𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 - 𝙔𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍 ✓

3.

━━━

My lunch sat on my lap as the lounge hall's TV played softly, regular channels such as the news and current statistics of the state. I've begun to get used to this new work style with each passing day, the schedule, and how I can maneuver myself through each patient. The days seem to quicken the more I get used to this type of work.

And during the days in which roll surprisingly smoothly, I've not only grown accustomed, but fond of this workplace. 

Something I did not expect, especially with how intimidating it was by the start.

I've grown somewhat closer with the staff around me as well, which is easing.

Nurse Bridget seems to have become hooked on me, often clinging to me and speaking to me in an overly cordial manner. I don't necessarily hate it; I'm just not used to her very loud-and-clear social skills. Even so, it's better than having enemies in my own workplace.

She sits beside me, her fork waving and moving through the air as she speaks. She's on her usual lunch rants, which usually consist of anything and everything to do with whatever reality television show she's binged by the past weeks, or her new boyfriend. She doesn't actually question much of my life; she's simply not that type of person. 

She is known to take whatever I speak of that may partially connect back to her to be an invitation to spout almost incomprehensible blabber, and although I do wish to interject and tell her I wish to speak on my own behalf, I've learnt to just give her the spotlight nonetheless. It's not torturous, but a little draining. 

I never exactly planned on having to continuously and repetitively nod to whatever she has to say for over sometimes thirty minutes straight, but it's easier to do so than to cause a possible argument with her over something so petty.

Our breaks end faster than I wish it did, and as we enter back into the staff room to place our empty Tupperware away, nurse Bridget's voice projects across the room.

"Do any of you guys know anything about that Stanislav patient? Nurse Y/N's been assigned to him, and I tried to find his files, but no luck," 

She calls from the sink of the staff room, heads turning and humming of thoughtfulness filling the air for a moment. Glances are shared, and I watch from the other side of the staff room with slight concern and confusion.

Yet, something about this, the name, the topic at hand, leaves me to feel oddly uneasy. 

Though, I simply stand beside Nurse Bridget, keeping my body as close to itself as possible.

 "Where were you looking?" A male nurse lifts his head whilst pouring a cup of coffee as he asks Nurse Bridget flatly, Nurse Bridget humming in slow thought. 

"Through the general files, like everyone else's, why?" She questions with both perplexity and a matter-of-fact tone. My eyes watch the two converse, feeling a sense of worry within me in an unexplainable thought.

Even the staff room holds a heavy atmosphere, as if the topic at hand is laced with concern and is to be somewhat taboo.

"You aren't going to find that guy's files with the general files, you'd have to ask his doctor. He'd most likely have them personally." The male nurse continues, before bidding his leave with his coffee in hand, heading out to start his activity groups. 

I watch as Nurse Bridget sighs with annoyance, her brows flexing and knitting as her body twists, her voice echoing against the staff room quite suddenly.

"Do any of you know Stanislav's main doctor-?!" Nurse Bridget's voice projects against the enclosed room, the population of the staff room sharings shrugs and glances between each other, my thoughts beginning to whirl with unanswered questions and assumptions.