Hurters and Healers

3

My next shift wasn't until two mornings later to give me a chance to sleep and do a bit of training. Even though I'm a nurse I still have a set number of hours per week I have to practice in case something happens and our leaders need everyone to fight. As head nurse, it's almost guaranteed that if anything like that ever happened, I wouldn't be fighting, but you never know. Our political situation can change in an instant so it's always best to assume nothing is permanent.

"How are you today, Alan?" I asked when I checked on him.

"The lights aren't as annoying but that one nurse that always seems like she's better than everyone else is really annoying. I'd rather have the kid checking on me than her," he said.

"Do you remember her name?"

"I didn't care enough to remember it."

"I think you're talking about Riley. She's actually the same age as Gracie and disliked by almost every nurse and patient."

"So why is she a nurse?"

"We don't fire people here. She passed the initial nursing exam after her 8 weeks of training at the beginning of the year so unless she did something illegal, she can't be removed until the end of the year when our leader decides who to keep and who to send back to the fighters."

"So, you can either be a nurse or a fighter?"

"There are other places you can go but you have to choose them when you're 12 or when you get here after going through your mandatory training. Once you're in a section you have to keep your performance up," I explained.

"And fighters just train all day then eat and sleep?"

"We also have sports teams."

"What sports?"

"Soccer, hockey, basketball, and probably more that I don't pay attention to."

"Do you think the girl I went to school with is on the soccer team? I think she used to play soccer before she left."

"Do you remember her name?"

"No, I just remember that she had super light hair, green-blue eyes, she was pretty short, hardly talked, played soccer, and I think she had a little sister."

I didn't recognize anyone with that description but that doesn't mean she wasn't there. She could've been in a section that I never worked with or she might be in a different compound.

"Maybe you'll find her, but I don't think she's here," I told him.

"Do you think there's a chance I'll see her again?"

"At this point, it's been about ten years so you probably wouldn't recognize each other anymore."

I left him after that and went back to the main room and saw a crazy dude doing the macarena. Like what the fuck dude, this is an infirmary. Unfortunately, I recognized the idiot right away.

"What are you doing, Alex?" I asked when I went up to him.

"I wanted to make sure no one was having a bad day, besides, it's not like I have anything else to do," he told me.

Alex had broken a few fingers at practice yesterday and wasn't able to train until I allowed him to, and there was no way he could talk me giving him permission to fight before I knew he would be okay.