Chapter Text
Damn! Why can I never find matching socks?!
The young woman huffed in frustration, bringing a hand up to rub her tired eyes. She'd been searching for the better part of 10 minutes, and still couldn't find a single fucking pair! To make matters worse, she'd been called in by the hospital at, like, 2 in the morning!
These monsters attacking people better start paying for my nonexistent sleep medication, or else I'll-
"OH MY GOD!! YES!!" The woman exclaimed, dramatically thrusting the matching socks in the air. "Fucking finally!" She almost cried as she slipped the socks on her feet.
Then, the scrambling around her apartment. Making sure she had everything before she left for the hospital she worked at.
Keys, phone, wallet, pepper spray, masks, gloves.. I think that's all!
The young lady shoved everything in her bag and grabbed a stale slice of bread as she rushed, cursing her shoes for not being slip-ons, and locking her front door before starting a mad sprint to the nearest bus station. There's no such thing as being too careful, right? It's best to hurry up and keep from being alone!
Especially on a night like this...
The windows of the surrounding apartments and other residential buildings were all dark, and only the shitty, flickering streetlights gave her the light she needed. In the distance, a dog could be heard barking, but that still wasn't enough to alleviate the strange dread building in the woman's stomach. Other than that random dog, only the woman's heavy breathing and the pat pat of her feet on the concrete could be heard. And, damn, it was really beginning to make her feel uneasy.
---
Strangely (yet comfortingly) enough, the nurse encountered no monsters nor criminals during her commute to work.
But, hell, even as she just walked in, she definitely understood why the hospital called her in so early.
"Oh, Reida-san!! Thank goodness you're here!" One of the younger nurses exclaimed. "An apartment complex was set ablaze in City Z! We have over 50 patients from the site in critical or near critical condition!"
Reida was already with her gloves and mask, and she sighed heavily, "Let's do this, then."
---
"-I'm sorry, but we lost Abe-san," The woman apologized with a small bow of her head. This part is always so hard. "He died of carbon monoxide poisoning, or the inhalation of too much smoke. We can-"
Reida was interrupted by a harsh slap across her face. The teen in front that had slapped the nurse had fat, miserable tears running down her face, and looked so anguished.
The teen wailed, a sound full of so much grief and heartbreak, and she shrieked at the nurse, "You!! It's your fault my dad is dead! If you had just helped him sooner he.! He would still be with me!!"
The teen grabbed the nurse's shoulders, tears still streaming down her face, and began to shake her violently, making sure to curse her to hell and back.
Ah, but, one gets used to such treatment after a while. And this poor girl.. she was so inconsolable Reida couldn't be mad.
Midori Abe, only child of Abe-san. She doesn't live with him anymore, so she wasn't burned in the fire. We contacted her as soon as we could..
I'm sorry, Midori-chan. I wish things could have been different. I wish I could have done more.
---
It wasn't long before the teen was escorted home. Nor was it long before the patients were all stabilized.
However, the injured and wounded people flocking the hospital never wavered. There was still lots of work to do.
---
"Ah, thank you so much for coming in so quickly, Reida-san!" The same young nurse who greeted Reida earlier exclaimed with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. The two women were on their first breaks after about 6 hours of continuous service, and were resting in one of the break rooms.
She gave the her coworker a tired smile, "Akie-chan, please don't thank me. It's quite literally my job to help the patients here."
The younger nurse paused for a second before putting her weight forward in her seat, her brown eyes downcast. "Yes, that is true, but.."
Akie paused again, wringing her hands together in.. nervousness.?
"..But..?" Reida tried, not wanting to be forceful, but still feeling curious.
"I just.. really hate seeing you be treated so bad, after everything you do for the people here.." the younger girl confessed with a grimace. "I saw what happened earlier.. with that man's daughter, right? She hit you and everything, it's not right! Reida-san you-"
"Oh, Akie-chan," Reida interrupted with a bittersweet smile. "I.. I knew what I was getting into when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. Even though stuff like that happens sometimes, it's worth it," she reassured her coworker.
Reida continued to explain her own reasons for choosing this career. But, the thought that had been bubbling up for the past few months was now a real worry, cemented in her mind.
Is this really what I wanted to do with my life..?