Time Shift

Chapter 4

Faerite was sitting on a plastic chair, joined together with other chairs on a steel bar. There were other rows of chairs behind here, but she sat at the front since no one was there at the moment.

She was moving around so much due to her uneasiness and it would cause a lot of attention to be pulled, if there was anyone else here. She shook her head little by little as well, moving her short and black hair along as well. She didn't want to see Joy, who had been friends with her for five years, dead.

The lobby contained the rows of plastic seats, one of the seats being occupied by Faerite, and a counter just opposite her. Three computer monitors sat on the counter, facing away from Faerite for obvious reasons, and she only saw a bit of the monitors. There was no one behind the counter, or at least she couldn't see anyone behind it. But she would be embarrassed if anyone at all, laid their eyes on Faerite for a moment. She didn't want people thinking that she was crazy. Maybe a lot of people did this. But for her, it was personal.

The lobby had walls painted in two different colours; white and brown, the white paint on the top side and the brown pain on the bottom side. It was a plain pattern. Faerite would have decorated the walls better. Slightly concealed fluorescent bulbs illuminated the lobby and hallways beyond.

After about thirty minutes of worrying, a doctor strolled out from a corner like magic and Faerite jumped up.

"How is she?" She said, her face showing off the obvious curiosity, anxiety and worry.

"Don't worry. The bullet wound didn't affect much. But it'll take about four to five months for that bullet wound to heal."

The doctor had a white coat on, like any usual doctors. Adding on to the stereotype, he wore a pair of half-framed glasses and a plain stethoscope was worn around his neck. Faerite had never touched a stethoscope with her hands in her entire life. Only the stethoscope touched her, was she was really young and had fevers or any illnesses. The doctor had short brown hair that almost matched hers, but he stood taller than her by a few inches.

"Four to five months?! Oh, no."

"Is there anything wrong, miss?"

"Just show me where she is."

Both of them walked in silence. Only footsteps were audible throughout the short journey. The hallway they walked in was longer than any hallways she had seen, even the one back in the department. But beside the hallway were unoccupied and occupied wards. Almost half of the wards were occupied. Well, less accidents, the better. The beds whom the patients lay on looked like they were filled with newspaper. They looked worn out and tired and in some cases, old. Some beds had poles that stood on four rollers, with plastic packets of liquid that flowed into a few men and women. Almost half of the packets had blood in it. Some other machinery was set next to each ward, waiting like old fishermen in Vietnam, but unlike old fishermen in Vietnam, they waited their operators to use it instead of the machinery catching fish. Beside some beds which were occupied, people, supposedly family members and friends, accompanied the patients. Faerite smiled at those people for spending time with their loved ones and she had a soothing feeling inside of her.

The floor was made out of white porcelain, tiled evenly through the area of the hospital. In each tile, there was a green fabric-like lining at the inner edge of the tile, giving it a bit of uniqueness to it.

They walked through the hallway and reached the end of it. The doctor opened the double door and they swung open. They walked right through it and she saw doors instead of open space now. The doctor stopped in his tracks, forcing Faerite to stop too, curious about what the doctor was wondering. He then moved ahead and she followed. They finally reached the door and the doctor swung the door open like he had before, but just with one door instead of two. Faerite saw Joy dozing. She even heard her snore.