Subordinance

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

I've never been so bored in my life.

My elbow sits propped up on the reception desk in front of me as my fingers drum against the surface. The lobby in front of me is a ghost town, bare benches and muted monitors with flashing images drowning the room in lethargic energy. I bounce my knee under the desk, swiveling in the hard chair. Hospital duty is ridiculously boring.

Nothing happens in the Lambda District. Nothing. Nobody is dying, and no Pureblood in their right mind comes to the Regiment hospital unless they're absolutely desperate.

And so here I am with too much energy buzzing through my body to sit still in the stupid swiveling chair that squeaks when I turn. I shift and curl my legs under me to better lazily spin the chair.

I'm that bored.

These past couple of weeks have been so exciting, full of days of heart-pounding adrenaline spikes and crazy, relentless action that left me decrepit and exhausted.

I still prefer that over the mind-numbing boredom this medical-assistant position has brought on. Scheduled days filled with nothing but tedious jobs I rotate through throughout the week. Today I got lucky enough to get stuck playing receptionist to the hospital nobody comes to. My whole life has been an ongoing series of gogogothat to be confined to such a sedentary position feels almost...inferior.

And that's coming from a Subordinate.

I crave the thrumming of my heart pounding wildly in my chest, the burn in my legs as I run at full tilt, the slight tremor in my arms as I pull myself one step closer to the top.

I worry I'm getting out of shape.

Twirling my cap on my finger, I flex slightly, checking to make sure the tone I'd worked so hard for is still there. In doing so though, I get off balance on my chair and shoot my legs out from under me, knocking over the pictures placed on the surface of the desk and sending a screen flying.

I bend over to pick it up, stretching my joints and cracking my back in the slight movement. I pile the picture into my arms, reaching to get one that has skidded under the desk. The bell over the door chimes, alerting me to the first visitor I've had to day.

"I'll be up in a minute!" I call, my fingers dancing to get at the frame. The dust that collects on my hand feels disgusting.

Rubber-soled boots pad on the cool floor and from my vantage point under the desk I see the tips of scuffed-up dress boots. The moving feet pause in front of the desk. My fingers close over the edge of the frame.

"Gotcha!" I mutter, sliding the picture towards me. As I pull back from under the desk, I startle and bang my head against the underside of the drawer. The upside-down face peering from over the desk grins wider. "Rho!"

"What?" she says, righting herself as I stand. I rub the back of my head and raise my eyebrows at her. "It looks like you needed something to liven the place up a bit," she remarks, surveying the room. "Seems pretty dull around here," she pauses, looking at me again, "though I'm sorry I made you bang your head. I didn't know hospital work had made you so easily startled."

I snort, flopping into the spinning chair and grinning. "Mmhmm. It's easy to be startled when nothing's happening. Seriously, Rho, you're the only visitor that's come in today."  I stare at her again, quirking an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing here, though? Shouldn't you be back at Kappa, leading missions and showing off? I didn't know you are allowed to travel this far inland for a day off." Rho shakes her head, her smile growing wider.