Chapter Text
Two weeks into working at Animal Hospital, Intern was quite happy with their job. Checking for anomalies made them feel good, like they were protecting their colleagues in a way. Now Intern was finally trusted to learn how to treat patients. They walked in for their third shift of learning, apparently today Intern was going to do some patients with Nurse overseeing them! Intern arrived at the hospital and entered through the staff entrance, immediately heading over to check-in.
Security stood in reception staring at the hospital doors in boredom. Secretary was sat at the front desk zoned out and staring at his coffee, bags visible under his eyes.
"Good morning Security! Wow Secretary you look like you slept well..." Intern smiled brightly in their directions and grabbed a random pen to sign their name on the check-in sheet, noticing that Secretary had signed in at 6:30am, half an hour before his shift.
Secretary's blue ears twitched, "I just need to finish this coffee."
Security laughed, "Good to see you Intern, things are really boring with this one not wanting to engage in any conversation that isn't about coffee." He side-eyed Secretary.
"Fuck off," Secretary responded before noticing a patient coming up to the desk. He quickly downed the rest of his coffee and put on his best customer service smile. It was actually impressive how fast Secretary switched up.
Nurse stood at the door-way of check-in and gestured for Intern.
"Well gotta leave you Security, sorry I'm treating patients now!" Intern said, a laugh hidden behind their words.
Security sighed dramatically
...
Intern nervously grabbed eye-drops and headed over to their second patient, eyeing Nurse as if to say 'Is this correct?' Nurse lightly nodded and Intern sighed in relief before administering the treatment.
"Well done Intern your already learning so fast!-" Nurse was cut-off by ambulance sirens. Her demeanor shifted and eyes widened. She ran out of the room, Intern trailing behind her. Grabbing the fire extinguisher, Nurse quickly glanced back, making sure Intern was there. Settling in the middle of Emergency and Medical, she appeared ready for anything.
"Ok, quick run-down on ambulances." Nurse started, slightly out-of-breath, "Go for criticals first, keep calm, avoid mistakes over anything and run. Run everywhere, to patients, from patients and do not hesitate to shout for Security or Agent if even a little thing looks awry got it?"
Nurse hurried after a patient running into Emergency before Intern could respond. They stood there for a second before snapping out of it. Intern glanced at their pager, Room 5 flashing red. They quickly ran towards the room. Intern took a DNA sample, nervously waited for the machine to analyse it and hurried to get the treatment for the injuries it spat out at them. Intern applied the bandages carefully before letting their eyes drop (as their smile never did) and smiling comfortingly at the patient. Their pager had finally stopped screaming at them. The patient glanced around the room her eyes landing on the drawers before looking back at Intern.
"Thank you for helping me, I never knew dogs' claws could hurt so much." She said, laughing with no emotion really behind it.
Intern's paws trembled slightly, "Of course! It is my job after all." They replied before smiling a little wider and closing the door behind them.
Intern slightly stumbled over to check-in and glared at the coffee (as much as they could whilst smiling) for having the audacity to be on cooldown. Intern went in the back corner at the side of the table, and slid onto the floor, their back propped up by a wall. Intern's paws still shook from the adrenaline as they took in a deep breath.
"In... 2 3 4, out... 2 3 4,"
Intern murmured under their breath until they could feel their heart rate return to normal.
But why were their paws still shaking?
The coffee machine anounced its completion with a loud ding and Intern stood up and checked their sanity on their wrist.
'61... that could last? Right?' Thought Intern.
A black cat figure suddenly appeared in their vision.
"AH, oh Agent you scared me! Do you need coffee?" Intern exclaimed.
"Yes, an anomaly was a patient until the last second, jumpscares don't exactly help sanity." Agent replied, his tail twitching in annoyance.
"Oh that is uh annoying, I'll go treat the rest of the patients," Intern nervously replied before going past Agent and heading towards Room 3. Agent always had this intimidating air that Intern couldn't quite navigate.
...
A faint metallic smell hung in the air as Intern grabbed some herbs.
As they walked back, their pager started screaming at them again saying Room 5 vitals had disappeared. They scowled and thought nothing of it as the system seemed to glitch quite a bit. Intern clicked a button to say they would 'look into it' to shut the old thing up. Intern administered the herbs to Room 3's patient before deciding they may as well check... just in case.
Intern gently opened the door ready to complain about the system before their eyes widened, ears lay flat and smile dropped at the sight before them. The patient Intern had treated earlier just... lay there. Lifeless.
The middle drawer beside her was open and a medkit lay on top, a scalpel having been removed. Bandages laid on the floor, covered in blood. Her arms and legs were slit and a horrible amount of maroon lined both. The bed and parts of the floor were coated with the crimson substance along with the scalpel placed neatly at the centre of her chest in her hand.
And yet...
She lay there with a smile on her face, seemingly at peace despite her brutal end.
Intern didn't even know her name.
Grasping the door handle, Intern slammed the door as water pricked their eyes. It clicked shut but not before Intern got another glance in their peripheral. They quickly looked away, tears spilling. Intern's eyes shifted towards the floor before their back slid down the door They held their knees to their chest. Intern felt an immediate drop in their energy, focus, vision, everything. They slowly rocked on the spot, tears flowing fast as they attempted to control their breathing.
"In... 3... 2 3 4"
Intern could hardly hear themself think.
Their vision blurred in and out.
Their breaths were laboured and unsteady.
Intern suddenly felt two comforting arms around their back.
They heard someone else counting for them.
Closing their eyes they tuned into that sound.
"In... 2 3 4, Out... 2 3 4..."
"In... 2 3 4, Out... 2 3 4..."
...
Looking up, they found the nurse's with their arms wrapped around Intern's shoulders and Agent crouched beside Nurse, still counting out Intern's breaths.