Lost Angels Series #1: Alfred Sin

Chapter 5 - The Man in the Elevator

Then she realized that the lights were off. Kaelee pressed her back against the door and faced the mirror. Anxiety tickled all over her body as if a furry centipede crawled and made all her hair stand on its ends. She found herself staring at the dark mirror, picturing Surgeon Sin's eyes.

'They have infrared vision. Who knows if it has x-ray vision, too?' The out-of-the-blue thought shocked her. 'That perv!'

"No!" she whispered to herself while tightly shutting her eyes. If only she could, she could have screamed already.

Kaelee turned her back on the mirror and felt the nearby wall for the light switch.

Click!

Light flooded all over the lavatory room. Kaelee slowly opened her eyes and found herself facing the door, right beside where the light switch was.

"What did I put myself into..." she panted.

⚕

AFTER her training shift at the hospital, Kaelee got changed into a red T-shirt and kept her white scrub suit pants on.

She bade goodbye to the senior nurses, who only smirked at her in return before she headed to the elevator.

"Wait!" someone called.

Jonathan.

Jonathan was one of her co-trainees at San Rafael Hospital. Like her, he was a nursing student, but from another school. She knew because all of them introduced themselves one by one during their first-day orientation with their instructor and other co-trainees.

In her humble opinion, nursing suited him if looks would serve as a basis. He looked caring and sincere. His round eyes were soulful and tame. Jonathan looked pleasant starting from his clear face to his neat, short haircut. Any patient would feel at ease in the presence and care of a person who looked like him.

Jonathan was still wearing his scrub suit when he adjusted the way his bag's strap hung on his left shoulder. He accompanied her inside the elevator so, Kaelee stepped to the other side to give him space. When the doors closed, he began talking.

"Hi, Kaelee. How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said, giving him a small smile. "They just made me check the in-patient's vitals this afternoon. Early this noon, they made me receive patients while being monitored by Ma'am Bella," she added, pertaining to their instructor. "You?"

"Oh, well..." He scratched his nape. "I was assigned with the medication. It made me nervous because you know, we have to be very careful with the dosages. We also have to give the right medicine to the patient."

"No one assisted you?"

He shook his head. "No one. But they told me that I can always ask them if I am not sure about the medication I am going to give. There are also patient charts, so it's easier to identify what drug to give."

Kaelee lowered her head. "But still, you're a trainee. They should have guided you. I'm not saying that you can't be trusted. It seems that you'll be doing great as a nurse."

He could not help a short laugh. "Wow, me? Great? That quick?" Kaelee felt his stare at her. "I think it's you who's doing well. You're always busy as if you already know what to do. You seemed very familiar with how nurses operate in this place."

She raised her eyes on him and gave him an unconvinced look. "Weh? Stop flattering me, will you? I am just given the easy task, that's why you're thinking that way, no."

Kaelee pouted in frustration. It was true that she was given the easy task, because most of the time, the people at the nurse station made her run errands. Even if their demands were easier to comply with, it was disappointing that they were not related to nursing. They only add to her stress. She could not even complain about it. Like what her mother taught her, she should take everything that comes her way head-on because, in the end, she would get something out of it.

"See? It's even too easy for you."

"No! That's not what I mean!"

He just chuckled, so Kaelee was left with nothing to do but smile. She could not help admiring how Jonathan seemed to be happy, a person with a light disposition. Good for him, because as for her, she always dealt with problems. She wakes up late, always gets poor grades in school, and add Surgeon Sin to that...

Kaelee looked away from Jonathan to hide her eyes that widened in fear. It was as if an icy wind blew, making the hairs on her body stand on their ends, and the tension claw in her belly.

'N-No. I won't go to that clinic yet.'

"You always take the elevator, no?" Jonathan said, breaking the silence. "That must be why we can't catch up with you when our shift ends." She did not answer so he continued. "Also, where do you have your lunch? We can't invite you to join us. Is it because you always come late or do you have lunch at home and go straight to work once you get in here?"

When she lifted her eyes on him, he welcomed her gaze with his eyes. He gave her a small smile.

Kaelee recalled that there were six trainees in this hospital. Three of them were assigned to the morning shift and the remaining three—which included Kaelee and Jonathan—were assigned to the afternoon shift. The morning shift trainees usually extend their stay at the hospital so that they can have lunch with Jonathan and another afternoon shift trainee at the cafeteria. It was probably because the five of them were classmates. The morning shift trainees have their lunch before going home, while Jonathan and the other afternoon shift trainees would eat before starting their shift.

On the other hand, Kaelee picked the afternoon shift, because her clock-out time was closer to her clock-in time at Dr. Alfred's own clinic. She made that decision without foreseeing that she would be having a hard time fulfilling her duty as his assistant. Kaelee had already eaten her lunch before leaving the house, a reason why she never had a chance to have lunch with Jonathan and the rest of the trainees at the hospital's cafeteria.

Kaelee finally answered Jonathan. "I have no one to have lunch with, so I already eat at home before leaving."

"Then join us. We're all trainees anyways, so I bet you won't feel left out when you're with us."

She nodded her head. "Okay. I'll bring my lunch tomorrow. T-Thank you."

She felt a little shy after that because she realized that she wasn't part of their group. What if they feel awkward at her presence tomorrow? But then, Kaelee shrugged off her worries. After all, she needed to join them to enhance her social skills. Kaelee believed that it was important for a nurse to know how to get along with other people.

Ting!

When the elevator doors opened, Kaelee gasped. Her eyes dilated upon seeing Surgeon Sin talking to a patient close to the entrance of the hospital. Fortunately, his back was turned away from their direction.

So, Kaelee pulled Jonathan by the arm without a word.

"Hey—" He was unable to speak further once she pulled her to the back of the reception area. They went past the emergency room and went out to the back of the hospital.

"Here," she pulled him until they got to the ramp of the exit where the ambulances usually park.

"The stop is closer to the front of the hospital, right?"

"Quiet!" she hushed as she turned to look at him.