Triad Tourists

Chapter 27

"They needs medicine I don't have." I complain to Meizi.

"Do it without, it's on the way."

"I'm sewing skin! They need anesthesia, prescriptions, a real office! I've been elbow deep in do this and fix that for two hours!"

"Our people are on the way!!!" She snaps.

We stare at one another with similar expressions.

"Who am I trying to save?" I empathize.

"Unlucky victims of bad conditions. The people we pull in are from floods." She sighs. "Yi thinks about others in his old age, and now we're playing hero." She covers her face. "His power is depleting."

Doesn't have anything to do with me

"Meizi, can you by and chance get me a Vietnamese Coffee?"

"Coffee? You know that stuff is gonna have you bouncing of the walls?" So that's why I was twitching that day!

"Make it two!"

***

"No internal bleeding." Someone tells me.

"Great." I wrote it down and rip off my scrubs.

"Here's your second coffee." Nia says as she hands me a cup. She seems tense around me, but I'm much too tired ask about feelings.

What a life?

My grandparent we're both broke and uneducated when they fell in love. They helped one another through life. They did it wrong: they cheated, stole, lied, made up, broke up, didn't agree, fell out. But they stayed, and when it came to have a baby they faced a different struggle. His sperm count was low, and it was hard for her to carry due to childhood issues. Still, after 6 years, if happened. Though it could only happen once, they died knowing they had a beautiful daughter and a beautiful granddaughter in the world.

Mommy was also prone to struggle in the baby department. The first time was a breeze. A miscarriage later, she saw the pearly gates pushing her son out.

Dad was caught with his boyfriend when I was 14, and I accepted it at 16 maybe. Right before his friend tried to kidnap us. That but a bigger dent in our relationships, but Dad defended me even if it took him a while to see the truth.

My dad needed love. It was temporary. He agreed not to tell Kelan until he was my age. At 14, Kelan caught COVID. He snuck out and smoked, and he was rushed to the hospital hours later because of breathing problems. He slipped into a Coma a little while later. Fresh out of med school and in another pandemic. My Dad started me on antidepressants and I attended mandatory therapy. I eventually learned to live with it. This is normal.

It's embarrassing to think about my life, and what happened the other night is now burned in a special part of my brain.

"Ghh!" My knees hits the ground.

Ding ding ding!

"He, Nina!!!" The referee holds up her arms as he calls her last name first. I lost my first fight. It's my fault, I should've read the room and went home.

Two people drag me out of the ring. One talks to me, but I honestly can't answer him. I can barely think. Ironic, since that's why I lost: I was in my head.

"What?" I manage to breathe out.

Meizi walks in front of me with a yellow crop top and black jeans."Nǐ -- wǒ?"

I shake my head. I have no idea what she said, but no. She looks at the person beside me. "You can't help her, you don't know how to speak English." He looks a her confused. He must understand it. She widens her eyes and leans towards him as if he's stupid. "Did you hear me? She's tired, she probably can't even understand me right now."

She pushes my chair back with her foot. I hang, not having the energy to hold myself up. "You ok?" She asks.

"..."

"Embarrassed?" She smiles.

"Hungry."

She pulls me over her shoulder. "I would be too after a knockout like that." She takes of my mask after we're in the back. I asked to wear something over my hair and face, because who wants to see a medical worker getting their face beat in?

"You were bigger than her up to the feet size." She fusses and tosses a water at me.

I gulp half the bottle and release it with a deep groan. "All of you are tiny."

"Racist." She rolls her eyes.

"Moreso factual." I drink. "She upped me: simple. Even if I could have a say, it's done. Your money is lost."

"It's not. You're going back tomorrow night."

"I'm not on a fixed schedule, what if I'm in the office tomorrow night?"

She sighs. "I'll be sure to make sure you eat and get 6 hours of sleep."

"Who told you guys to run my life? I have something to do."

"Like what? What life do you have?" She quickly replies. "Home, hospital, here: the cycle continues."

"I want to enjoy my time here." And get railed.

"You work." She leaves.

"June need to give her some head fast, she buggin' bad right now." I grumble.

The door opens, but I don't turn around to look at who it is. "Nà shì guǐ ma? Ah?"

"A--"

It starts to sound like fighting so I turn around and see some random man holding another random man back. I look around the room to see who he's after, but I'm the only one here.

"Eh?" I point to myself, not paying attention to his curses.

"Nà shì guǐ ma! Shǎzi! Nǐ diūle wǒ de qián!Bǎ qián hái gěi wǒ!!" The rando is dragged down the hall. "Bǎ qián hái gěi wǒ!"

(I bet on you! Return the money! You lost my money! Give the money back!)

The voice gets fainter. The door is closed, and it's back to silence. I sit there with my fingertips touching. My thumbs fold the middle forehead skin together. A hand appears in my face.

"Ah!" I jump.

Nia stands there just as shocked as me. "Why did you jump?"

"You scared me!"

She relaxes. "I walked in and locked the door. Did you not hear any of that?"

"No."

"Not even the guy yelling from the hall?"

"N- ok, half of that."

"You've been...off."

"I'm sorry, I work in a hospital with no fixed schedule, which means I could be here or just living my life and drop that to work on someone who will only remember me as a person in scrubs. All of that just to come here at night, do it again, AND get my skull pushed around."

"You agreed to it."

I did

She sighs. "Duìbùqi." She bows low.

"Pull your head up, I don't want your sorry."

"What do I have to do to make it up to you?"

I think. "Give me a break from this stupid sweatbox!"

"You know I can't do that."

"You can make excuses tho."

She crosses her arms. "I'll talk to Yi."