in not paying for their appointments."
"Oh, that makes sense." Assistant looked down and saw the taser on Security's belt. "Taser?"
"Oh! I use it for emergencies! When a mimic is let through on accident, they'll get violent and try to eat someone. That's when my job is supposed to come in handy."
"That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering why you weren't using the taser on the anomaly trying to check in."
"I've only got 8 uses on this thing, I have to use them wisely, hah. I do get a recharge after a shift, though!"
Ding!
"Oh- the coffee." Security mumbled. "What's your sanity at?"
"Sanity? Oh, 78."
"That's good! I'm glad it's high! Cherish that, usually your sanity will be in the fifties. Hah…"
"Oh dear…"
"We've got like thirty seconds before another patient shows up."
Security grabs a cup.
"Don't die on me, please. I like you a lot already. You're actually competent. Stay like that and don't die or quit on your first week. You're giving me actual hope for future new hires."
Assistant blinked a few times before replying "O-okay."
For a while, neither animal spoke. Both were afraid to break the silence.
Assistant scratched her ear for a few seconds before finally asking, "Say, how long have you been working here?"
Security looked up from the coffee she was drinking. "Oh! Almost three years! It might seem like a lot but I used to be a mall cop before I changed locations, better pay y'know."
Assistant nodded thoughtfully. "What's your opinion on the hospital?"
Security shrugged. "If there was a place that got me better pay, I'd probably move. Sure, my coworkers are awesome, but I'm basically risking my life here. I don't care about the noble things I'm doing, I just want to survive."
"I see…" Assistant began.
"I'm curious why you decided to join this hospital? What role are you planning to be in the future?"
Assistant tapped her fingers on the counter of one of the check-in windows. "I… umm… I need some money, and I got rejected from every other job?"
Security narrowed her eyes slightly. The questioning tone at the end made her slightly suspicious of Assistant's true intentions.
"I guess that makes sense…"
Security glanced at her watch. "We've got 2 more hours. I think all the patients have checked in. You can go now, shoo."
"I'll stay here for the next few hours, it's fine."
Security sighed. "If you say so." She started to wipe some dust off the counter. "Have you had any medical training? A lot of our staff are pretty under qualified."
"Some."
The answer was pretty vague and short. Security just nodded. "Alright, I guess. Umm… why would you wear a suit to a hospital? What does the symbol mean?"
Assistant looked at her top, then looked back up at Security. "I believe it's the brand. And I like suits."
"Uh huh…"
The door to the check-in office suddenly popped open, and the head that peeked inside was one that belonged to a white cat with spots. Head Nurse.
"Hi, Security. I will be taking the new hire for the rest of the shift, I need to make sure she gets a tour of the rest of the hospital…"
"But Dr. Harlow—"
"It's fine. I want her to know how the rest of the hospital is like."
The black cat looked at Head Nurse before looking back at Security. She waved goodbye before following the Head Nurse to room 5.
Security found herself missing the company of the black cat quite a bit. After finishing the rest of her shift, she made an effort to talk to Assistant once more that day.
"What's your phone number? I'd love to talk to you more!" Security asked, slightly panicking internally. She was used to being asked for the phone number. Asking those questions to people she barely knew was extremely nerve wracking to her.
"Here, I'll write it down…" She whispered softly, taking a pen and a bit of blank paper.
"Thank you!"
Maybe new hires weren't so bad…