Always, Lily

▫️Eight

LILITH

My assigned room was a mess.

It was dusty. Very dusty. There were pieces of paper lying around and the furniture here seemed a bit old.

I however wasn't complaining. This was expected. We were in the middle of nowhere after all. Having access to these facilities was a privilege by itself.

We were also here to do a job; to help these people who had no access to modern health care facilities and insurance covers.

Having experienced consecutive explosions from the construction sites nearby, there were many major casualties here almost every week thus the hospital had assigned us this area for our medical camp.

We had just arrived and settled into our assigned rooms. I was lucky to have one to myself, the space just being fit enough to accommodate me.

I had just tidied up my room using a rag I had found and then took out all the trash and dumped it in a large bin outside the female rooms.

I then unpacked my stuff and tried to make the room more appealing, knowing that I'd be staying here for the next one week.

Everything seemed to be working well. I had tested the bathroom and the sockets of the room so as to charge my phone.

The bed was however making a squeaky noise whenever I lay any weight on it, and it also shook slightly when I sat down.

One of the window panes was shattered and bulb in the main space was not lighting up properly.

I needed to get these fixed before night came in, so I went to ask Oliver for help because I already knew his room number.

I was slightly afraid on my way to the male rooms but seeing a few nurses lingering around there, I relaxed.

I knocked thrice, and the door to the room opened seconds later and I was met with the familiar face of a young man I'd seen at the hospital. I didn't remember his department but I was sure he was a doctor.

"Is Oliver in?" I asked after exchanging a small greeting and the man nodded once, leading me into the room.

I took two small steps and awkwardly stood in the room since Oliver was no where to be seen. The man who had ushered me in knocked onto another door while calling out Oliver's name.

I looked around the room to see that its state was no better than mine. There were three beds in the room, clearly indicating that three men would be staying here.

Another minute of silence passed and I wondered what Oliver was doing on the other side. I had even send a text before coming here.

"Did he have something to do?" I asked the man who had been repeatedly banging on the next door with no success.

"Not exactly, he went to talk to someone in the next room." The man briefly looked at me as he explained.

I nodded once and while contemplating on my next decision, I looked around the room and noticed Oliver's phone laying on the bed on the right and I clicked under my breath.

He might not even have seen my message. I reached for his phone, the screen not lighting up and I turned to his roommate.

"Your sockets are not working?" I twisted the phone in my hands, the man's single nod making me sit down on the bed with a sigh.

I had come here all for nothing. Unless I sat down and waited for Oliver to get back, there was no other way out.

I was just about to ask his roommate what time he'd left when the front door slowly opened and I looked up in anticipation, hoping that it was him.