Chapter 139 - 139 The unexpected encountered

139 The unexpected encountered

“So, did you find anything?”

Anne looks up to see Andy. He pointed at the door and said, “Two hours were up. Your escort is waiting.”

Anne muttered while putting together the documents, “Wait, I need more time, there was…”

“Anne, we need to go back to the room.” Hector was calling for her from the door of the room. “Come on, you can go back here when you have the time.”

“But Hector, I need to read all of this thoroughly.” Anne was practically pleading with the man.

“You need to see the patients as well, not just the report, right?” Said Hector. He then walks away while his hand waves at Anne to follow him outside.

Andy tried to console her, “You should follow Hector, for now. Don’t worry, I could lend you the report so you can read it in your spare time.” Andy trusted her because of how kind Anne was when they were on the journey together.

Anne, who doesn’t want to be taken advantage of by Andy’s kindness, rejected his offer immediately. “Thank you so much but I don’t want you to get into any trouble,” Anne saw him look a bit discouraged by it, she then tried to give him another solution, “But, I’ll visit here when I have the time, would that be okay?”

After hearing the alternative way from Anne, Andy was so happy, he nodded his head, forming an agreement. He doesn’t know when Anne will have the time, since healers rarely have the time to rest or even eat when they are on duty. It was notoriously known by all civil servants that healers took care of others, but never took care of themselves. Anne reluctantly followed Hector to the alchemia room. He handed her a sheet of report.

.....

“We have another case, a child, still suspected.” Said Hector while Anne read the report. This time Hector lead her into another area, rather than taking her back to the alchemia room.

Confused by how Hector led her into another area, Anne asked him directly, “Where are we going?”

“Senior Nathan asked you to assist him. You will have access to the new patient and could see firsthand if the child is infected or not.” Hector explained to her while opening the door to the emergency room, “Every suspect case will be brought to the red door immediately, so use the protective gear before entering the red door, alright?”

“I’m guessing that you will not follow me?” Asked Anne when Hector remained on the other side of the area.

“Yes, the alchemist job is in the lab. I’ll be looking into the samples and we will discuss this at the briefing.” Said Hector to her, “Good luck, Anne.”

After they separated, Anne was in a hurry to wear the protective gear, one of the healers gave her a quick course on how to use the protective gear, which is basically a coat that was already soaked in the gaaram’s wood ashes and got dried in the sun, Anne also need to use a face mask.

“How do you feel?” Asked the healer when Anne was inside the protective coat and the mask.

“A bit heavy, and hard to breathe a little, but I can manage.” She gave the healer a thumbs up, which makes the healer a bit confused.

“Why did you raise your thumb?”

Flustered, Anne was giving the healer an awkward smile and said, “Oh, nothing, just some friendly gesture, that was all.” She forgot that not all gestures were the same as in the old world, she took sighed and walks into the red door.

Inside the red door, Anne saw there were healers running around, trying to revive one patient. She never thought that the condition of the new disease was already this critical. A hand grabs her arm. Anne turn around to see Nathan in protective gear. He pulled her into another room where they put the suspect into another enclosed. Inside the room there was a child, laying on his back, crying for help.

The child was in so much pain, Anne sympathized with his condition, not to mention the blisters all over his body. Nathan asked her for an opinion, and she tried to do the assessment as well as she can be, without hurting the child so much.

“He got a high fever, blisters all over the body, and shortness of breath.” Said Anne, trying to explain the child’s condition to her senior.

“Good, and then?” Nathan asked her back, it seems Anne was missing something.

If it’s not because of the face mask, Anne would bite her nails ferociously. Somehow, the act could get her into a clearer mind. She closed her eyes, remembering every patient that she was already treated before. Finally, she remembers, she tried to open the child’s eyes and saw how red his eyes were right now.

“This is it, his eyes becoming so red,” Anne told her senior, which makes Nathan satisfied with her answer.

“Good job. You definitely treated this new variant before.” Nathan gave her approval, and gave her the report sheet, “Now, you’re in charge of this child, whatever that you need to do, either check him into the intensive care as one of the new variant moskeet fever patients or gave him the negative mark so he will be brought into the regular care room, it will be your decision.”

Anne nodded her head. She will never back down from this kind of challenge. Nathan was impressed by how calm Anne can be. He had some doubts when chief Hale told him about how Anne has the ability to treat the new variant. That’s why he was testing her and also observing her today, hoping to see the talent that chief Hale insinuated about Anne.

“Alright, first thing first, we need to shut their eyes using cloth already soaked with calendure leaves brew.”

Nathan and all the helpers look at her with confusion on their faces.

“Calendure leaves? And why do we need to shut their eyes with cloth?” Asked one of the helpers to her.

Anne was in shock, she goes to the other room where the patients of the new variant were being treated. All of them didn’t have the cloth to shut their now very swollen eyes. She hurried back to the room with the suspected child.

“You need to shut your eyes. Because of the high fever, the eyes will be so swollen and it will be painful for them. We need to make them as comfortable as we can.” Anne told the helpers, while Nathan observe from behind.

“But if we were able to heal them, there is no need to make them comfortable now.” Said the helper.

Anne shakes her head. “No! Their comfort is one of the ways to a rapid healing process. If they got more comfortable, the less stress that could contribute to the severity of their illness.”

The helpers look towards Nathan, who gave them a nod, which means they will do as Anne instructed them. Most of them already gruntled before they went to make the soaking cloth with the calendure leaves brew. Nathan goes to stand beside Anne, looking at the helpless boy.

“I assumed this poor child got infected already?” Asked Nathan.

Anne sadly nodded her head. “Yes, he was in the early stage right now.”

Nathan holds her shoulder. “I will put on the soaked cloth immediately. Now, you have another task that you need to do.”

“Yes, I need to inform the bad news to his family.” Said Anne with a long sigh, another task that she hate, informing the bad news.

When she arrived at the waiting room, Anne already wearing a fresh coat with her badge, she put her hair into a ponytail and tried to make a small smile at the family. A man with a young woman, the father, and the sister of the infected patient.

“Are you the healer in charge of my boy?” Asked the man to Anne.

“Yes, I’m afraid I have some bad news, sir.” Anne tried to keep herself calm. “He was indeed infected, and will be inside the intensive care room.”

The man dropped onto the floor, and the young woman cried. While holding her father, Anne tried to help the family, when another man came to assist the young woman. Anne looked up at the big man and how surprised Anne was when she looked into a pair of golden eyes. Xavier looks at her with a flat expression. He carried the young woman, who was now crying, at his shoulder. Xavier walked away without turning around to see Anne again.