Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 4

Mildred's POV:

"Mildred, you'll be showing the new nurse around.." Ratched opened her mouth to protest but was quickly silenced when Dr Hanover shot her a cold glare, raising a hand as if to say, I don't want to hear it. "Nothing but welcoming, remember?" Mildred bit her tongue, glaring at the small man. Is he threatening me? "Miss Winters will be shadowing you for the week." He can't be serious, I don't get paid to babysit.

"If she turns up anytime this century." The woman sighed, taking a quick glimpse at the clock. "She's 15 minutes late."

Dr Hanover either didn't hear her last comment or chose to ignore it as he disappeared into his office. Mildred noticed the gleam inside Nurse Bucket's eyes as she stared after him. Pathetic. The older nurse then averted her gaze, eyes locking with Nurse Ratched's, the gleam suddenly disappearing, replaced by an icy glare.

"What you staring at?" She questioned, with that bitter tone she reserved specifically for Mildred.

Nurse Ratched glared at her, opening her mouth to shoot back a response, but before she had chance, Miss Winters came hurrying through the doors, a panicked look on her flushed face.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, traffic-" Mildred cut her off as she took off down the hall. Anger slowly rising in the pit of her stomach. Nothing but welcoming, Dr Hanover's irritating voice echoed in the back of her mind. Doesn't mean I have to be nice to her.

Mildred turned to see the young nurse just stood there, staring after her. "Well.. don't just stand there." She said, lack of patience evident in her voice.

Lana muttered another pathetic apology before awkwardly running to catch up with Nurse Ratched. "I hope you don't make a habit of being late Miss Winters."

"I'm so sorry, traffic was a nightmare."

"If I remember correctly, we're staying at the same motel?"

The brunette nodded, an uneasy look resting on her face.

"I managed to get to work on time.. and so did everybody else here. I expect the same from you."

"I'm sorry Nurse Ratched, it won't happen again."

Mildred stopped in her tracks, Lana abruptly halting beside her. "It better not." She turned to face the smaller woman, who was stood too close for comfort. A certain look was passed between them, accompanied by silence, and the brunette took the hint and shuffled a few steps back. "For your first day, you're not making a very good impression." Nurse Ratched mumbled, looking Lana up and down before she took off down the corridor again. She won't last 5 minutes in this place.

Mildred couldn't see but behind her Miss Winters was rolling her eyes and giving her the middle finger as she trailed behind her.

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Lana's POV:

Lana was very much starting to regret her decision to work at the hospital, if that was how she was going to be treated. Dr Hanover seemed to be the only decent human she'd met so far, which was saying something, he was a man after all.

She continued to follow Nurse Ratched as she was given the grand tour of Lucia State. Ratched was making it abhorrently clear that she wasn't happy about being Lana's designated tour guide. Well, from the moment they met, the older nurse didn't seem all that happy about anything. She clearly didn't like Lana very much and whenever she spoke to her there was always a threat hidden beneath her words or an underlying dig of some sort.

"Staffroom." Lana was abruptly pulled from her thoughts, as Ratched gestured to a room at the end of the corridor, occupied by a young  blonde girl, in her twenties maybe? She was staring down at her phone, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "Nurse Dolly.." the young nurse whipped her head up, a startled expression resting on her face before she quickly staggered to her feet, evidently flustered in the presence of Nurse Ratched.

Ah, so it isn't just me that's intimidated by this woman?

"Your shift started 15 minutes ago.." The older woman's tone was clipped but calm as she addressed her younger colleague.

"S-sorry Nurse Ratched." The blonde muttered as she made for the door, giving Lana a timid smile on her way out.

"I'll take that." The older nurse held out her hand, and Nurse Dolly sighed softly, giving Ratched her phone before hurrying out. Are we in high school now?

Nurse Ratched then strode across the room to retrieve something from a shelf at the back. "Your uniform." She stated handing it to Lana. "You can change in here and then we'll continue. You can leave your belongings in the closet over there." Lana was just about to mutter a "thank you" but before she could, Nurse Ratched had already left, the door swinging shut behind her.

For a moment Lana stood awkwardly in the centre of the room, taking everything in. It was just your standard staffroom, nothing to be alarmed of, even though a slight chill circulated her body.

She quickly stripped down to her underwear, shoving her clothes into her bag and placing her belongings inside the closet situated in the corner of the room, before changing into her uniform which was almost identical to Nurse Ratched's. She quickly shoved her hair up into a high pony and debated grabbing her phone in case she needed to take notes or pictures of anything suspicious, but thought better of it, she could do without having her phone confiscated. It's her first day, she doesn't need to get in more trouble than she already has for being late. She needs to get on Ratched's good side, if she even has one.

After quickly composing herself, trying to rid the uneasy feeling in her stomach, and reassuring herself that she could do this, she turned to leave. Jumping, slightly startled when she saw Nurse Ratched watching through the tiny window on the door.

How long had she been watching me for? Was she watching me whilst I changed? Even when she made direct eye contact with her, Nurse Ratched made no effort to avert her gaze. Lana wasn't sure if her brain was playing tricks on her, but she could have sworn there was a small smirk tugging at her lips.

The chill she felt earlier was quickly growing ice cold.

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Hello gays and gals! Here is another update, let me know what you think.
~T ♡~