The Artful Dodger

1.02 Cleaning

I changed my clothes as the nurses gathered cleaning supplies. Thankfully, Hetty had found a nurses uniform in my size. Well, it is actually a size too big, just one. So it is not that bad. I finished getting dressed before joining the women in the ward. Thankfully they began cleaning already. I grabbed a bucket before moving to a different spot then the others and beginning to scrub the floor.

I spent five minutes scrubbing the blood out of one spot. It is all out, but it did take five minutes. The surrounding floor, however, was not caked in blood. It was just mud, dirt, and dust; so it was far easier to clean. I huffed before sitting back.

I stood up, my knees aching in pain. "Scrub every inch! Every surface!" I instructed them. I moved to middle of the rom, bucket in hand. "Open up those windows. Let in some actual air." I said as the cleaning materials were starting to get to my head. My head and chest. "We are forbidden to do that, ma'am, for fear of contagion and God's wrath." Hetty told me as she followed me. I rolled my eyes. That must be another thing my father has implemented. And it is blasphemy.

I stopped and placed the bucket down, turned to her. "God sees this as one giant cesspit." I told her. "Open them!" I ordered the nurses. "And what would ma'am have us do with these sheets?" Hetty asked as she moved to the bed. "Um..." I hummed as I went to look. They are no longer a good shade of white, and have blood stains spread across the off-white sheets. That is just... eww. "Burn them." I told her with no hesitation. I will buy new sheets myself if I must.

I moved away and continued to mop. This is so much better then scrubbing on my knees. I looked up to see Jack watching me from beyond the ward's doors. He seems... frustrated with how I took charge. With how I am changing things. With the fact that I have chosen to stay even.

After another hour, with immense progress may I mention, I decided to take a step outside. I need some fresh air if I wish to keep from a full blown episode today. I took my bucket and sponge with me and went outside, moving to sit on the bottom steps.

I looked up as the door opened. Jack was stepping outside. He appeared to be looking for me. "All that scrubbing has left you with a hole in your dress." he said as his eyes ran over me again. I swear it is like the tenth time today alone. Looking me from head to toe, scanning every inch of me. Is it just him? Or do all men do it and I only notice that he does it? "Then look away." I told him. I filled the sponge before ringing it out again. Just giving my hands something to do.

"You know, I am aware of medical discoveries overseas, just our head surgeon is not." he said. I looked over my shoulder to see that Jack was looking up at the sky. "Blood and gore, to him, it's like a badge of honour." he said. He looked at me. He tells me this as if it clears him some how. "And you'll go along with it even if it's killing your patients?" I asked him.

He made a face. It was gone as quick as it came. "He will turn everything you've done back to the way it was." he informed me. "Then, for a few days, at least some of the people in there might survive." I told him. I took a deep breathe before going back to playing with the sponge. I shot him a quick smile before looking at the bucket.

Jack moved to walk down the stair and past me. "You'll need a map of the human body, how everything connects to everything else, from the big toe, all the way up to the top of the head." he told me. I watched as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So, from the hallux to the cranium?" I asked and he turned to me. "Digit phalanges, tarsus, crus, patella, femur..." I began to list.

He began to walk back towards me. "Well, no, it's about the internal organs as well." he told me. He moved to lean on the wall. "Cerebellum, oesophagus, lungs, heart, liver, or would you like the names in Ancient Greek?" I said as I stood, leaning on the wall next to him.

I rolled my head to look at him. "I speak Greek, and Latin. Do you?" I asked. Jack turned towards me, almost like he is going to pin me to the wall, but he never does. "I've never found the need to speak to dead Latins." he said. "It isn't about the names," Jack added. "You just said it was. And even if it isn't I have the different diagrams of the human body memorized. I started studying them when I was twelve" I told him.

Jack shook his head. "No, it is about looking into the face of a child knowing they're going to die and knowing that there is nothing you can do to help them." he said. No. I refuse to believe that. "There are more things to medicine than death." I said. If that is what it is, then I am as good as dead. "There is life, and hope." I told him.

He tilted his head ever so slightly. "I'm sorry I was not born into a life of wealth. I don't have the luxury of being able to cause trouble and get away with it." he said. He is severely mistaken about that. Especially with my mother. "Hmm. So, really much better to be a common thief with your uncle. One who I am sure isn't truly your uncle" I sassed. I made a face as he stayed silent. Whatever fight this is, I'm sure I just won.

Jack silently walked away, making his way up the stairs and to the door. "Do you know how much they pay the surgeons here?" he asked me as he stopped and turned to look at me. He propped his arm up on the door frame -- the way he had before. Yeah, it's still hot. "Well, no, of course, you wouldn't. Why would you?" he answered for me.

"Nothing. I get free food and accommodation" he told me. He adjusted to lean on the doorframe rather then propping himself up. "Then, how do you..." I began but Jack cut me off. He is playing with a coin in his hand. Not just playing with it, he's spinning it between each of his fingers. Like he is twirling a stick or something, but it is the coin instead. "By gambling. I play cards. That's how I make my money. And I'm pretty good at it. Except, last time, I got cheated, and now, if I don't come up with a year's worth of income, then I get my hand cut off." he said snappily.

"So, that's why Fagin stole the gems." he sighed. I mean, he had said it before; but I half thought he was lying. "You want to be a surgeon? Then expect nothing in return." he told me. "I was never in this for money, Jack" I told him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "And if I were to lose everything for it, I would be ok with that. Because the fact is, I love medicine. I love helping people. And from what I can tell -- if there is anything that I have ever learned in my life -- it is that tomorrow isn't always guaranteed. I want to further medicine while I can so maybe they can have a guaranteed tomorrow" I said as I pointed to where the patients are inside. Jack just pushed off of the door way and began to go back inside.

"Jack?" I called making him stop. "Please remember what I said about them. I don't need you or your friend getting hung. Everyone knows who it belongs to" I told him. He just nodded once before going in. I sighed. "At least I tried" I sighed to myself.